Pathways to Contemporary Islam: New Trends in Critical Engagement

Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman (editor)
Hardback, 292 pages
9789462987593

Pathways to Contemporary Islam: New Trends in Critical Engagement highlights that the current tensions in Islam and the Muslim world are the result of historical dynamics as opposed to an alleged incompatibility between religious tradition and modernity. The emphasis on pathways indicates that critical engagement and contestation have always been intrinsic to the history of Islam. The aim of the book is to elaborate the contemporary pathways and analyse the trends that contest the Islamic intellectual tradition, the relationship between religion and politics, and the individual and collective practice of religion. The collection of essays analyses the current efforts of critical re-engagement with the Islamic intellectual tradition and underlines the historical diversity of Islamic orthodoxies that led to the establishment of various pathways in the practice and role of religion in Muslim societies.

Contents

Introduction: Constructing Pathways to Contemporary Islam

Section 1: Historical Trends in Contemporary Perspective
1. Pathways to Modern Islam
2. A Theoretical Pathway to Contemporary Islam

Section 2: Contesting the Islamic Intellectual Tradition
3. A New Approach to Islamic Intellectual Tradition
4. The Best and Most Trying of Times
5. The Function of Myths in the Justification of Muslim Extremism

Section 3: Beyond the Arab Revolutions: Political Islam Revised
6. Building Trust in the Democratic Process
7. The Failure of Political Islam Revisited
8. Regaining the Islamic Centre?

Section 4: Contemporary Spaces of Critical Engagement
9.Enhancing Dialogue Between Religious Traditions
10. The Ethical in Shari'a Practices
11. The New Horizons of Piety

Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman is Assistant Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He is also an Associate Faculty at the Islamophobia Studies Research and Documentation Project at the University of California-Berkeley.