Contemporary Debates in Islam: An Anthology of Modernist and Fundamentalist Thought

375 Pages·2000·44.31 MB·English

by  Mansoor Moaddel

CONTEMPORARY
DEBATES IN ISLAM
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Edited by
MANSOOR MOADDEL
and
KAMRAN TALATTOF
Palgrave Macmillan
CONTEMPORARY DEBATES IN ISLAM
Copyright© 2000 Mansoor Moaddel and Kamran Talattof. All rights reserved.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-312-21580-4
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written pennission except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175
Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
ISBN 978-1-349-61957-3 ISBN 978-1-349-61955-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-61955-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Contemporary debates in Islam : an anthology of modernist and
fundamentalist thought I edited by Mansoor Moaddel and Kamran
Talattof.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Islam-20th century. 2. Islam-Essence, genius, nature.
3. Islamic fundamentalism. I. Moaddel, Mansoor. II. Talattof,
Kamran.
BP163.C64 1999
297.2'7-dc21 99-18673
CIP
Design by Letra Libre, Inc.
First St. Martin's edition: May 2000
Transferred to Digital Printing 2006
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
TO MAR]AN, CHRISTINE,
ARJANG, PAYVAND, AND ARMIN

CONTENTS
Preface Vlll
Credits and Acknowledgments ix
Note on Translations, Transliteration, and Editing xi
Introduction Contemporary Debates in Islam 1
Part I An Overview ofI slamic Modernism:
The Contributors in Context 7
Part II An Overview ofI slamic Fundamentalism:
The Contributors in Context 16
I. JURISPRUDENCE, RATIONAL SCIENCES,
AND DIFFERENTIATION OF KNOWLEDGE
1. Religion versus Science 23
Sayyid Jamal al-Din at-Afghani
2. Islamic Revealed Law versus Islamic Common Law 29
Moulavi Chiragh Ali
3. The Rationalistic and Philosophical Spirit of Islam 35
AmirAli
4. The Sociological Laws of the Quran 41
Muhammad Abduh
5. The Necessity of Religious Reform 45
Muhammad Abduh
6. Methodology of Historical Writing 53
'A/lama Shibli Nu 'mani
IT. ISLAM AND POLIDCS
7. War and Peace: Popular Jihad 71
Moulavi Chiragh Ali
8. The Problem of Caliphate 95
Ali Abd al-Raziq
9. Authority and the Problem of Succession 101
AmirAli
10. Intellectual Pluralism and Freedom of Opinion 109
Sayyid Ahmad Khan
ill. ISLAM AND WESTERN CIVILIZATION
11. Social Liberalism and Laissez-F aire Capitalism 123
Anonymous Mu'tazilite Muslim
12. Islam and Civilization 135
Muhammad Farid Wajdi
N. ISLAMIC MODERNISM AND THE ISSUE OF WOMEN
13. Polygamy 145
Moulavi Chiragh Ali
14. The Rights of Women 159
Sayyid Ahmad Khan
15. The Liberation ofWomen 163
QasimAmin
V. STYLE OF LIVING
16. The Way of Life 183
Sayyid Ahmad Khan
17. The Way To Eat a Meal 187
Sayyid Ahmad Khan
18. Civil Rights 189
Rifa'ah Rifo al-Tahtawi
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I. JURISPRUDENCE, BASES OF LAW,
AND RATIONAL SCIENCES
19. Islam as the Foundation of Knowledge 197
SayyidQutb
20. Fallacy of Rationalism 207
Sayyid Abut A 'Ia Maududi
II. ISLAM AND POLIDCS
21. War, Peace, and Islamic Jihad 223
SayyidQutb
22. The Pillars of an Islamic State 247
Imam Ruhullah Khomeini
23. The Necessity oflslamic Government 251
Imam Ruhullah Khomeini
24. The Political Theory oflslam 263
Sayyid Abut A 'Ia Maududi
25. All-Encompassing Program of an Islamic State 273
Islamic Salvation Front ofA lgeria
26. Boycotting the 1997 Election in Jordan 301
Society oft he Muslim Brothers
27. Islamic Action Front Party 309
Interview with Dr. Ishaq A. Farhan
III. ISLAM AND WESTERN CIVILIZATION
28. Critical Attitude toward the West and the Idea
of Western Decadence 315
Ali Shariati
29. Self-Destructiveness of Western Civilization 325
Sayyid Abut A 'la Maududi
30. Granting Capitulatory Rights to the U.S. 333
Imam Ruhullah Khomeini
31. Islam and Its Adversaries 341
Abd al-LatifSultani
32. Westoxication 343
]ala/ Al-i Ahmad
rv: WOMEN AND THE HI]AB
33. A Moralizing Fundamentalism 359
Abd al-LatifSultani
34. On the Islamic Hijab 361
Murtaza Mutahhari
Bibliographical Sources 373
Index 377
PREFACE
IN TillS VOLUME WE INTRODUCE READERS TO TWO DIVERSE discourses in
contemporary Islamic sociopolitical thought. We try to illustrate that Islam is not a
monolithic religion, and, like any system of ideas, it is subject to change according
to changes in social conditions. We also show that "Islam versus the West" is not
simply a debate between Islamic fundamentalism and the Western world. It is
rather an ideologicaVtheological debate within Islam itself. Our broader objective,
however, is to contribute to the existing debates on the determinants of ideological
production. To this end, we have organized the views of Muslim scholars in terms
of a series of historically significant issues that have appeared in the Islamic world
since the second part of the nineteenth century. We believe that modernist and
fundamentalist discourses were formulated around these issues. How wars of posi
tions over these issues would lead to different, if not opposing, ideological resolu
tions within the same system of thought is a problem that needs to be analyzed in
terms of the parameters of the socioeconomic, political, and cultural contexts
within which Muslim ideological producers offer their ideas. Before doing so, how
ever, we felt it is necessary to offer the community of scholars in the areas of Is
lamic/Middle Eastern studies as well as cultural sociology an explanation of the
manner in which we reached our conception oflslamic modernism and fundamen
talism, and for that matter, of the dependent variable-ideological production.
This work reflects the editors' common interest in the question of ideology. It
is a part of Mansoor Moaddel's larger work on the determinants of ideological pro
duction in the Islamic world, which has been supported by two grants from the
National Science Foundation (SBR 96-01439, SBR 92-13209), one grant from
the United States Institute of Peace (USIP-080-965), fellowships from the Na
tional Endowment for the Humanities, the United States Information Agency,
and Eastern Michigan University. It also reflects Kamran Talattof's thematic con
cerns in his project on the role of ideology in the formation of literary history and
cultural change supported by grants from the University of Michigan and Prince
ton University. The opinions expressed in this book do not necessarily reflect the
views of the NSF and other institutions that support this study.
CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK NEDA SAAB FOR HER contribution in improv
ing the translations of the Arabic articles and Kazim Saeed for his help in the
translations of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan's articles from Urdu. We are thankful to
Christine Dykgraaf and Nathan Willis for their assistance in the preparation of
this volume. We are also grateful to the Graduate School of Eastern Michigan
University and Princeton University for providing financial support toward the
publication of this book. In translating the articles by Sayyid Ahmad Khan, we
have tremendously benefited from an earlier translation by John Wilder. Selected
Essays By Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan From the Journal Tahzib al-Akhlaq, unpub
lished M.A. Thesis, Hartford, Connecticut: Hartford Seminary Foundation, 1972.
Finally, we are thankful to all the publishers that granted us permission to reprint
material:
Nikki R Keddie, ed. Excerpt from An Islamic Response to Imperialism: Political and
Religious Writings ofSayyid Jamal at-Din at-Afghani, pp. 181-87, Copyright© 1968
by University of California Press.
Qasim Amin. Introduction: "The Status of Women in Society: A Reflection of the
Nation's Moral Standards." In The Liberation ofWomen, translated by Samiha Sid
hom Peterson. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 1992, pp. 3-61.
Copyright© 1992 by The American University in Cairo Press.
RaifKhuri, ed. "Selection III: Rifa'a Rafi' al-Tahtawi, 1216-1290 (1801-1873)." In
Modern Arab Thought: Channels from the French Revolution to the Arab East. Prince
ton: Kingston Press, 1983, pp. 102-10.
Sayyid Qutb Shaheed. "Islam and Culture." In Milestones, 2nd ed., translated by S.
Badrul Hasan, M.A. Karachi, Pakistan: International Islamic Publishers Ltd.,
1988, pp. 193-208.
Ali Shariati. "Modem Calamities." Marxism and Other Western Fallacies: An Islamic
Critique. translated by R. Campbell. Berkeley: Mizan Press, 1980, pp. 32 -40, 91-6.
Copyright © 1968 by Mizan Press.