13th century CE: The non-Muslim Mongols followed their Turkish brethren from the north, again. The new invaders were not interested in the culture of Islam – Shi’a or Sunni. They had their eyes fixed on Islam’s worldly riches.

In 1258, the Khaalif of Islam was rolled in a carpet and clubbed to death by the Mongol army. The newly formed Dehli Sultanat in India was in doldrums without a Khaalif, whose court used to be the arbitrator of their disputes.

The weak and defeated Abbasi Court fled to Egypt where they will rule for another 300 years; soon, the Shi’a were scattered while the Crusaders returned to Europe. However, Mongols ruling at Baghdad created a physical rent between the east and west of geographic Islam.

Era of Taqleed, and Slow Muslim Decline

It was in these tumultuous times, the doors of Ijtehaad were closed. While the Khilaafat was too fragmented, the Ulema preferred the status quo rather than risk patchy evolution of Sharia: it seems a common feeling was “whatever needed to be researched, had been researched”.

Thus, the era of Taqleed began in earnest. All knowledge stayed with Ulema who were needed to rule the Mongol empire as judges, doctors, administrators, engineers, etc.

During the 13th–14th centuries, the children of Mongols embraced Islam; a minority accepted the Shi’a faith too. Later, the formation of Safawi Sultanat (1501-1722) in Iran maintained the large rent in the political fabric of Islam that was initially created by the Mongol invasion.

Shi’a began consolidating their creed, rituals and superstitions – all under the watchful eyes of their Sufi Shi’a Ulema. Sufism flourished amongst Sunnis too, but they had submitted themselves to Shari’ah, and its rule of Law.

It was during these times that Taqleed became the unwritten policy of Sunni Ulema.

Fed up with political intrigue in Safawi Iran, the Ithna-‘Ashari Shi’a (Twelvers) consolidated their Marja’, along with Sunni ideals: included following the Taqleed.

The other Shi’a sub-sects were beholden to their spiritual heads, who had complete control over their minds and wealth. Each time a spiritual head died, there was ruckus and splits that continues to this day.

Colonization: Erosion of Authority

When Protestant Europe came out with Enlightenment ideas, Taqleed prevented Muslims from accepting the new way of looking at the world. Soon they were colonised, along with other parts of the world.

The British, and other colonisers, let the natives live in their communities and follow their native customs and laws. In that spirit, Shari’ah was allowed but only for social or personal duties. The Ulema continued to function as Jurists and Imaams.

However, for the management of criminal offences, the European Courts sidelined the Shari’ah and implemented their perceived Enlightenment ideas (even though the treatment of women, slaves and minorities were abysmal compared with Shari’ah’s maqaasid).

Taraddud Movements

Late Eighteenth Century: In British-ruled territories, people like Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Jamal ad-Deen Afghani, Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida, etc were at the vanguard wanting a radical change. However, they could not come up with a new system. Allama Iqbal realised this, and returned to the Taqleedi system. More on this Movement here.

As to the Ulema, now restricted to the sphere of the masjid, they remained unconvinced of the need to formulate the Shari’ah for the changing world; they repeatedly called for soul-searching and pointed towards the individual factors responsible for the Muslim decline.

Interestingly, by 1914, the British (and Americans) thought the same: whatever needed to be invented, had been invented. They too were wrong. Germany began growing by using the radical new ways, with a new social contract. that modernity follows to this day.

Socialist Era: Loss of Authority

After two European Wars (also called World Wars), and losing almost 50 million people, Europe shed its missionary zeal. From the 18-19th centuries, anarchism, socialism and communism rolled in progressive ideas tenaciously while European religions could not cope with the new understanding of their changing world.

In Muslim nations, Russian Communists began selling socialism as an egalitarian system compatible with the Qur’anic Maqaasid. Repressed by European Imperialism, the Muslims of Maghrib, Yemen, the Fertile Crescent, Turkey, Balkans, Central Asia, even Iran, Afghanistan, India and Indonesia, were bewitched.

The Socialists were ruthless in their push of modernism, especially in Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan.

The Ulema were removed from their influential posts from the courts, while regime’s willing partners were installed in the mosques. In countries where Muslims became minorities, some protection was afforded by the majority socialists. While in Albania, the first and the only Muslim communist country, the Ulema were either killed or jailed.

After the Fall of Communism, the Muslim socialists began searching for a new identity. Just like the Mu’tazilah, they caused more harm than any intended good. The Middle East bleeding today is due to their policies, which were implemented under the guidance of Soviet policy-makers.

So Can the Ulema Reclaim their Authority?

So today we re-experience the 9th-10th century CE again, with its tumultuous times. If the Khaalifs were discredited a 1000 years back, today it is the authority of the Ulema that is being discredited daily.

As the edifice of the Taqleedi system has slowly eroded, new ideas are being borrowed: from the remote and the recent past, but also from the wider world.

We will have to wait to see if the Ulema can agree to a new consensus (a new social contract), that is consistent, credible and practical enough for any political leadership in the world to patronise them.

Challenges to the Taqleedi System—>