Modernist and Fundamentalist Debates in Islam: A Reader [Paperback]

Mansoor Moaddel (Editor), Kamran Talattof (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2002

Previously published in hardcover as "Contemporary Debates in Islam"

 

With resurgent interest in the Muslim world and in particular political Islam, this collection of original essays by major Muslim thinkers from the Middle East and South Asia demonstrates the ongoing and contentious debate between modernizers seeking to adapt Western ways and fundamentalists who rejected them. From Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Sayyid Ahmad Khan in the 19th century to Sayyid Qutb and Ayatollah Khomeini in the 20th, the essays provide an opportunity to examine a diversity of Muslim thinkers' thoughts on important topics like jurisprudence, politics, relations with the West, and women, in their own words.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Provides an excellent source of the major issues that have engaged Muslim intellectuals for over a century as they attempted to grapple with the challenges of Western hegemony and modernity.

- Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Georgetown University

About the Author

Mansoor Moaddel is a professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology at Eastern Michigan University. Kamran Talattof is Associate Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1 edition (September 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403960925
• ISBN-13: 978-1403960924
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #686,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fundamentalist Islam (Khomeini), January 20, 2010

By 

William Garrison Jr. (Bellevue, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Modernist and Fundamentalist Debates in Islam: A Reader (Paperback)

"Debates" is hardly the correct word here, "affirmation" would be more appropriate. This is no fundamentalist vs. reformist debate series; this is no Lincoln federalist vs. Douglas state-rights debate; this is more of a pro-Khomeini vs. a pro-pro-Khomeini `debate' over how `extreme' Islamo fascism should be. This is not a book that debates feminism vs. hadith; no, all 34 articles were written by men! If they favored allowing women to be educated, it was for the purpose that women could financially help themselves "to support the social structure of our society" (p. 170). The veil is promoted, polygamy is not renounced: "The practice was so deeply rooted in Arabia... that all [Mohammad] could venture to do was by imposing obligatory behests in the Quran against [non-equality between wives]... He could not do more than this. No reformer or legislator can do more" (p. 155). All of these authors are pro-Islamist Islam; the debate isn't over whether or not the veil should be worn - the `debate' is over whether the veil's color should be fundamentalist `midnight black' versus moderate `black' [as are all of the issues `debated' in this book]. I mean, look at the `debaters': Imam Ruhullah Khomeini vs. al-Afghani vs. Sayyid Qutb vs. The Society of Muslim Brothers: sure, some `debate' here! `Imam Ruhullah' Khomeini (not just `Ayatollah' Khomeini) - yes, a very pro-Shia perspective throughout this book. If you understand the Orwellian `double speak' of the `modernist' authors ["polygamy is bad -- unless you follow the guidance of the Quran and treat your wives equitably"], then you can wade through the `murkiness' [taqiyya]of the moderates' thoughts and get to the `Straight Path" fundamentalist Islam okay. In the Bibliography, references to John Esposito but not Robert Spencer. Only 4* because of the taqiyya.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book that offers insight on both sides of many issues, November 25, 2008

By 

Morgan Day (U.S.A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modernist and Fundamentalist Debates in Islam: A Reader (Paperback)

All in all I recommend this book. I have not finished it, but so far it is a very useful collection of essays for anyone interested in the different perspectives that Muslim's have on various issues related to their faith. At least one of the essays (at least in comparison with another translation I have)seems to have been translated by someone with an education in the English language rather then fluency, however that did not prevent the meaning of the text from being clear.