How did different people in the Muslim world perceive the gradual European domination of their lands?
What did separate North African and Middle Eastern polities think as they gradually fell to British, French, Italian, and Spanish rule? What about the steady Russian conquest of Central Asia and the Caucasus? Did the Ottomans decry every one of these incidents? Did they ever publicly acknowledge that they (along with the Persians) were the last "independent" Muslim states heading into the 20th century?
As far as "reactions" are concerned, I'm interested in any account from any element of Muslim society (formal state declarations, discussion from intellectuals, opinions of the masses, etc.). Was a common narrative formed that recognized a global European ascent?
A reply to /u/pashaog
There was a very large "Muslim world" and the "age of imperialism" spanned a few centuries. Is it possible at all to break down your enourmous question into smaller pieces?
If I can approach this from a late nineteenth century and early twentieth century standpoint, much of what we think of modern problems today are evolutions of anti-colonial thinking viz Islamic terrorism. But also the very concept of the modern Muslim world being one is also a reaction to the Age of Imperialism.
Examples of Islamic extremism being a result of anticolonialism is the Deobandi school of Islam that formed shortly after the Great Rebellion of 1857 in India- the Taliban is part of, or at least includes, a substantial amount of people in this school. They also formed the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind to combat British rule in India.
Sayyid Ahmad Khan is an important moderate voice of Muslim thought in South Asia during the colonial period and founded the Anglo-Muhammadan Oriental College, which is now the Aligarh Muslim University- his ideas formed the basis of the moderate Muslim demand for Pakistan.
1857 was widely seen by British officers as a Muslim movement against British rule, and while this is greatly exaggerated, there were a great deal of Muslim leaders who were involved in the rebellion. The legality was of course iffy, since this wasn't seen as a war of independence, per se, but rather a reaffirmation of Mughal sovereignty, since the Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah, was nominally the Emperor of what the East India Company ruled.
Of course, then you have Jamal-ud-din Afghani, who advocated for pan-Islam as a countervailing force against imperialism. This is the guy you're looking for- his ideas spread through the Muslim world as a whole, and he believed that the Islamic world should not only band together and reinforce their identities, but also take what's best from Europe, like modern science. According to Afghani, this fusion of 'West' and 'East' would be one of the most important shields against the encroaching grip of European imperialism.
Pankaj Mishra's From the Ruins of Empire has a great chapter on him, but here's a link to something right now from Oxford: http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t243/e8
Sorry for the incoherence, sleepy and headed to bed :)