| Religion as Critique: Islamic Critical Thinking from Mecca to the Marketplace Contributor(s): Ahmad, Irfan (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 1469635089 ISBN-13: 9781469635088 Publisher: University of North Carolina Press OUR PRICE: $98.01 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: December 2017 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Islam - General - Social Science | Islamic Studies - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social |
| Dewey: 181.07 |
| LCCN: 2017020949 |
| Series: Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks |
| Physical Information: 0.81" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (1.41 lbs) 300 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Islamic |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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 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. |
Contributor Bio(s): Ahmad, Irfan: - Irfan Ahmad, an anthropologist and senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Studies in Gottingen, Germany, is the author of Islamism and Democracy in India: The Transformation of Jamaat-e-Islami. |