Religion as critique : Islamic critical thinking from Mecca to the marketplace
Irfan Ahmad (Author)
"Irfan 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 contemplates and 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."-- Provided by publisher
eBook, English, 2017
The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2017
1 online resource
9781469635101, 9781469635118, 1469635100, 1469635119
1012487580
Cover
Title
Copyright
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Notes on Transliteration
PROLOGUE
PART I: Formulation
1 INTRODUCTION
The Ubiquitous Absence, or the Received Wisdom
The Absent Ubiquity, or the Argument
Amartya Sen and The Argumentative Indian
Design of Intervention
2 CRITIQUE: Western and/or Islamic
The Enlightenment as Ethnicity
Anthropology and Critique
Reconfiguring the Axial Age: Critique before the Enlightenment
Islam as Critique
3 THE MODES: Another Genealogy of Critique
Critique-Tanqīd/Naqd-in Urdu
Elements of an Alternative Genealogy
Religion and Literature: Believing Ghalib
Divine Critique
PART II: Illustration
4 THE MESSAGE: A Critical Enterprise
Maududi Dereified
Frame and Method: The Permanence of Ijtihad and 'Aql
The Postulates
The Aims
5 THE STATE: (In)dispensable, Desirable, Revisable?
Rupture and Continuity
Forceful Arguments
Recovering Universalism
Exceptions of the State
6 THE DIFFERENCE: Women and (In)equality
Maududi's Janus-Like Neopatriarchate
Neopatriarchate in Its Place: Multiple Critiques
Context of Transformation
Terms for Use
7 THE MUNDANE: Critique as Social-Cultural Practice
Critique in Movement
Homo Khidmatiqus
Critique in Everyday Life: The Power of Proverbs
The Greed of the Mullah, the Creed of the Ungodly
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z