Contemporary Thought in the Muslim World: Trends, Themes, and Issues (Contemporary Thought in the Islamic World)

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. Read more... Cover 1 Half Title 4 Series Page 5 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 Note 16 1. The problem of taxonomy: categorizing contemporary Muslim intellectuals 17 Traditional and socially conservative 18 Reactionary 23 Progressive Islamic discourses 27 Notes 35 2. Philosophies of knowledge: transmission and reason 38 Heritage thinkers: Arab Averroists, Renewers and Critics 40 From renewal thinking to Islamic post-traditionalism and transformative Islam: progressive Muslim discourses in Indonesia 52 Turkey’s Ankara school 55 New religious intellectuals in Iran 56 Khaled Abou El Fadl’s methodology of ihsan 62 Closing remarks 64 Notes 64 3. Scripture: alternative ways of engaging with the Qur’an 69 Textualist approaches 71 Contextualist approaches 76 Acontrarian reading of the Qur’an 78 Ascientific contemporary reading of the Qur’an 80 Indirect exegesis: how to understand revelation in post-revolutionary Iran: Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari and Abdolkarim Soroush 84 Notes 87 4. Spiritual dimensions of contemporary Muslim thought: Sufism today: psychology, literature, and Islamization of knowledge 90 Critiques of modernism: the connections between modern-day Sufism and traditionalism 93 Integrating the intellectual and spiritual: Islamization of knowledge and Sufi psychology 97 Sufism and literature 102 Further manifestations of contemporary Sufism: urban, intellectual and otherwise 107 By way of conclusion: Sufism as part of Turkey’s ‘third way’ 108 Notes 109 5. Islam and politics: thinking about secularity, freedom and democracy 114 Islam: religion and state, or religion and not astate? 115 Secularity, secularization, secularism 117 Theorizing Islam and the state in Indonesia 121 Writing about freedom, democracy and reason in Iran and Turkey 123 The case of democracy in the Arab-Islamic world 127 Euro-Islam: citizenship, loyalty and political participation of Muslims in minority situations 131 Concluding remarks 133 Notes 134 6. Shariʿa: Islamic legal system or ethical guideline? 138 Substantivist critiques and reinterpretations of Islamic law 140 From maqasid al-shariʿa to maqasidi thinking 145 Debating Islamic law in the Islamic Republic of Iran 150 Maqasid al-Shariʿa and minority fiqh 153 Closing remarks 156 Notes 156 7. Dealing with difference and plurality: emancipation, toleration and human rights 160 Muslim feminists on women’s rights 160 Minority fiqh and religious diversity 168 From Islamic exclusivism to religious pluralism 170 Islam and human rights 176 Closing remarks 183 Notes 183 8. Issues of the twenty-first century: globalization, ecology and medical ethics 187 Muslims in aglobalizing world 187 From clash to dialogue, to alliance of civilizations: the securitization of the globalization debate 193 Sleepwalking into acrisis? Islam and ecology 194 Medical ethics and bioethics 198 Notes 201 Bibliography 205 Index 221 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 the 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 laegacy of transmitted traditional Isalmic 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 emphasize politics and confrontations with the West, this book is an essential resource for students and scholars of Islam. -- From back cover Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. The Problem Of Taxonomy: Categorizing Contemporary Muslim Intellectuals -- 2. Philosophies Of Knowledge: Transmission And Reason -- 3. Scripture: Alternative Ways Of Engaging With The Qur'an -- 4. Spiritual Dimensions Of Contemporary Muslim Thought: Sufism Today: Psychology, Literature, And Islamization Of Knowledge -- 5. Islam And Politics: Thinking About Secularity, Freedom, And Democracy -- 6. Shari'a: Islamic Legal System Or Ethical Guideline? -- 7. Dealing With Difference And Plurality: Emancipation, Toleration, And Human Rights -- 8. Issues Of The Twenty-first Century: Globalization, Ecology, And Medical Ethics -- Bibliography -- Index. Carool Kersten. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.