The Future of Islam — Text and Context

A Census of the Muslim World

The opening chapter, 'Census of the Mohammedan World. The Haj,' attempts a global enumeration of Muslim populations, a task Blunt acknowledges as approximate. The catalog subject 'Islam' and 'Middle East -- History -- 1517-' suggest a broad historical scope, but the excerpts reveal that Blunt's focus is overwhelmingly political and contemporary. He treats the Haj pilgrimage not as a religious ritual but as a demographic and political network. The text's structure—moving from census to Caliphate to reform—reflects an argument that Islam's future hinges on leadership and territorial sovereignty, not theology. Blunt's voice is urgent and opinionated; he writes of 'the wave of religious energy which is sweeping eastwards' and warns that England must 'lead or be led.' The excerpts contain no extended discussion of Islamic doctrine, only of political organization and potential leaders.

The Caliphate as a Political Question

Blunt frames the Caliphate as a 'modern question' tied to European imperialism. He speculates on where a new Caliph might arise, considering North Africa, India, and Arabia. The excerpts show him weighing the chances of a figure like 'Abd el Kader' or the 'Sheykh Es Snusi,' whom he describes as a saint 'of Wahhabite type' who might claim to be the 'Móhdy.' Blunt's analysis is explicitly conditional: he writes of 'enormous postulates' that must be granted before any African leader could become Caliph. He dismisses the Sultan of Morocco as having 'taken as yet no apparent part' in the religious movement. The text's structure—a series of hypothetical scenarios—reveals that Blunt is less predicting the future than urging British readers to recognize Islam's political vitality. His language is concrete: 'steam fleets and electric cables and European concerts' are cited as reasons why North Africa may be 'out of probable calculations.'

England's Stakes in a Reforming Islam

The final chapter, 'England's Interest in Islam,' makes explicit the book's polemical purpose. Blunt argues that British policy in India and Egypt must adapt to the 'religious energy' he describes. The excerpts show him criticizing 'unintelligent English policy' and warning that Indian Muslim princes, if opposed by European arms, could make India 'par excellence the Dar el Islam.' The catalog subject 'Middle East -- History -- 1517-' implies a historical survey, but Blunt's focus is on the immediate future: he writes of 'a very few months' in which choices must be made. The text's tone is that of a political pamphlet, not a scholarly monograph. Blunt's evidence is drawn from his own travels and conversations—he mentions 'some few liberal Ulema of the Azhar' in Cairo—but he does not provide systematic documentation. The excerpts end with a return to the Caliphate question, leaving the argument unresolved.

Readers should approach The Future of Islam as a primary source for late-Victorian imperial attitudes rather than as a reliable account of Islamic thought. Blunt's arguments are shaped by his political agenda and his limited access to Muslim societies. The text's value lies in its candid expression of British anxieties about colonial governance and religious revival. Those interested in the history of Orientalism or British policy in the Middle East will find it a revealing document.

Blunt spent his years watching how faith binds communities, counting believers and weighing the future of their loyalties. Reading him, I often thought of what Durkheim later gathered into The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life — Context and Discussion, that quiet realization that religion is never merely belief, but belonging — a shared pulse beneath the politics. Both books sit beside me now, companions in understanding.