Al-Manar and the Hadrami Elite in the Malay-Indonesian world; challenge and response

Abstract

Al-Manar was an Arabic and reformist journal founded by Muhammad Rashid Rida in Cairo in 1898, and its primary objectives were to examine the decadence of Muslim political institutions, underline the danger of European colonialism in the Muslim world, and promote the idea that Islam was not in contradiction with modernity and reason. The present paper attempts to scrutinize the intellectual influence of al-Manar among the Hadrami elite in the Malay-Indonesian world, and critically assess its role as the mouthpiece for the propagation of Abduh's doctrines and accomplishment of his reforms. It first addresses the mission of al- Manar as a reformist journal that worked towards the promotion of social, religious and economic reforms in the Muslim world. It secondly examines the religio-cultural background of the Hadrami elite who were influenced by the reformist mission of al-Manar and subscribed to its ultimate goal. The paper finally highlights the impact of al-Manar on the religio-political and social structure of the Hadrami Diaspora in the Malay-Indonesian world, and discusses how this impact resulted in the establishment of a revivalist movement that rejected the conservative attitude of the blind imitation of the four schools of law, and denounced the Sufi practices that were not in harmony with the fundamentals of Islam. Special attention will also be paid to the role of the Hadrami organizations, schools and press that contributed to the propagation of al-Manar's reformist mission and its dissemination at the grass roots level of the Hadrami community.