Contemporary Thought in the Muslim World

Contemporary Thought in the Muslim World PDF Author: Carool Kersten
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135008922
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
This book presents an intellectual history of today’s Muslim world, surveying contemporary Muslim thinking in its various manifestations, addressing a variety of themes that impact on the lives of present-day Muslims. Focusing on the period from roughly the late 1960s to the first decade of the twenty-first century, the book is global in its approach and offers an overview of different strands of thought and trends in the development of new ideas, distinguishing between traditional, reactionary, and progressive approaches. It presents a variety of themes and issues including: The continuing relevance of the legacy of traditional Islamic learning as well as the use of reason; the centrality of the Qur’an; the spiritual concerns of contemporary Muslims; political thought regarding secularity, statehood, and governance; legal and ethical debates; related current issues like human rights, gender equality, and religious plurality; as well as globalization, ecology and the environment, bioethics, and life sciences. An alternative account of Islam and the Muslim world today, counterbalancing narratives that emphasise politics and confrontations with the West, this book is an essential resource for students and scholars of Islam.

The Idea of the Muslim World

The Idea of the Muslim World PDF Author: Cemil Aydin
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674050371
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
“Superb... A tour de force.” —Ebrahim Moosa “Provocative... Aydin ranges over the centuries to show the relative novelty of the idea of a Muslim world and the relentless efforts to exploit that idea for political ends.” —Washington Post When President Obama visited Cairo to address Muslims worldwide, he followed in the footsteps of countless politicians who have taken the existence of a unified global Muslim community for granted. But as Cemil Aydin explains in this provocative history, it is a misconception to think that the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims constitute a single entity. How did this belief arise, and why is it so widespread? The Idea of the Muslim World considers its origins and reveals the consequences of its enduring allure. “Much of today’s media commentary traces current trouble in the Middle East back to the emergence of ‘artificial’ nation states after the fall of the Ottoman Empire... According to this narrative...today’s unrest is simply a belated product of that mistake. The Idea of the Muslim World is a bracing rebuke to such simplistic conclusions.” —Times Literary Supplement “It is here that Aydin’s book proves so valuable: by revealing how the racial, civilizational, and political biases that emerged in the nineteenth century shape contemporary visions of the Muslim world.” —Foreign Affairs

Alternative Islamic Discourses and Religious Authority

Alternative Islamic Discourses and Religious Authority PDF Author: Dr Carool Kersten
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 1472400534
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
Like anywhere else, the present-day Islamic world too is grappling with modernity and postmodernity, secularisation and globalisation. Muslims are raising questions about religious representations and authority. This has given rise to the emergence of alternative Islamic discourses which challenge binary oppositions and dichotomies of orthodoxy and heterodoxy, continuity and change, state and civil society. It also leads to a dispersal of authority, a collapse of existing hierarchical structures and gender roles. This book further argues that the centre of gravity of many of these alternative Islamic discourses is shifting from the Arabic-speaking 'heartland' towards the geographical peripheries of the Muslim world and expatriate Muslims in North America and Europe. At the same time, in view of recent seismic shifts in the political constellation of the Middle East, the trends discussed in this book hold important clues for the possible direction of future developments in that volatile part of the Muslim world.

The Sociology of Islam

The Sociology of Islam PDF Author: Bryan S. Turner
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317015304
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Taking a thematic approach, Bryan S. Turner draws together his writings which explore the relationship between Islam and the ideas of Western social thinkers. Turner engages with the broad categories of capitalism, orientalism, modernity, gender, and citizenship among others, as he examines how Muslims adapt to changing times and how Islam has come to be managed by those in power.

The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought

The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought PDF Author: Ibrahim Abu-Rabi'
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405178485
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 696

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Book Description
The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thoughtreflects the variety of trends, voices, and opinions in thecontemporary Muslim intellectual scene. Challenges Western misconceptions about the modern Muslim worldin general and the Arab world in particular. Consists of 36 important essays written by contemporary Muslimthinkers and scholars. Covers issues such as Islamic tradition, modernity,globalization, feminism, the West, the USA, reform, andsecularism. Helps readers to situate Islamic intellectual history in thecontext of Western intellectual trends.

The Routledge International Handbook of Contemporary Muslim Socio-Political Thought

The Routledge International Handbook of Contemporary Muslim Socio-Political Thought PDF Author: Lutfi Sunar
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000425088
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 577

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Book Description
This volume unfolds the ebbs and flows of Muslim thought in different regions of the world, as well as the struggles between the different intellectual discourses that have surfaced against this backdrop. With a focus on Turkey, Egypt, Iran and the Indian subcontinent – regions that, in spite of their particular histories and forms of thought, are uniquely placed as a mosaic that illustrates the intertwined nature of the development of Muslim socio-political thought – it sheds light on the swing between right and left in different regions, the debates surrounding nationalism, the influence of socialism and liberalism, the rise of Islamism and the conflict between state bureaucracy and social movements. Exploring themes of civil society and democracy, it also considers current trends in Muslim thought and possible future directions. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the fields of sociology, anthropology, political science, history and political economy, as well as those with interests in the study of religion, the development of Muslim thought, and the transformation of Muslim societies in recent decades.

Philosophy in the Islamic World

Philosophy in the Islamic World PDF Author: Ulrich Rudolph
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004492542
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 864

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Book Description
A comprehensive reference work covering all figures of the earliest period of philosophy in the Islamic world. Both major and minor thinkers are covered, with details of biography and doctrine as well as detailed lists and summaries of each author’s works.

The Ulama in Contemporary Islam

The Ulama in Contemporary Islam PDF Author: Muhammad Qasim Zaman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400837510
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
From the cleric-led Iranian revolution to the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, many people have been surprised by what they see as the modern reemergence of an antimodern phenomenon. This book helps account for the increasingly visible public role of traditionally educated Muslim religious scholars (the `ulama) across contemporary Muslim societies. Muhammad Qasim Zaman describes the transformations the centuries-old culture and tradition of the `ulama have undergone in the modern era--transformations that underlie the new religious and political activism of these scholars. In doing so, it provides a new foundation for the comparative study of Islam, politics, and religious change in the contemporary world. While focusing primarily on Pakistan, Zaman takes a broad approach that considers the Taliban and the `ulama of Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, and the southern Philippines. He shows how their religious and political discourses have evolved in often unexpected but mutually reinforcing ways to redefine and enlarge the roles the `ulama play in society. Their discourses are informed by a longstanding religious tradition, of which they see themselves as the custodians. But these discourses are equally shaped by--and contribute in significant ways to--contemporary debates in the Muslim public sphere. This book offers the first sustained comparative perspective on the `ulama and their increasingly crucial religious and political activism. It shows how issues of religious authority are debated in contemporary Islam, how Islamic law and tradition are continuously negotiated in a rapidly changing world, and how the `ulama both react to and shape larger Islamic social trends. Introducing previously unexamined facets of religious and political thought in modern Islam, it clarifies the complex processes of religious change unfolding in the contemporary Muslim world and goes a long way toward explaining their vast social and political ramifications.

Issues in Contemporary Islamic Thought

Issues in Contemporary Islamic Thought PDF Author: Taha Jabir Al Alwani
Publisher: IIIT
ISBN: 156564414X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
This collection of papers presents a reformist project calling upon Muslim intellectuals and scholars everywhere to comprehend the vast breadth and depth of the crisis engulfing Muslim thought today and the necessity of solving this crisis to enable the Ummah to experience a revival and fulfill its role among the nations of the world. The reader will find a variety of articles dealing with this intellectual crises, these include a chapter on ijtihad's role and history, important since our intellectual problems cannot be solved without the scholars' use of independent reasoning and creativity. Another discusses imitation (taqlid) calling upon Muslim scholars and intellectuals to abandon imitation and to stop favoring the past over the present when trying to solve modern problems. Another looks at human rights.

Modern Islamic Thought in a Radical Age

Modern Islamic Thought in a Radical Age PDF Author: Muhammad Qasim Zaman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107096456
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
This book explores some of the most fiercely debated issues facing the Islamic world today.