Religion as Critique: Islamic Critical Thinking from Mecca to the MarketplaceIrfan Ahmad makes the far-reaching argument that potent systems and modes for self-critique as well as critique of others are inherent in Islam--indeed, critique is integral to its fundamental tenets and practices. Challenging common views of Islam as hostile to critical thinking, Ahmad delineates thriving traditions of critique in Islamic culture, focusing in large part on South Asian traditions. Ahmad interrogates Greek and Enlightenment notions of reason and critique, and he notes how they are invoked in relation to "others," including Muslims. Drafting an alternative genealogy of critique in Islam, Ahmad reads religious teachings and texts, drawing on sources in Hindi, Urdu, Farsi, and English, and demonstrates how they serve as expressions of critique. Throughout, he depicts Islam as an agent, not an object, of critique. On a broader level, Ahmad expands the idea of critique itself. Drawing on his fieldwork among marketplace hawkers in Delhi and Aligarh, he construes critique anthropologically as a sociocultural activity in the everyday lives of ordinary Muslims, beyond the world of intellectuals. Religion as Critique allows space for new theoretical considerations of modernity and change, taking on such salient issues as nationhood, women's equality, the state, culture, democracy, and secularism. |
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Religion as Critique: Islamic Critical Thinking from Mecca to the Marketplace
User Review - Publishers WeeklyAnthropologist Ahmad (Islamism and Democracy in India) argues against the common Western view that Islam is inherently opposed to reform and critique in this incisive book. Ahmad writes that Western ... Read full review
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Religion as Critique: Islamic Critical Thinking from Mecca to the Marketplace Irfan Ahmad No preview available - 2017 |
Religion As Critique: Islamic Critical Thinking from Mecca to the Marketplace Irfan Ahmad No preview available - 2017 |
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Abul adab Ahmad Akbar Allah anthropology Arabic argued argument Asad asked axial age called century chap chapter Christianity cited civilization criticism culture Delhi democracy Deoband described didn’t dīn discuss domain dudi Enlightenment ethnicity Faruqi fieldwork fiqh Gandhi Ghaffar Khan Ghalib Ghazali God’s Greece hadith ḥarām Hasan Hindu Hindutva human ijtihād Imam immanent critique India intellectual Iqbal iṣlāḥ Islahi Islam Islamist issue italics Jamaat members Jamaat-e-Islami Kant Kant’s Khan’s Ḳhudāī Ḳhidmatgār knowledge literary literature Maghfur Maududi mavlvī means modern movement Muhammad Iqbal mujaddid Muslims Nadvi nationalism Nomani noted notion of critique one’s Pashtuns philosophy political practice Prophet Muhammad proverbs Qurʾān Qurʾānic readers reason reform religion religious Sadruddin scholars secular Sen’s Shah sharia specific Sufism Tajallī Talal Asad tanqīd taqlīd theodemocracy thought tion tique tradition truth University Urdu Usmani Valiullah vis-à-vis West Western woman women writings wrote Zurti ʿaql ʿulema