Makers Of Contemporary Islam

This book examines the biographies of nine major activist intellectuals whose work provides the core of what the Islamic resurgence became in the 1990s adn is an important foundation for what it can become in the 21st century. Nine figures are covered: Ismail al-Faruqi, Khurshid Ahmad, Maryam Jameelah, Hasan Hanafi, Anwar Ibrahim, and Abdurrahman Wahid.

Contemporary Islam provides a counterweight to the prevailing opinions of Islamic thought as conservative and static with a preference for violence over dialogue. It gathers together a collection of eminent scholars from around the world who tackle issues such as intellectual pluralism, gender, the ethics of political participation, human rights, non-violence and religious harmony. This is a highly topical and important study which gives a progressive outlook for Islam's role in modern politics and society.

This is a comprehensive handbook which for the first time provides a general yet detailed discussion of contemporary Islam and various aspects of Muslim lives. It offers a much needed tool for an introduction to the world of contemporary Muslim life and debate, and a link of continuity between the Muslim world and Muslims living and born in the West. The reader gains access to articles by leading scholars who observe phenomena in a post-9/11 context and from a global viewpoint. The topics have been carefully selected to provide the reader with both the necessary general view that a good handbook must offer while presenting details and information, as well as ethnographic examples, to inspire further research and interest. Indeed, each chapter will offer topical reading suggestions from which one can expand the material discussed in the chapter. The approach of the handbook is mainly social-anthropological, but attention is given to other disciplines like history, geography, political studies, as well as gender studies and cultural studies.

The economic, social, political, military, and intellectual aspects of the Muslims' concern for history reveal the general structure of their perception of reality.

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.

Having worked for several decades in North Africa, anthropologist Lawrence Rosen is uniquely placed to ask what factors contribute to the continuity and changes characterizing the present-day Muslim world. In The Culture of Islam, he brings his erudition and his experiences to illuminating key aspects of Muslim life and how central tenets of that life are being challenged and culturally refashioned. Through a series of poignant tales—from the struggle by a group of friends against daily corruption to the contest over a saint's identity, from nostalgia for the departed Jews to Salman Rushdie's vision of doubt in a world of religious certainty—Rosen shows how a dazzling array of potential changes are occurring alongside deeply embedded continuity, a process he compares to a game of chess in which infinite variations of moves can be achieved while fundamental aspects of "the game" have had a remarkably enduring quality. Whether it is the potential fabrication of new forms of Islam by migrants to Europe (creating a new "Euro-Islam," as Rosen calls it), the emphasis put on individuals rather than institutions, or the heartrending problems Muslims may face when their marriages cross national boundaries, each story and each interpretation offers a window into a world of contending concepts and challenged coherence. The Culture of Islam is both an antidote to simplified versions of Islam circulating today and a consistent story of the continuities that account for much of ordinary Muslim life. It offers, in its human stories and its insights, its own contribution, as the author says, "to the mutual understanding and forgiveness that alone will make true peace possible."

Despite the distinct buzz of activity in the area of Islamic action and theory within the Muslim world and elsewhere, many "Islamic" movements and pronouncements fall short of the Islamic ideal. Many of them indeed go against the very spirit of Islam, and do the faith a considerable damage in the sight of Allah and man. This is due to a gross misunderstanding acquired over centuries of Muslim intellectual lethargy and indifference to changing realities. The present paper traces the unfortunate growth of such tendencies in the distant and near past, but emphasizes the contemporary scene, which it examines (and tries to put right) with incisive clarity and candor, along with an unerring commitment to the vibrancy and universality of Islam.

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.