Islam without Europe: Traditions of Reform in Eighteenth-Century Islamic Thought

446 Pages·2018·4.15 MB·English

by  Ahmad S. Dallal

Islam without Europe
Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks Carl W. Ernst and Bruce
B. Lawrence, editors
Highlighting themes with historical as well as contemporary significance, Islamic Civilization and Muslim
Networks features works that explore Islamic societies and Muslim peoples from a fresh perspective,
drawing on new interpretive frameworks or theoretical strategies in a variety of disciplines. Special
emphasis is given to systems of exchange that have promoted the creation and development of Islamic
identities—cultural, religious, or geopolitical. The series spans all periods and regions of Islamic
civilization.
A complete list of titles published in this series appears at the end of the book.
Islam without Europe
Traditions of Reform in Eighteenth-Century Islamic
Thought
AHMAD S. DALLAL
The University of North Carolina Press
Chapel Hill
This book was published with the assistance of the Anniversary Fund of the University of North Carolina
Press.
© 2018 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Set in Adobe Text Pro by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.
The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Cover illustrations from Persian Designs (Amsterdam: The Pepin Press / Agile Rabbit editions, 2007),
www.pepinpress.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dallal, Ahmad S., author.
Title: Islam without Europe : traditions of reform in eighteenth-century Islamic thought / Ahmad S. Dallal.
Description: Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, [2018] |
Series: Islamic civilization and Muslim networks | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017054850| ISBN 9781469640341 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469641409 (pbk :
alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469640358 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Islam—18th century. | Islamic countries—Intellectual life.
Classification: LCC BP55 .D35 2018 | DDC 297.09/033—dc23 LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2017054850
To my gracious and charming daughters,
Shezza and Kinda,
and their inspired and kindhearted brother,
Millal
ﺎﺒﻴﺴﺣ ﻚﻴﻠﻋ مﻮﻴﻟا ﻚﺴﻔﻨﺑ ﻰﻔﻛ ﻚﺑﺎﺘﻛ أﺮﻗا
(14 ،ءاﺮﺳﻹا)
Read your own book. Suffice it today that you be accountable to yourself.
—Qurʾān 17:14
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Reimagining the Eighteenth Century
Chapter 1. The Boundaries of Faith
Chapter 2. Ijtihād and the Regional Origins of a Universal Vision
Chapter 3. Sufism, Old and New
The Multiple Faces of the Spirit
Chapter 4. Genealogies of Dissent and the Politics of Knowledge
Chapter 5. Humanizing the Sacred
Conclusion
The Limits of the Sacred
Notes
Index