Islam and Modernity: Muslim Intellectuals Respond

This text presents the ideas of a number of contemporary modernist and liberal Muslim thinkers, exposing an important intellectual current in Islamic thought. These figures work mainly outside “established” institutional, political and religious frameworks, whilst relying heavily on traditional sources. Responding to the challenges brought by colonialism and modernization, they propose new conceptions and interpretations of Islam consonant with the age. Although their specific concerns and emphases vary, their thought shares certain features; a reconsideration of the relation between religion and politics; an easy incorporation of modern Western ideas; a reinterpretaton of sacred sources which highlights their more universalist elements; and a conception of Islam as moving with historical change whilst remaining rooted in Qur’anic values. Disputing the widespread view of modern Islam as essentially political, the book shows a quite different face of the tradition.