Religion in Modern Islamic Discourse

Book excerpt: Religion as an analytical category doesn't lend itself readily to the reexamination and reinvention of tradition, especially in Islam, where the lines demarcating religion, culture, civilization, and politics are deliberately ambiguous. Religion in Modern Islamic Discourse examines the place of religion in debates and discussions from the nineteenth century to the present. The volume follows the transformation of Islamic discourse, both in its acceptance of and resistance to modernity. Abdulkader Tayob is largely concerned with how intellectuals have reconciled Islam with the forces of modernization. He begins in Egypt and colonial India, closely reading early treatments of the essence of religion and its social value. He then explores key contributions on identity, state, law, and gender. Tayob's analysis reveals the deep structural foundations of Islam's approach to religion, religious values, and spirituality and offers an unusually creative perspective on the evolution of modern Islamic discourse.