The Modern Muslim World
Examine the encounter with European power, the end of the caliphate, the reform movements that responded, and the institutions of the contemporary period.
Start LearningBegins with Modern Islamic History (1800-2024)
Learning Sequence
Articles are ordered so each builds on the one before. You can also read them in any order that suits you.
- Modern Islamic History (1800-2024)conceptModern EraIslamic history from 1800 to the present: the weakening of the Ottoman and other Muslim empires, the period of European colonial rule, the independence movements that fol…
- Muhammad Ali Pasha - Founder of Modern EgyptpersonModern EraMuhammad Ali Pasha (1769-1849 CE) transformed Egypt into a regional power through military, economic, and administrative reforms. Founder of modern Egypt, he established …
- Abdulmecid I: The Sultan of the TanzimatpersonOttoman EmpireAbdulmecid I (1823-1861) became Ottoman sultan at sixteen and presided over the Tanzimat, the empire's most sweeping programme of legal and administrative reform. He issu…
- Jamal al-Din al-Afghani: The Revolutionary Pan-IslamistpersonModern EraJamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838-1897 CE) was a revolutionary Islamic thinker and Pan-Islamist who advocated for Islamic unity, anti-colonialism, and reform. His ideas profo…
- Muhammad Abduh: Pioneer of Islamic ModernismpersonModern EraMuhammad Abduh (1849-1905 CE) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar and reformer who pioneered Islamic modernism. As Grand Mufti of Egypt, he reconciled Islamic teachings with …
- Abdulhamid II: The Last Sultan to RulepersonOttoman EmpireAbdulhamid II (1842-1918) ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1876 to 1909, the last sultan to exercise real power. He promulgated the empire's first constitution, suspended pa…
- Allama Iqbal: The Poet-Philosopher of the EastpersonSouth Asian IslamAllama Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938 CE) was a poet-philosopher and political leader considered the spiritual father of Pakistan. His poetry, philosophical works, and vision …
- Fall of the Ottoman EmpireeventModern EraComprehensive history of the decline and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire from the 19th century through World War I to the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923
- Omar al-Mukhtar: The Lion of the DesertpersonModern EraOmar al-Mukhtar (1858-1931) was a Libyan resistance leader who fought Italian colonization for over twenty years. Known as the 'Lion of the Desert,' he became a symbol of…
- Islam in EuropeconceptIslamic Golden AgeIslam has been part of European history since the eighth century through three main pathways: the civilization of Al-Andalus in Iberia, the Arab and Norman period in Sici…
- Islam in North America - Historical and Contemporary OverviewconceptModern EraIslam has been present in North America for more than four centuries, beginning with enslaved West African Muslims. Some 3.45 million Muslims now live in the United State…
- Islamic Banking and Financial Systems: Evolution and PrinciplesconceptModern EraIslamic banking represents a comprehensive approach to finance based on Sharia principles, emphasizing ethical finance, risk-sharing, and asset-backed transactions while …
- Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)institutionModern EraAn intergovernmental body of 57 member states across four continents, second in size only to the United Nations. Founded in 1969 after the arson attack on the Al-Aqsa Mos…
- Growth of Islamic FinanceconceptModern EraBanking and financial services conducted according to Islamic law, which forbids interest and requires risk to be shared. From institutional beginnings in the 1960s the s…
- Muhammad Taqi UsmanipersonModern EraA Pakistani Hanafi jurist and writer on Islamic law, trained at Darul Uloom Karachi and in economics and law at Karachi and Punjab. He served on Pakistan's higher courts,…
- Muhammad Rafi UsmanipersonModern EraA Pakistani Hanafi jurist who led Darul Uloom Karachi as its president from 1986 until his death in 2022. Titled Grand Mufti, he served on Pakistan's Council of Islamic I…
- Abul A'la MaududipersonSouth Asian IslamA journalist, Qur'anic commentator and political thinker who founded the Jamaat-e-Islami in 1941. His six-volume Urdu commentary Tafhim al-Qur'an and his writings on the …
- The Jamaat-e-IslamiorganizationSouth Asian IslamAn organisation founded by Abul A'la Maududi in 1941 to form a disciplined body of Muslims trained to lead society according to Islamic norms. After the partition of Indi…
- Shah Ahmad ShafipersonModern EraA Bangladeshi scholar of hadith who led the seminary at Hathazari in Chittagong for more than three decades and chaired the country's Qawmi madrasa education board. Train…
- Ali KhameneipersonModern EraAn Iranian Shia cleric who was the second Supreme Leader of Iran, holding the office from 1989 until his death in 2026. He had earlier served as Tehran's Friday prayer le…