Debates On Civilization In The Muslim World

In the social sciences, civilisation is one of the most oft-debated concepts. However, the debates around it are still framed by Western assumptions and concerns. Nevertheless, civilisation remains a central theme in the Muslim world. The overall objective of this volume is to expose complex issues for further discussion.

Since its birth as a concept, civilization has been defined by an encounter with the 'other'. Barbarism, the ever-ready counter concept, has provided civilization with its raison d'etre-that of exerting violence upon other societies to 'civilize' them. Enlightenment thinkers defined civilization as an opponent of nature, while science and technology, tools with which nature was to be conquered, became one of the basic indicators of development. Thus was formed the unbroken tie between civilization and science. In the Muslim world, civilization became a synonym for modernization, a lifestyle imposed by the colonialists and their local counterparts. However, as this volume reveals, the resistance to and reception of Western modernity by non-Western societies is not homogenous, nor is the 'othering' unidirectional. If the Orientalist discourse portrayed the Islamic East as an exotic, seductive, and untamed 'other', a corresponding Occidentalism also stereotyped the West as the soulless, mechanistic 'other' to Islam. Challenging the embedded prejudices within social theory, Debates on Civilization in the Muslim World questions the Eurocentric understanding of civilization and also explores the themes of modernization, globalization, and the future of the civilization debate.

In 1993, Samuel P. Huntington boldly asserted in the pages of Foreign Affairs, the preeminent magazine on foreign policy and international relations, that world politics was entering a new phase, one in which cultural differences in religion, history, language, and tradition were replacing Cold War tensions and would soon become the world's fundamental points of conflict.Huntington's striking thesis elicited both criticism and praise from the media and political experts around the world. More than a decade later, "The Clash of Civilizations?" continues to be a touchstone in global politics as writers passionately debate its merits and propose countertheories of their own.This collection presents the original, seminal essay followed by critical responses published in Foreign Affairs, including the author's reply to his critics and contemporary additions to the enduring question of how to understand world conflict.

The Muslims, History and Civilization provides modern perspective of the religion, culture and history of the Islamic world, at a time when that world is undergoing considerable change and is a focus of international study and debate. Most perceptions of Islam have often tended to be dominated by selective focus on few parts of Islamic history by biased media interpretations of events. Many people are unaware of the depth and variety of Islamic history and civilization, and had no opportunity to have a look at the bigger picture with all parts of the puzzle before their eyes. At the same time, many who have had a formal training in Islamic studies have tended to concentrate on the traditional, to the exclusion of modern overview. The Muslims, History and Civilization covers the full range of Islamic history and thought, in historical depth, but it also provides substantial coverage of contemporary trends across the Muslim world. It doesn't speak only from the mouth of select few. It presents views of all great thinkers, historians, scholars and writers irrespective of their religious affiliations. With well over a thousand entries on Islamic theology, history, arts, scientific achievements, Muslim leaders, law and institutions, crusades, Caliphate, and coverage of Islam in various places around the world, and short historical backgrounds of all Muslim countries, the Muslims, History and Civilization provides an extremely rich resource for students and researchers in religious studies and Middle Eastern studies. This book underlines and deepens the Muslim identity amidst fast changing concepts and ideologies. This book is a wide-ranging and general introduction to Islamic civilization from its origins to the present day. Writing in clear and non-technical language, Ehsanul Karim seek answers to broad and important questions. It begins with the history of the Prophet Muhammad (P), and provides a compilation of all the contributions, achievements, and major events of every Muslim region that has made a significant impact on Muslim history and civilization, continues with an historical résumé of the Islamic period, and moves on to the core chapters on the religious, philosophical and legal foundations of Islamic society and its contributions to world civilization in the fields of literature, art, science and medicine.

The Papers Presented In This Book Have Been Contributed By Eminent Scholars Of Islamic Science. The First Article Sheds Light On The Rise And Fall Of Science During Islamic Civilization. The Next Two Articles Present The Varying Views Of Some Muslim Scholars And Scientists About The Scientific Interpretation Of The Qur An. In The Next Three Articles, The Respective Authors Critically Evaluate The Philosophy Of Modern Science And Propose Islamic Alternative. Further The Two Articles Present The Various Schools Of Thought Among The Proponents Of Islamic Science Taking Into Consideration Their Approach Towards The Development Of Islamic Science And Their Vision Regarding The Scope And Purpose Of Islamic Science. The Last Article Proposes A Methodology As To How Modern Science Can Be Adopted In Islam.

“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

With resurgent interest in the Muslim world and in particular political Islam, this collection of translated essays by major Muslim thinkers from the Middle East and South Asia demonstrates the ongoing and contentious debate between modernizers seeking to adapt Western ways and fundamentalists who rejected them. From Jamal al-Din al-Afghani in the nineteenth-century to Ayatollah Khomeini in the twentieth, the selections provide an opportunity to examine a diversity of Muslim thinkers thoughts on important topics like jurisprudence, politics, relations with the west, and women in their own words.