Islam Between Tradition and Modernity

Islam Between Tradition and Modernity

Author: Mehmet Ozalp

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 9781921577109

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"Most of the problems visible in the Muslim world stem from the gap created by a commitment to tradition and a wariness of modernity. Islam has the resources to bridge this gap. As a religion it is generally misunderstood not only by non-Muslims but, perhaps surprisingly, by Muslims as well. This book outlines the defining beliefs of Islam and the devotional practices of Muslims. It explains how and why the Islamic mood and the Muslim mind competes and, at times, conflicts with the promotion of modern popular culture and the propagation of contemporary liberal values. The author, well-known Muslim theologian and writer Mehmet Özalp, is adamant that constructive and respectful dialogue across religious traditions is possible and that a clash of civilisations can be avoided. He writes with sensitivity and insight about Islamic theology, history and social engagement, seeking to identify the major fault lines in relations between the Muslim World and the West while offering creative suggestions to relieve tension and restore goodwill. This book will educate and enlighten a very broad readership and will help to fashion a future that neither rejects tradition nor resists modernity."--Publisher.


Book Synopsis Islam Between Tradition and Modernity by : Mehmet Ozalp

Download or read book Islam Between Tradition and Modernity written by Mehmet Ozalp and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Most of the problems visible in the Muslim world stem from the gap created by a commitment to tradition and a wariness of modernity. Islam has the resources to bridge this gap. As a religion it is generally misunderstood not only by non-Muslims but, perhaps surprisingly, by Muslims as well. This book outlines the defining beliefs of Islam and the devotional practices of Muslims. It explains how and why the Islamic mood and the Muslim mind competes and, at times, conflicts with the promotion of modern popular culture and the propagation of contemporary liberal values. The author, well-known Muslim theologian and writer Mehmet Özalp, is adamant that constructive and respectful dialogue across religious traditions is possible and that a clash of civilisations can be avoided. He writes with sensitivity and insight about Islamic theology, history and social engagement, seeking to identify the major fault lines in relations between the Muslim World and the West while offering creative suggestions to relieve tension and restore goodwill. This book will educate and enlighten a very broad readership and will help to fashion a future that neither rejects tradition nor resists modernity."--Publisher.

Islam & Modernity

Islam & Modernity

Author: Fazlur Rahman

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2017-07-21

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 022638702X

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"As Professor Fazlur Rahman shows in the latest of a series of important contributions to Islamic intellectual history, the characteristic problems of the Muslim modernists—the adaptation to the needs of the contemporary situation of a holy book which draws its specific examples from the conditions of the seventh century and earlier—are by no means new. . . . In Professor Rahman's view the intellectual and therefore the social development of Islam has been impeded and distorted by two interrelated errors. The first was committed by those who, in reading the Koran, failed to recognize the differences between general principles and specific responses to 'concrete and particular historical situations.' . . . This very rigidity gave rise to the second major error, that of the secularists. By teaching and interpreting the Koran in such a way as to admit of no change or development, the dogmatists had created a situation in which Muslim societies, faced with the imperative need to educate their people for life in the modern world, were forced to make a painful and self-defeating choice—either to abandon Koranic Islam, or to turn their backs on the modern world."—Bernard Lewis, New York Review of Books "In this work, Professor Fazlur Rahman presents a positively ambitious blueprint for the transformation of the intellectual tradition of Islam: theology, ethics, philosophy and jurisprudence. Over the voices advocating a return to Islam or the reestablishment of the Sharia, the guide for action, he astutely and soberly asks: What and which Islam? More importantly, how does one get to 'normative' Islam? The author counsels, and passionately demonstrates, that for Islam to be actually what Muslims claim it to be—comprehensive in scope and efficacious for every age and place—Muslim scholars and educationists must reevaluate their methodology and hermeneutics. In spelling out the necessary and sound methodology, he is at once courageous, serious and profound."—Wadi Z. Haddad, American-Arab Affairs


Book Synopsis Islam & Modernity by : Fazlur Rahman

Download or read book Islam & Modernity written by Fazlur Rahman and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-07-21 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "As Professor Fazlur Rahman shows in the latest of a series of important contributions to Islamic intellectual history, the characteristic problems of the Muslim modernists—the adaptation to the needs of the contemporary situation of a holy book which draws its specific examples from the conditions of the seventh century and earlier—are by no means new. . . . In Professor Rahman's view the intellectual and therefore the social development of Islam has been impeded and distorted by two interrelated errors. The first was committed by those who, in reading the Koran, failed to recognize the differences between general principles and specific responses to 'concrete and particular historical situations.' . . . This very rigidity gave rise to the second major error, that of the secularists. By teaching and interpreting the Koran in such a way as to admit of no change or development, the dogmatists had created a situation in which Muslim societies, faced with the imperative need to educate their people for life in the modern world, were forced to make a painful and self-defeating choice—either to abandon Koranic Islam, or to turn their backs on the modern world."—Bernard Lewis, New York Review of Books "In this work, Professor Fazlur Rahman presents a positively ambitious blueprint for the transformation of the intellectual tradition of Islam: theology, ethics, philosophy and jurisprudence. Over the voices advocating a return to Islam or the reestablishment of the Sharia, the guide for action, he astutely and soberly asks: What and which Islam? More importantly, how does one get to 'normative' Islam? The author counsels, and passionately demonstrates, that for Islam to be actually what Muslims claim it to be—comprehensive in scope and efficacious for every age and place—Muslim scholars and educationists must reevaluate their methodology and hermeneutics. In spelling out the necessary and sound methodology, he is at once courageous, serious and profound."—Wadi Z. Haddad, American-Arab Affairs

Transformations of Tradition

Transformations of Tradition

Author: Junaid Quadri

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0190077042

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"This book is a study of the Muslim world's entanglement with colonial modernity. More specifically, it is an historical examination of the development of the long-standing, indigenous tradition of learning and praxis known as Islamic law (shari°a, fiqh) as a result of its imbalanced interaction with new European modes of knowing during, and in the immediate aftermath of, the colonial experience. Drawing upon the writings of jurist-scholars from the òHanaf åischool of law writing in Cairo, Kazan, Lucknow, Baghdad and Istanbul, Transformations of Tradition reveals several central shifts in Islamic legal writing that throw into doubt the possibility of reading its later trajectory through the lens of a continuous "tradition." By focusing especially on the work of Muòhammad Bakhåit al-Muòtåi°åi, Mufti of Egypt for a time and a leading scholar at the Azhar, Transformations shows that the colonial moment of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries marked a significant rupture in how Muslim jurists understood history and authority, science and technology, and religion and the secular, thereby upending the very ground upon which Islamic law had until then functioned"--


Book Synopsis Transformations of Tradition by : Junaid Quadri

Download or read book Transformations of Tradition written by Junaid Quadri and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2021 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book is a study of the Muslim world's entanglement with colonial modernity. More specifically, it is an historical examination of the development of the long-standing, indigenous tradition of learning and praxis known as Islamic law (shari°a, fiqh) as a result of its imbalanced interaction with new European modes of knowing during, and in the immediate aftermath of, the colonial experience. Drawing upon the writings of jurist-scholars from the òHanaf åischool of law writing in Cairo, Kazan, Lucknow, Baghdad and Istanbul, Transformations of Tradition reveals several central shifts in Islamic legal writing that throw into doubt the possibility of reading its later trajectory through the lens of a continuous "tradition." By focusing especially on the work of Muòhammad Bakhåit al-Muòtåi°åi, Mufti of Egypt for a time and a leading scholar at the Azhar, Transformations shows that the colonial moment of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries marked a significant rupture in how Muslim jurists understood history and authority, science and technology, and religion and the secular, thereby upending the very ground upon which Islamic law had until then functioned"--

Between Tradition and Modernity

Between Tradition and Modernity

Author: Shireen Maswood

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9788170743255

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Papers presented at a national seminar held at University of Calcutta in 2006.


Book Synopsis Between Tradition and Modernity by : Shireen Maswood

Download or read book Between Tradition and Modernity written by Shireen Maswood and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Papers presented at a national seminar held at University of Calcutta in 2006.

Islamic education between tradition and modernity

Islamic education between tradition and modernity

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13: 9789981261556

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Download or read book Islamic education between tradition and modernity written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Islam and Modernity

Islam and Modernity

Author: Muhammad Khalid Masud

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Published: 2009-08-18

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 074863794X

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Recent events have focused attention on the perceived differences and tensions between the Muslim world and the modern West. As a major strand of Western public discourse has it, Islam appears resistant to internal development and remains inherently pre-modern. However Muslim societies have experienced most of the same structural changes that have impacted upon all societies: massive urbanisation, mass education, dramatically increased communication, the emergence of new types of institutions and associations, some measure of political mobilisation, and major transformations of the economy. These developments are accompanied by a wide range of social movements and by complex and varied religious and ideological debates. This textbook is a pioneering study providing an introduction to and overview of the debates and questions that have emerged regarding Islam and modernity. Key issues are selected to give readers an understanding of the complexity of the phenomenon from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. The various manifestations of modernity in Muslim life discussed include social change and the transformation of political and religious institutions, gender politics, changing legal regimes, devotional practices and forms of religious association, shifts in religious authority, and modern developments in Muslim religious thought.


Book Synopsis Islam and Modernity by : Muhammad Khalid Masud

Download or read book Islam and Modernity written by Muhammad Khalid Masud and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2009-08-18 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent events have focused attention on the perceived differences and tensions between the Muslim world and the modern West. As a major strand of Western public discourse has it, Islam appears resistant to internal development and remains inherently pre-modern. However Muslim societies have experienced most of the same structural changes that have impacted upon all societies: massive urbanisation, mass education, dramatically increased communication, the emergence of new types of institutions and associations, some measure of political mobilisation, and major transformations of the economy. These developments are accompanied by a wide range of social movements and by complex and varied religious and ideological debates. This textbook is a pioneering study providing an introduction to and overview of the debates and questions that have emerged regarding Islam and modernity. Key issues are selected to give readers an understanding of the complexity of the phenomenon from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. The various manifestations of modernity in Muslim life discussed include social change and the transformation of political and religious institutions, gender politics, changing legal regimes, devotional practices and forms of religious association, shifts in religious authority, and modern developments in Muslim religious thought.

Iran

Iran

Author: Ramin Jahanbegloo

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2004-03-27

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 0739156594

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The Iranian Revolution represented to intellectuals and professionals the potential of spiritual values to triumph over the great power of economic imperialism. Yet out of this revolution has emerged an identity crisis that touches Islamic ideological heights and reaches down to the very ground of Islamic practice. The contributors to this collection, experts on Iranian cultural and political history, analyze the 'fragmented self' of today's Iranian, refracted through that country's institutions, market forces, and modern thought. Each essay both deepens our understanding of contemporary Iran and adds to the broader discussion of the relationship between Islam and the West.


Book Synopsis Iran by : Ramin Jahanbegloo

Download or read book Iran written by Ramin Jahanbegloo and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2004-03-27 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Iranian Revolution represented to intellectuals and professionals the potential of spiritual values to triumph over the great power of economic imperialism. Yet out of this revolution has emerged an identity crisis that touches Islamic ideological heights and reaches down to the very ground of Islamic practice. The contributors to this collection, experts on Iranian cultural and political history, analyze the 'fragmented self' of today's Iranian, refracted through that country's institutions, market forces, and modern thought. Each essay both deepens our understanding of contemporary Iran and adds to the broader discussion of the relationship between Islam and the West.

Islam, Modernity and a New Millennium

Islam, Modernity and a New Millennium

Author: Ali Paya

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-02-02

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1351615599

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As the world becomes increasingly globalised Islam faces some important choices. Does it seek to "modernise" in line with the cultures in which it is practised, or does it retain its traditions even if they are at odds with the surrounding society? This book utilizes a critical rationalist viewpoint to illuminate many of the hotly contended issues in modern Islam, and to offer a fresh analysis. A variety of issues within Islam are discussed in this book including, Muslims and modernity; Islam, Christianity and Judaism; approaches to the understanding of the Quran; Muslim identity and civil society; doctrinal certainty and violent radicalism. In each case, the author makes use of Karl Popper’s theory of critical rationalism to uncover new aspects of these issues and to challenge post-modern, relativist, literalist and justificationist readings of Islam. This is a unique perspective on contemporary Islam and as such will be of significant interest to scholars of Religious Studies, Islamic Studies and the Philosophy of Religion.


Book Synopsis Islam, Modernity and a New Millennium by : Ali Paya

Download or read book Islam, Modernity and a New Millennium written by Ali Paya and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-02-02 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the world becomes increasingly globalised Islam faces some important choices. Does it seek to "modernise" in line with the cultures in which it is practised, or does it retain its traditions even if they are at odds with the surrounding society? This book utilizes a critical rationalist viewpoint to illuminate many of the hotly contended issues in modern Islam, and to offer a fresh analysis. A variety of issues within Islam are discussed in this book including, Muslims and modernity; Islam, Christianity and Judaism; approaches to the understanding of the Quran; Muslim identity and civil society; doctrinal certainty and violent radicalism. In each case, the author makes use of Karl Popper’s theory of critical rationalism to uncover new aspects of these issues and to challenge post-modern, relativist, literalist and justificationist readings of Islam. This is a unique perspective on contemporary Islam and as such will be of significant interest to scholars of Religious Studies, Islamic Studies and the Philosophy of Religion.

Islam and Modernity in Turkey

Islam and Modernity in Turkey

Author: B. Silverstein

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2011-01-31

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 0230117031

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In contrast to much of the Muslim world, a majority of Turks consider Islam to be primarily a matter of personal choice and private belief. How did such an arrangement come about? Moreover, most observant Muslims in Turkey do not see such a conception and practice of Islam as illegitimate. Why not? Islam and Modernity in Turkey addresses these questions through an ethnographic study of Islamic discourses and practices and their articulation with mass media in Turkey, against the background of late Ottoman and early Republican precedents. This ground-breaking book sheds new light on issues of commensurability and difference in culture, religion, and history, and reformulates our understanding of Islam, secularism, and public life in Turkey, the Muslim world, and Europe.


Book Synopsis Islam and Modernity in Turkey by : B. Silverstein

Download or read book Islam and Modernity in Turkey written by B. Silverstein and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-01-31 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In contrast to much of the Muslim world, a majority of Turks consider Islam to be primarily a matter of personal choice and private belief. How did such an arrangement come about? Moreover, most observant Muslims in Turkey do not see such a conception and practice of Islam as illegitimate. Why not? Islam and Modernity in Turkey addresses these questions through an ethnographic study of Islamic discourses and practices and their articulation with mass media in Turkey, against the background of late Ottoman and early Republican precedents. This ground-breaking book sheds new light on issues of commensurability and difference in culture, religion, and history, and reformulates our understanding of Islam, secularism, and public life in Turkey, the Muslim world, and Europe.

Art and Architecture in the Islamic Tradition

Art and Architecture in the Islamic Tradition

Author: Mohammed Hamdouni Alami

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2013-12-20

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0857731750

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What is 'art' in the sense of the Islamic tradition? Mohammed Hamdouni Alami argues that Islamic art has historically been excluded from Western notions of art; that the Western aesthetic tradition's preoccupation with the human body, and the ban on the representation of the human body in Islam, has meant that Islamic and Western art have been perceived as inherently at odds. However, the move away from this 'anthropomorphic aesthetic' in Western art movements, such as modern abstract and constructivist painting, have presented the opportunity for new ways of viewing and evaluating Islamic art and architecture. This book questions the very idea of art predicated on the anthropocentric bias of classical art, and the corollary 'exclusion' of Islamic art from the status of art. It addresses a central question in post-classical aesthetic theory, in as much as the advent of modern abstract and constructivist painting have shown that art can be other than the representation of the human body; that art is not neutral aesthetic contemplation but it is fraught with power and violence; and that the presupposition of classical art was not a universal truth but the assumption of a specific cultural and historical set of practices and vocabularies. Based on close readings of classical Islamic literature, philosophy, poetry, medicine and theology, along with contemporary Western art theory, the author uncovers a specific Islamic theoretical vision of art and architecture based on poetic practice, politics, cosmology and desire. In particular it traces the effects of decoration and architectural planning on the human soul as well as the centrality of the gaze in this poetic view - in Arabic 'nazar'- while examining its surprising similarity to modern theories of the gaze. Through this double gesture, moving critically between two traditions, the author brings Islamic thought and aesthetics back into the realm of visibility, addressing the lack of recognition in comparison with other historical periods and traditions. This is an important step toward a critical analysis of the contemporary debate around the revival of Islamic architectural identity - a debate intricately embedded within opposing Islamic political and social projects throughout the world.


Book Synopsis Art and Architecture in the Islamic Tradition by : Mohammed Hamdouni Alami

Download or read book Art and Architecture in the Islamic Tradition written by Mohammed Hamdouni Alami and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-12-20 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is 'art' in the sense of the Islamic tradition? Mohammed Hamdouni Alami argues that Islamic art has historically been excluded from Western notions of art; that the Western aesthetic tradition's preoccupation with the human body, and the ban on the representation of the human body in Islam, has meant that Islamic and Western art have been perceived as inherently at odds. However, the move away from this 'anthropomorphic aesthetic' in Western art movements, such as modern abstract and constructivist painting, have presented the opportunity for new ways of viewing and evaluating Islamic art and architecture. This book questions the very idea of art predicated on the anthropocentric bias of classical art, and the corollary 'exclusion' of Islamic art from the status of art. It addresses a central question in post-classical aesthetic theory, in as much as the advent of modern abstract and constructivist painting have shown that art can be other than the representation of the human body; that art is not neutral aesthetic contemplation but it is fraught with power and violence; and that the presupposition of classical art was not a universal truth but the assumption of a specific cultural and historical set of practices and vocabularies. Based on close readings of classical Islamic literature, philosophy, poetry, medicine and theology, along with contemporary Western art theory, the author uncovers a specific Islamic theoretical vision of art and architecture based on poetic practice, politics, cosmology and desire. In particular it traces the effects of decoration and architectural planning on the human soul as well as the centrality of the gaze in this poetic view - in Arabic 'nazar'- while examining its surprising similarity to modern theories of the gaze. Through this double gesture, moving critically between two traditions, the author brings Islamic thought and aesthetics back into the realm of visibility, addressing the lack of recognition in comparison with other historical periods and traditions. This is an important step toward a critical analysis of the contemporary debate around the revival of Islamic architectural identity - a debate intricately embedded within opposing Islamic political and social projects throughout the world.