Islam • 103could unite Muslims throughout the world, and stamped
down on heterodox ideas that would cause dissension and
tempt people to leave the straight path and go their own way.
By the fourteenth century, the study and observance of the
Shariah was the only type of piety to be accepted by all Mus-
lims, Sunni and Shii, Sufi and Faylasuf alike. By this time, the
ulama liked to believe that these laws had been in place from
the very beginning of Islamic history. Thus while some Sufis,
such as Rumi, were beginning to glimpse new horizons, many
of the ulama believed that nothing ever changed. Hence they
were content that the "gates of ijtihad" were closed. After the
loss of so much of the learning of the past, the destruction of
manuscripts and the slaughter of scholars, it was more impor-
tant to recover what had been lost than to inaugurate more
change. Because the Mongol military code made no provision
for civil society, the ulama continued to govern the lives of the
faithful, and their influence tended to be conservative. Where
Sufis such as Rumi believed that all religions were valid, by
the fourteenth century the ulama had transformed the plural-
ism of the Quran into a hard communalism, which saw other
traditions as irrelevant relics of the past. Non-Muslims were
forbidden now to visit the holy cities of Mecca and Medina,
and it became a capital offence to make insulting remarks
about the Prophet Muhammad. The trauma of the invasions
had, not surprisingly, made Muslims feel insecure. Foreigners
were not only suspect; they could be as lethal as the Mongols.
But there were ulama who refused to accept the closing of
the "gates of ijtihad".Throughout Islamic history, at times of
great political crisis-especially during a period of foreign
encroachment-a reformer (mujdadid) would often renew the
faith so that it could meet the new conditions. These reforms
usually followed a similar pattern. They were conservative,
since they attempted to go back to basics rather than create an
entirely new solution. But in this desire to return to the pris-