Enemy in the Mirror: Islamic Fundamentalism and the Limits of Modern Rationalism: A Work of Comparative Political Theory

256 Pages·1999·1.724 MB·English

by  Roxanne Leslie Euben

Enemy in the Mirror

Enemy in the Mirror
ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM AND THE
LIMITS OF MODERN RATIONALISM
A WORK OF COMPARATIVE POLITICAL THEORY
Roxanne L. Euben
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright1999byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,41WilliamStreet,
Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,Chichester,WestSussex
AllRightsReserved
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Euben,RoxanneLeslie,1966–
Enemyinthemirror:Islamicfundamentalismandthelimitsofmodern
rationalism/RoxanneL.Euben.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
eISBN 1-4008-0204-0(cid:13)
1.Islamicfundamentalism.2.Islamiccountries—Politicsandgovernment.
3.Rationalism.I.Title.
BP166.14.F85E93 1999 320.5′5′0917671—dc21 99-10153
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinCaledonia
http://pup.princeton.edu
FOR MY PARENTS
My First and Finest Teachers

Letusconsiderabstractmanstrippedofmyth,abstract
education,abstractmores,abstractlaw,abstractgovern-
ment;therandomvagariesoftheartisticimagination
unchanneled byanynativemyth;aculturewithoutany
fixedandconsecratedplaceoforigin,condemned to
exhaustallpossibilitiesandfeedmiserablyandparasiti-
callyoneverycultureunderthesun.Herewehaveour
presentage,theresultofaSocratismbentontheextermi-
nationofmyth.Mantoday,strippedofmyth,stands
famishedamongallhispastsandmustdigfranticallyfor
roots,beitamongthemostremoteantiquities.Whatdoes
ourgreathistoricalhungersignify,ourclutchingaboutus
ofcountlessothercultures,ourconsumingdesirefor
knowledge,ifnotthelossofmyth,ofamythichome,the
mythicwomb?Letusaskourselveswhetherourfeverish
andfrighteningagitationisanythingbutthegreedy
graspingforfoodofahungryman.
—FriedrichNietzche,TheBirthofTragedy

Contents
Prefacexi
ANoteonSpellingxv
CHAPTERONE
Re-MarkingTerritories 3
ComparativePoliticalTheoryandFoundationalist
PoliticalPractice 8
ThePoliticsofNaming:DefiningFundamentalism 16
CHAPTERTWO
ProjectionsandRefractions:IslamicFundamentalism and
ModernRationalistDiscourse 20
TheIrrationalRationalActor:Theoriesof
IslamicFundamentalism 25
MeaningandPower:ADialogicModelofIntepretation 36
TowardanUnderstanding ofIslamicFundamentalism 42
CHAPTERTHREE
AViewfromAnotherSide:ThePoliticalTheoryofSayyidQutb 49
SayyidQutb:RadicalandMartyr53
ModernityasPathology:AnalysisandExhortationinSignposts
alongtheRoad 55
RationalismandReenchantment 84
Conclusion:BeyondOrientalism 88
CHAPTERFOUR
AViewacrossTime:IslamastheReligionofReason 93
AfghaniandIslamicPhilosophy96
‘AbduhandTheTheologyofUnity 105
ThroughtheBackDoor:RationalismandIslamicModernism 114
Coda:KhomeiniandShi‘iteFundamentalism 117
CHAPTERFIVE
InsidetheLookingGlass:ViewswithintheWest 123
TheCrisisofAuthority127
TheDecayofMorality 133
TheDeclineofCommunity 142
ModernAnxietiesandMetaphysicalUrges 150