Debating Islam and Modernity

Is Islam compatible with Modernity, and its diverse aspectslike democracy, science, rationality?

This question has been debated for more than two centuries now. In India, this debate started with British imperialism in post-Mughal era. Carl W. Ernst, a prominent Islamic Studies scholar, in ‘Following Mohammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World’ (2003: 143-4) writes: “By the late nineteenth century, Europeans had developed a number of arguments to demonstrate the cultural inferiority of the nations of the Orient, principally Muslim countries.

   

By maintaining that Islam was essentially oppressive to women and by linking Muslim backwardness to the practice of veiling women, colonial administrators could justify their rule over Asia and Africa, since they were the bearers of enlightened modernity.

At the same time, they maintained that Muslims could only become civilized if they abandoned veiling—that is, if they abandoned what were believed to be essential practices of Islam”.

Since the Muslims were first to start uprising against British imperialism, in this case, lot of things were written against Islam to show them backward in every field, to show Islam incompatible with democracy, science, rationality, etc.

In this case, Muslim scholars like Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Chirag Ali, Mumtaz Ali, Abul Kalam Azad, Allama Iqbal, Shibli Numani, Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi, Syed Abu’l Ala Mawdudi, and many others gave their critical response to their works. This debate has been relevant even today, as it has manifested in different forms, from nationalism to secularism, and from rationality to progressive thought.

A plethora of literature has been produced on thequestion—mostly on reconciliatory approach. In recent times, some pioneeringworks, in the context of, or with a focus on, South Asia on this debate are: M.Khalid Masud, et. al., Islam and Modernity: Key Issues and Debates (2009),Shireen Hunter’s Reformist Voices of Islam—Meditating Islam and Modernity(2009), Safdar Ahmed’s Reform and Modernity in Islam (2013), etc. A newaddition to this existing literature, with some unique features and addressingcertain specific issues is Tauseef Ahmad Parray’s ‘Mediating Islam andModernity: Sir Syed, Iqbal and Azad’ (2019).

Dr. Tauseef, son of the soil who teaches in Higher EducationDepartment, is one of the few young scholars from Kashmir, in Islamic Studiesdiscipline, having published globally in leading journals. ‘Mediating Islam andModernity’, his third book, has been published by Viva Books (New Delhi) lastmonth.

The book comprises 4 chapters, excluding Preface andEpilogue, with a Foreword by the renowned anthropologist Professor Irfan Ahmad(presently at Max Planck Institute, Göttingen, Germany). In addition to this,the book has endorsements from Prof(s) Faisal Devji (University of Oxford)) andIftikhar H. Malik (Bath Spa University, England), who have described it,respectively, in these words: “Mediating Islam and Modernity is a bold attemptand timely initiative … [which] reflects on the contributions of Sir SayyidAhmed Khan, Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Maulana Azad—the three doyens of thisinnovative and permeating strand in South Asia” and “A lucid and detailed studyof three of the most celebrated Muslim intellectuals of modern India”.

These chapters focus on: British Colonialism and ‘Pioneering Modernists’ of Colonial India on Reconciling ‘Islam and Modernity; Muslim Responses to Imperialism: Contribution of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan as a Muslim Modernist-cum-Educational Reformer; Islamic Modernist and Reformist Thought in Colonial India: A Comparative Study of Sir Sayyid and Muhammad Iqbal; and ‘Islamic Democracy’ or ‘Democratic Islam’: Re-Reading Abul Kalam Azad on Shura—Democracy Nexus.

The book is a lucid and detailed study of three of the most celebrated Muslim intellectuals of South Asia. The book tries to mediate modernity and Islam, reconcile traditionalism with modernism, Islam with modern values as propounded by the three prominent South Asian thinkers Sir Syed, Iqbal, and Azad. It discusses analyses, examines their thought and focuses on issues educational program of Sir Syed as a response to modernity, Islam-Democracy discourse, Ijma and Ijtihad, Religion-Science debate, etc.

The beauty of the book is that it has used wide range of sources from both Urdu and English and many disciplines like anthropology, history, political science not only Islamic studies.

The book not only discusses the things discussed above by three Islamic thinkers but their understanding of dynamic, progressive religion Islam that was made stagnant and static by  the forces of history and rigid interpretation of many ‘Ulama.

The book analyses and discusses not only understating by them on Islam and modernity but their contribution in the field of education, intellectual development, political, social and economic development of British Indian Muslims, their legacy and impact.

It is in this backdrop that Prof Irfan highly praises this work by calling it “an important contribution”, which “skilfully analyses the thoughts of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Iqbal, and Abul Kalam Azad beyond the narrow grooves of nationalism and its attendant doxa” (p. xi).

In sum, by revisiting and (re)examining the thoughts and visions of Sir Sayyid, Iqbal, and Azad, Dr Tauseef’s book has highlighted some of the contemporary crucial issues (of diverse nature), within the broader context of current situation.

Having got praises globally, Mediating Islam and Modernity is a must-read for everyone who wants to revisit the legacy of pioneering figures like Sir Sayyid, Iqbal, and Azad, and see the impact and relevance of their thinking in the 21st century. It is an interesting-read and a helpful reference book for the students and researchers of South Asian history and Islamic Studies.

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