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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
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Searching... | 35000000002832 | BP60 A36 2013 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
Searching... | 30000010335425 | BP60 A36 2013 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
The debate over Islam and modernity tends to be approached from a Eurocentric perspective that presents Western norms as a template for progress - against which Islamic societies can be measured. This misses the historical development of Muslim reformist thought that actively engages with the world around it and seeks to reconfigure Islam within the diverse conditions of modernity. Safdar Ahmed paints a complex and nuanced picture that goes beyond the idea that Muslim reformers have either reproduced or reacted against Western ideas. Rather, Ahmed argues, they have reconstructed and appropriated these ideas, and so the thread of Western influence runs through modern Islamic thought on nationalism and sovereignty, femininity and gender. Ahmed uncovers new historiographical perspectives by critically examining the work of prominent intellectuals, such as Muhammad Abduh, Qasim Amin and Abdul A'la Maududi.
Author Notes
Safdar Ahmed is a lecturer and tutor in the Department of Islamic and Arabic Studies at the University of Sydney, where he also obtained his PhD.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
Ahmed (Univ. of Sydney, Australia) analyzes Muslim thinkers' responses to modern challenges from the late 19th century to the present. This ambitious book covers a large number of thinkers while analyzing several themes--Islamic modernism (Jamal al-Din Afghani, Muhammad Abduh, and Sayyid Ahmad Khan), education of Muslim women (Qasim Amin and Ali Thanwi), Islam and modern nationalism (Muhammad Iqbal), Islamist ideology (Abul A'la Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb), and progressive Islam (Fazlur Rahman, Amina Wadud, Abdolkarim Soroush, and Mohammed Arkoun). The author is critical of Orientalism and essentialism while embracing critical theory and the idea of multiple modernities as alternative theoretical frameworks throughout the book. On the one hand, the broad scope of analysis makes the book interesting; on the other hand, it weakens the scholarly quality. In other words, since the author tries to explore too many things, he limits the book's ability to provide a deeper analysis and to make a truly original contribution. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. A. T. Kuru San Diego State University
Table of Contents
| Acknowledgements | p. vi |
| Introduction: Islam, Postcolonialism and Modernity | p. 1 |
| 1 Islamic Modernism and the Reification of Religion | p. 43 |
| 2 Literary Romanticism and Islamic Modernity: The Case of Urdu Poetry | p. 75 |
| 3 Education and the Status of Women | p. 100 |
| 4 Muhammad Iqbal, Islam and Modern Nationalism | p. 120 |
| 5 The Theory of Divine Sovereignty | p. 148 |
| 6 Maududi and the Gendering of Muslim Identity | p. 176 |
| 7 Progressive Islam: The Hermeneutical Turn | p. 200 |
| Conclusion | p. 224 |
| Notes | p. 229 |
| Bibliography | p. 272 |
| Index | p. 291 |
