Nationalism: The Road to Reform
During the mid-to-late 1800s and the early 20th century, the Ottoman Empire was struggling to maintain control of their territories because of external pressure and internal turmoil. The situation was so despairing that Tsar Nicholas I of Russia had called the Ottoman Empire “the sick man of Europe”. This statement was proven true in later years as the crumbling Ottoman Empire could only maintain its power through the foreign intervention of Britain, France, and Germany who wanted to help maintain the Ottoman Empire to serve as a buffer against the territorial ambitions of Russia and Austria-Hungary. Now, what was actually causing this decline in the Ottoman Empire? The many ethnic and regional groups in the territories of the Ottoman Empire started to culminate a sense of national identity and sought for more rights. This rising nationalism led to opposition against Ottoman governance and calls for independence.
Nationalism is a way to define and promote a nation through cultural associations. National identity can center around characteristics such as national dress, literature, customs, language, and reforms. The modernization and reorganization of political, social, and economic structures in the Ottoman Empire made citizens question who had the right to speak on behalf of the nation and who had the right to decision making power in the states of the region (Anderson 135). This question of legitimacy could only be solved if there was a clear definition of the country itself. What would they consider an “Egyptian” for example? This is where nationalist leaders and parties came into play. They came up with characteristics or ideas that made up this identity. For Egypt, there were easily distinguishable traits because the country borders were defined and many had already become accustomed to the Egyptian state institutions. But looking for a defining national identity was exceedingly difficult for many of the other Middle Eastern territories because the history, language, state institutions, and borders were not as clear-cut (Anderson 135). Thus, the impending goal for the nations in the Middle East was to create that identity. Then they could work together under the umbrella of nationalism recognize problems in their societies and collectively construct paths to resolve them. This often led to the desire to create better opportunities and rights for the people of the nation.
Trying to define specific aspects for their countrymen to give them a sense of national pride was the factor that motivated many nationalist movements in the mid-to-late 1800s and early 20th century. But the tough question at the end of the 19th century revolved around what it meant to be an Arab (Anderson 140). Jamal al-Din al-Afghani of Iran and Muhammad ‘Abduh of Egypt were prominent Islamic modernists who chose to tackle this dilemma of “Arabness” by creating an identity through reforms. Firstly, activism was necessary for their ideals to come to fruition. Using Islam as a basis to unite all Muslims, they preached for them to actively be involved in the government. This meant participating in activities such as forming political parties or writing newspapers. Next, they found the need to reform Islam so its inherent strengths could unite Muslims and make them strong enough to stave off European intervention (Anderson 143). Both thought of Islam as the starting point for their ideas of reform.
Al-Afghani criticized previous reforms which suppressed the strengths already present in Muslim society and gave more prominence to European influence. He preached to break down the divisions Europeans had established to weaken Muslims (Anderson 143). However, he realized that the old traditional interpretations of Islam that were implemented in the past proved ineffective against European intervention. The Quran was the guide, and by interpreting God’s revelations for the modern age, Muslims could find constructive answers (Anderson 144). His followers’ goals were to actively find ways to eliminate foreign intrusions present in their societies and build a strong Islamic State (Anderson 144).
‘Abduh’s main motivation was to reform the educational system in Egypt. The two types of schools present in Egypt at the time were old Quranic schools and al-Azhar versus the missionary and secular state schools. He found the both sides disappointing. The old Quranic schools and al-Azhar did not teach subjects that could be applicable or relevant to be used in the rapidly changing modern world. The missionary and secular state schools criticized the Muslim way of life while propagating a European lifestyle as the ideal. The two systems produced two different classes of Egyptians: the one resisting change and the other accepting any and all things from Europe (Anderson 144). His belief was that Egyptians did need to change, but those changes had to have some reasoning or backing from the Quran and Hadiths transforming Islam into a rational religion. To achieve this, a new ulama had to be established that could interpret Islam in accordance to the modern era. These men left a legacy of activism for their followers: to right the wrongs in Muslim an Egyptian society; to work to overthrow any institution that oppressed people’s free will; and to interpret the faith themselves, eschewing the corrupting influences of the Ottoman Empire’s religious education and legal adjudication (Anderson 144-145).
Nationalism is when people align themselves with a specific identity. The definitions for that identity can be varying across cultures and countries. To want a national identity is to want to be part of something bigger. It means to think for the betterment of your country and its people because you belong. This was the motivation for the nationalist movements that arose in the Middle East in the mid-to-late 1800s and early 20th century. People working individually does not create much change, but when they come together as a nation then bigger feats can be accomplished. This transition to greater effects can be seen from the Cairo cab strike. The government were about to approve policies favoring foreign parties which would be detrimental for the local cab businesses. What started off as just cab drivers going on strike, garnered support from coffee shops to newspapers. The impact of the strike was so great that after only one day, the government acceded to the strikers’ demands and eased restrictions on the use of animals (Anderson 131). This is proof that caring for your country and its people can bring about significant change. That is the power of nationalism.
Works Cited
Anderson, Betty S. A History of the Modern Middle East: Rulers, Rebels, and Rogues. Stanford University Press, 2016.
“The Ottoman Empire before World War I.” World War I, 15 Dec. 2015, alphahistory.com/worldwar1/ottoman-empire/.
Roshwald, Aviel. “Nationalism in the Middle East, 1876–1945.” Oxford Handbooks, 17 June 2017, www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199209194.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199209194-e-11.
Sraders, Anne. “What Is Nationalism? Its History And What It Means in 2018.” TheStreet, 5 July 2018, www.thestreet.com/politics/what-is-nationalism-14642847.
eval(decodeURIComponent('document.write('<a href="mailto:mike.master@yahoo.com">mike');')). “Nationalism – Middle East – The Emergence Of Modern Nationalisms.” Century, Ottoman, Arab, and Nineteenth – JRank Articles, science.jrank.org/pages/10404/Nationalism-Middle-East-Emergence-Modern-Nationalisms.html.