3 - Networks and Renewal (Thirteenth to Nineteenth Centuries)

Summary

The intellectual biographies of the scholars presented in this chapter – Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792), Shah Waliullah Dihlawi (1703–1762), Shaykh Da’ud al-Fatani (1769–1847), ‘Abd al-Nasir al-Qursawi (1776–1812), Ma Laichi (?1681–1766), and Ma Mingxin (?1719?–1781) – lead us through an exploration of how mysticism and legal approaches to Islamic practice took shape not as mutually exclusive but rather as intertwined dynamics, highlighting a dual track of reformism and Sufism concerned with “proper” ritual, a return to the scriptures, and a rejection of bid’a, often manifested as the absorption of local traditions into Islamic practices. The specific focus on the Naqshbandiyah additionally allows us to center these dynamics in Asia, as this Central Asian order spread to the Indian subcontinent and influenced developments in China and Southeast Asia, ultimately bringing Asia center-stage when exploring scholars’ concerns (and interventions) about “deviation” and “orthodoxy”. Without denying the crucial role played by Mecca and Medina as gathering places for scholars coming from all corners of the world, this chapter has taken into consideration alternative routes and networks of religious learning that connected the umma across geographical boundaries.