Religion in Modern Islamic Discourse

Abdulkader Tayob

Religion as an analytical category doesn't lend itself to the reexamination and reinvention of tradition, especially in Islam, where the lines demarcating religion, culture, civilization, and politics are kept deliberately ambiguous.

Religion in Modern Islamic Discourse examines the place of religion in debates and discussions from the nineteenth century to the present. Abdulkader Tayob follows the transformation of Islamic discourse, both in its adaptation and resistance to modernity. Tayob focuses on the efforts by intellectuals to reconcile Islam with the forces of modernization. He begins in Egypt and colonial India, closely reading works on 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, providing an unusually creative perspective on the evolution of its modern discourse.

Related Subjects

• Islam

About the Author

Abdulkader Tayob is professor of Islamic studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He has held visiting professorships at The International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) and at the University of Virginia and the University of Hamburg. His books include Islam: A Short Introduction.

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