Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition (Volume 15)

by Fazlur Rahman

"As Professor Fazlur Rahman shows in the latest of a series of important contributions to Islamic intellectual history, the characteristic problems of the Muslim modernists—the adaptation to the needs of the contemporary situation of a holy book which draws its specific examples from the conditions of the seventh century and earlier—are by no means new. . . . In Professor Rahman's view the intellectual and therefore the social development of Islam has been impeded and distorted by two interrelated errors. The first was committed by those who, in reading the Koran, failed to recognize the differences between general principles and specific responses to 'concrete and particular historical situations.' . . . This very rigidity gave rise to the second major error, that of the secularists. By teaching and interpreting the Koran in such a way as to admit of no change or development, the dogmatists had created a situation in which Muslim societies, faced with the imperative need to educate their people for life in the modern world, were forced to make a painful and self-defeating choice—either to abandon Koranic Islam, or to turn their backs on the modern world."—Bernard Lewis, New York Review of Books

"In this work, Professor Fazlur Rahman presents a positively ambitious blueprint for the transformation of the intellectual tradition of theology, ethics, philosophy and jurisprudence. Over the voices advocating a return to Islam or the reestablishment of the Sharia, the guide for action, he astutely and soberly What and which Islam? More importantly, how does one get to 'normative' Islam? The author counsels, and passionately demonstrates, that for Islam to be actually what Muslims claim it to be—comprehensive in scope and efficacious for every age and place—Muslim scholars and educationists must reevaluate their methodology and hermeneutics. In spelling out the necessary and sound methodology, he is at once courageous, serious and profound."—Wadi Z. Haddad, American-Arab Affairs

Genres: Islam, Religion, History, Philosophy, Sociology, Theology, Pakistan

182 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 1982

Reviews

[Murtaza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Four decades ago when this book was written it was still plausible to imagine that there might be an alternative Islamic modernity that could exist in the world. I greatly respect Fazlur Rahman and credit his Major Themes of the Quran for having a decisive influence on me when I was younger and full of urgent questions. Reading this book however I can really sense how poorly his political thinking has aged. The contention that a genuine alternative modernity is somehow going to flow out of a new reading of the Quran today seems like an idea ranging somewhere from a waste of time to positively dangerous. This was written in 1982 and the two subsequent generations of Islamist calamity and stagnation that have occurred since then should disabuse anyone of taking seriously such ideas.

This book gives a superficial and dry overview of the failures of Islamic education over the years. Some of these criticisms are no doubt well-founded. The totality of ethical meaning of Islam and the Quran were broken apart over the centuries and a rigid orthodoxy grew in its place that cut a dynamic tradition into useless discrete portions. People lost sight of the broader worldview that their religion was supposed to promote, which is generally agreed to have been one of egalitarianism and justice. In Sunni Islam philosophy was successfully boxed in and ultimately defeated by the Asharis during the Abbasid period. A false division was created between “secular” and “religious” knowledge that resulted in the dangerous de-humanization of the former and stagnation of the latter. The polarization of knowledge is a troubling phenomenon noted by Western scholars in their fields as well. In the context of Islam, the split happened so long ago and had such a profound long-term impact that studying it now feels more like archaeology than useful social science.

The shining light of Islamic philosophy died out a long, long time ago. At the dawn of modernity an appealing idea was suggested by Rahman and others that this tradition might be revived after centuries of dormancy. In my personal view this idea can now be discarded. It’s not asleep, it’s dead. The reasons for this can be debated but the fact can hardly be avoided. What is worthwhile today is preserving the perennial spiritual values that can exist within any political system, and perhaps finding a way to package modern political ideas in a way that appeals to the emotional needs of people by portraying them as being in harmony with their cultural and religious backgrounds. I'm extremely skeptical of both Islamism and Islamic Modernism. This doesn't mean of course that whatever I think should be imposed on others or that I can't be wrong.

[Mohammad Mirzaali · Rating 3 out of 5]

فضل الرحمان در این کتاب تاریخچه‌ی نهاد آموزش در ملل مطرح مسلمان را آسیب‌شناسی می‌کند. بعد از بررسی دوره‌ی تکوین و شکل‌گیری علوم اسلامی —که از نظر مؤلف هم‌زمان دوره‌ی فاصله‌گرفتن از متن قرآن و سیره‌ی پیامبر نیز هست— او سروقت مدرنیست‌های مسلمان در کشورهایی مثل مصر، ترکیه و ایران، و البته ناتوانی‌شان در شکل‌دادن به نوعی سیستم آموزشی که هم مدرن باشد و هم متعهد به اسلام، می‌رود، و ریشه‌ی مشکلات معاصر مسلمانان در مواجهه با مدرنیته را در همین ناتوانی ردیابی می‌کند

[Kamran · Rating 4 out of 5]

A critical inspection of scrutinizing the reasons behind inactive (جمود) state of Muslim societies in the world (on bases of Major Muslim countries: Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Iran and to some extent Indonesia), ''Indoctrination, however, necessarily occurs only where dogmas come in: the greater the dogma content, the greater the need for indoctrination; the greater the ethical content, the less the need for indoctrination.''

Replete with sensible suggestions based on scientific approaches pertinent to fluctuating human attitudes, Dr. Fazlur Rahman focuses on how to cope with present situation (through differences of opinion including his own, inevitably, for HIGH POSITIVE VALUES) than what will happen in offing.

The book is divided in chapters; The heritage, Classical Islamic Modernism and Education, Contemporary Modernism and Prospects and some suggestions. And to me the method he advised for systematic study of Islam is in the same grades as he divided the book; Past is important to examine with all its faults and mischief for construction of current Islamic methodology.

Being a modern Islamic historian, Fazlur Rahman belaboured the role of incorporation of Social Sciences, History, Philosophy and Science in constructing modern institutions of practical Islamic Islamic studies.

With all his biases and individual opinion (which has a positive slant) it is must-read book for all sensible readers of religious methodology, I reckon.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fazlur Rahman is my new hero.

[The Uprightman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Discussions regarding the preservation of differing social, cultural and religious traditions in the face of rapid technological expansion and globalisation have a long and complex history in Islamic scholarship. Arguably one of the most original and influential twentieth-century scholars of Islam who endeavoured to clarify this seemingly intractable problem was Fazlur Rahman. Patently familiar with the rich intellectual history of both medieval and modern Islam, Rahman’s intellectual enquiry was centred on reformation of Islamic education. The necessity of educational reform is, however, certainly not a new concept; Muslim intellectuals have engaged with this particular academic discourse since the late nineteenth-century. Where Rahman differed from previous scholars is in his analysis of how and why a divergence between Reason and Revelation occurred, in both a theological and historical sense, and the consequences this schism held for Islamic thought and therefore Islamic society.

According to Islamic modernists, the problems which are confronting modern Islam can be addressed by attempting to assimilate beneficial modern methods and values of scientific enquiry and rationality, while maintaining individual and communal moral integrity via adherence to Islamic religious values. Although Rahman certainly subscribed to aspects of Islamic modernist thought, his position regarding the Quran is unique. The central thesis which is an undercurrent of much of Rahman’s work focuses on the primacy of the Quran and the role it assumes within Islam. Because he did not consider any Muslim country as ideally positioned to resolve the problems they would inevitably continue to face, or would encounter in the near future, Rahman considered it imperative that the historical aspects of Quranic text should be understood in the context which they were created, while simultaneously utilizing the ethical principles which are practical for contemporary Islam. Only by repositioning the Quran to again occupy a central role within Islamic society could a genuine intellectual reformation be achieved.

Rahman believed that endeavouring to provide solutions for sterility of Islamic thought without first determining the contemporary state of society, and how these problems have materialised, is analogous to “a doctor treating a patient without taking his case history or examining him.” As a historian, Rahman sought to understand the origins of Islamic intellectualism in order to trace the perceived catalyst for contemporary Islamic intellectual poverty, and therefore the dire position of modern Islam. The origins of these problems were to be found in medieval Islam; specifically, the less structured methods of acquiring and disseminating knowledge. The importance of outlining these developments is twofold: a large portion of Rahman’s intellectual maturation occurred as a result of his study of medieval Islamic philosophers, and his belief that there is a perceptible continuity between educational structures which were forged during the middle-ages, and those of modern Islam.

Although the rich history of medieval Islam, often referred to as the ‘Golden Age’, is justifiable celebrated by Islamic scholars, Rahman identifies a number of deficiencies regarding the attainment and expansion of knowledge in the context of individual and institutional learning. The first of these deficiencies which Rahman recognises relates to the multiplicity of theological and legal interpretations without systematic structure. The fluidity of scriptural analysis and the increasingly common implementation of qiyās (analogical reasoning) as a legitimate method of deriving authentic legal pronouncements led to a ‘bewildering richness’ of legal opinion and a sporadic proliferation of hadiths. Without a methodical structure in place, or overarching objective, the abundance of opinions relating to both law and theology did little to stimulate either individual or societal intellectual growth. This problem was compounded during the fourteenth-century in the Arab world when the study of rhetoric and eloquence ‘established itself, besides theology, as the major intellectual field among orthodox scholars.’ The cautious analysis of grammatical structures and encouragement of learning by rote led to a mass production of commentaries and sub-commentaries which replaced original texts. Scholars were transformed into scribes who generally possessed only a superficial understanding of religious and legal texts. The shift of focus away from encouragement of authentic enquiry which was exercised in the earlier formative and creative periods of Islam, towards encyclopaedic learning, resulted in a sharp decline of originality of thought. Genuine intellectual effort was subsumed by replication: “hair-splitting detail to the exclusion of the basic problems of the subject.”

Rahman perceived the most tragic devolution of Muslim intellectualism in medieval Islam to be the prescription of God as ‘the exclusive object of experience.’This occurrence encouraged dogmatic religiosity whereby ‘the experience became an end in itself’. As a result, the process of contemplative religious thought which was previously associated with constructive scholarly discourse diminished in significance. The division between ‘secular sciences’ (mathematics, astronomy, medicine and philosophy) and ‘religious sciences’ (theology and Sharī’a) is also believed to have contributed to the stagnation of creative Islamic thought; a progression which has traditionally been understood to have occurred as a result of the destruction of the Caliphate during the mid-thirteenth century and the political disorder which ensued. Rahman argues instead that the static nature of medieval Islamic thought had occurred before the disintegration of the Abbasid Caliphate, and it was rather the inception of Ash’arite doctrine which greatly contributed to the slowing of Islamic intellectualism. Ash’arite theology places emphasis on the metaphysical and effectively removes any form of human agency; the source and arbiter of epistemology is wholly divine. The influence of Ash’arisms central tenets, and subsequent authority it obtained as the dominant creed of Sunni Islam led to the ‘onset of rigidity in Islamic spiritual and intellectual life.’ It may be beneficial to note here, that this process was obviously exceedingly complex and cannot be reduced to a simple polarisation between secular and religious sciences. A number of philosophical tenets existed in relative harmony with theological concepts and in no way incited the scorn of the ulema. Philosophy in particular came to be subsequently associated by orthodox theologians as an unnecessary distraction at best and outright heretical at worst. Although, for Rahman, the primacy of the Quran is paramount, he appreciated the precision of the medieval philosophers’ minds and greatly rued the condemnation of philosophical enquiry because of its ability to ‘inculcate a much-needed analytical-critical spirit and generates new ideas that become important intellectual tools for other sciences, not least for religion and theology.’

Rahman perceives that the languid nature of modern Islamic intellectualism developed as a result of a form of education which emphasised the primacy of uncritical religious thought to the detriment of genuine scholarly pursuit. It would be untrue to suggest, however, that this ‘rigidity of Islamic spiritual and intellectual life’ went unchallenged; both philosophers and theologians were continually questioning established doctrine. Although challenging accepted concepts could certainly be construed as exercising vibrant intellectual discourse, the reception of these ideas, in both modern and medieval Islam, is equally as informative as their production.

Contemporary Islamic conservative attitudes regarding orthodoxy have their roots in medieval Islam. The veneration of tradition and fundamental distrust of rapid change has resulted in a generally glacial response to issues which endeavour to implement radical social or religious transformation. Despite the fact that scholars who formed fertile and original ideas in medieval Islam were usually held in ‘high esteem by orthodox circles as great representatives of Islam’, concepts which had the capacity to be beneficial for both Islamic thought and Islamic society were often ‘invariably dismissed as ‘isolated (shādhdh) or idiosyncratic and were quietly buried.' A corollary of this occurrence is that as a result of persistent questions regarding accepted religious principles, ‘orthodoxy developed an amazing shock-absorbing capacity’ which continues to impress upon contemporary attitudes regarding religious and societal change. The heredity of religious education in particular was important for Rahman to investigate, as he believes that certain processes were institutionalised during the medieval period and can be directly connected to modern methods of education:

'Despite stimuli of various degrees of directness and intensity, the responses were basically conditioned by the nature of medieval intellectual temper of Islam, which, thanks to the amazing uniformity of the madarasa education, was equally amazingly uniform.'

While the general strands of Rahman’s argument can be perceived to adhere to the intellectual current of the early Islamic modernists, he believed that the Quran should provide the foundation for productive and progressive discussion, and should form the nucleus of a resurgence of Islamic intellectualism. If a revolution of Islamic thought was to occur, as it surely must, an ‘overall world view of Islam’ has to first be produced. Although educational reform is occurring, if Quran does not act as the basis for reform, efforts will remain poorly orientated and the the outcomes will continue to be undesirable. There must be a clear distinction made between normative Islam and historical Islam so that the beneficial aspects of the Quran may be utilized in a contemporary setting, and passages which are grounded in antiquated traditions can be suitably discarded. The question begs: why should the Quran occupy the foundation for educational reform? Rahman claims that it should for two reasons. Firstly, the collection and chronicled socio-historical background of the Quran and the Prophets activity, and the continued applicability of certain scriptural components for contemporary problems is a testament to the importance of the Quran as a moral compass. Secondly, the metaphysical aspects of the Quran should provide the foundation for a revival of Islamic intellectualism as ‘metaphysical beliefs are the most ultimate and pervasively relevant to human attitudes; it is consciously or unconsciously the source of all values and of the meaning we attach to life itself.’

The speculative nature of Rahman’s work makes it exceedingly difficult to gauge the impact his scholarship has had upon Islam. Although he is justifiably afforded the position as the foremost Islamic ‘neo-modernist’, his recommendations of how to best approach deficiencies in Islamic education are not without fault. The methods which he proposes are heavily based in theoretical notions, especially regarding the hermeneutic issues of interpreting the Quran. If it is imperative for the prosperity of Islam to develop an ‘overall world view’, how would this objective be attained? Is it realistic to assume amongst such a culturally and religiously diverse populace that it was even possible to develop an ‘overall world view’ or ‘normative Islam’? The process to establish normative Islam is surely dictated by scholarly subjectivity and would prove difficult to reconcile or achieve uniform consensus. Although interest of Quranic historical context is being pursed with greater vigour in recent decades, the multiplicity of interpretations have produced a kaleidoscopic picture. Issues of periodisation, authenticity, and broader political context have all been influencing divergent opinions. The practicality of educational reform based on his philosophy is also thrown into doubt due to the fact that Rahman offers no concrete examples pertaining to a prospective school curriculum. Rahman’s strong religious background has also led critics to make the accusation of overemphasising the pre-eminence of metaphysics, to the detriment of rationality, without addressing the problems of the tenuous connection between the two.

Despite these criticisms, there can be no doubt of the immense value of Rahman’s scholarship. The propositions made concerning the centrality of the Quran for moral and educational reformist purposes have provided scholars with a new line of inquiry from which to readdress the problems encountered by Muslim societies. By tracing the origins of these issues to Medieval Islam, Rahman has provided illumination for the long trajectory of divergence, and identified scriptural and interpretative inadequacies which have had a damaging effect for Islam. He has also highlighted that the adoption of certain values associated with modernity need not necessarily impose a dichotomous response of secularism or traditionalism among faithful Muslims.

[Muhamed · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read on Islam so far. It's remarkable that after all these years it is still very relevant.

[Mai Alsharif مي الشريف · Rating 5 out of 5]

الكتاب يتمحور عن آسباب عجز المؤسسة الدينية من التطور و مواكبة الآحداث المستمرة من حولنا .ناقش عن الموسسات الدينية في كل من تركيا، مصر باكستان ، ايران ، الهند ، اندونيسيا و كيفية تأثرها من الاستعمار و التغريب و سلطة الدولة و الشعب عليها . الكتاب واضح و متسلسل.

[Ali Jaafar · Rating 4 out of 5]

فەزل الرحمن نوسەرێکی پاکستانی ، خاوەن ئادییایەکی تایبەت و نوێیە ، کەسایەتیەکی فەلسەفی و ئەکادیمی و زمانزان کە پێی وایەئ پەروەردە تاکە رێگەیەکی کاریگەر و بنچینەیی نوێگەری ئیسلامییە ، لە بەشێکی کتێبەکەیدا باسێکی مێژووی نوێگەری و پەروەردە دەکات لە مێژووی وڵاتە ئیسلامییەکانی وەکو تورکیا ، میسر ، پاکستان و هیندستان و ئیندونیسیا ، بەهەمانشێوە باسی ئەو کەسایەتییە ئیسلامییانە دەکات کە رەنگدانەوە و کاریگەری بەرچاویان هەبووە بەسەر رەوتی تازەگەری ، لە کۆتابەشیدا باسی رێگەچارە و بیروراو پشنیاری ی نوسەر دەکات لەبواری پەروەردە لەهەموو لایەنەکانی لاهوت و ئەخلاق و فەلسەفە و فیقهی ئیسلامی بەشێوەیەک موسڵمانان و کۆمەڵگە ئیسلامیەکان بتوانن هاوئاهەنگ بن لەگەڵ پێشکەوتنە تەکنەلۆجییەکان .

[Abe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The call for action remains powerful. I was hoping the whole book's content would be like its fourth section - suggestions for moving forward. A lot of this book, though, is a history of the differences between the Egyptian and Turkish education systems. This information may have proved relevant to making the point 40+ years ago, but the world has changed and this book feels a little dated in that respect.

[Zohaib Khan]

The author in his work Islam and modernity, states about the islamization of education.It refers to main goals; Firstly to spread the light of Islamic values in the character of students, Secondly to achieve the learning in the respective fields through the medium of modern education.
But unfortunately the Islamic education is given at the primary and minute level only and higher fields of learning are alienated from the interpretation and intellectual work done on Quran.,the author called pious fraud because the students exposure to education at higher level is completely secular and in contarast which was thought in his childhood. The author observes this gap due to the lack of deep intellectual vision of islam in the disciplines taught at higher level. He urged that muslim do intellectual work in the disciplines like law,economics and psychology to combat the innovative issues due to modernity as Quran covers the whole sphere of life regarding every aspect of life. But mostly it is limited to pay lip service in the muslim societies. The authors urges to explore the factual knowledge of Quran to demolish the difference in the attitudes of muslims and demands of the Holy book. The moderenist claims the issues like standard of democracy ,science ,woman status and the neo fundamentalist force challange it only that it is westernizing propaganda which tries to harm the islamic principles and the clash between moderenity and islam remains . He talked about the moderenity that it is vested or particularized to the west. In the muslim socities islam is exploited by the politicians for their selfish interest. This misuse of islam can be detained to the introduction of modern intellectual and spiritual wisdom of Quran in the education. The understanding of Islam in the true spirit can resolves the whole problems of muslims in the contemporay world with provision of intellectual work of islam. The understanding of Islam lies in the deep work in insight of the historical background which formulates Islam.

[Khalid Almoghrabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

الكتاب يبحث في قضية التجديد في سياق التربية أو اسلامية المعرفة ويتناول الجهود الاصلاحية والتغريبية التي قامت في باكستان وتركيا وايران ومصر ويقارن بين النماذج.
الكتاب قديم وبعض افكاره اصبحت في عداد الماضي

[احمد فتيح]

عن التربية والدين فى كل من مصر وباكستان وتركيا .. يتضح من الكتاب عجز اى مؤسسة دينية على تغيير جلدها و واهم كل من يعتقد ذلك

[Ahmad Fadhil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think in a way the author promotes a new understanding of islam in light of historical development of the ideas emerging in the society. His position is somewhere between the stagnant traditionalism which is free of critical thinking, the new fundamentalism which also lacks intellectual activity, and also modernism which is ignorant of the whole metaphysical reality. And his idea on how to solve the problem of stagnant islamic society is so fresh and enlightening.

[Mustafa Mehmetoglu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Severely outdated, Rahman's book, which turned out to be mostly about modernization of education in the Islamic world (i.e. bring together Islamic and secular sciences in one educational program), successfully points out the problems in various attempts made at/before his time, but fails to provide any real method or guidance itself.

[Mehdi Shahbazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

فضل الرحمان در این کتاب آسیب شناسی بسیار موشکافانه ای انجام داده درباره اسلام و قرآن و تبدیل شدن به یک آموزش کلاسیک و بلاهایی که در این سیر بر سر دین آمده را معرفی نموده . لکن دیگر دیر شده و هر کسی از ظن خود شد یار من در باره اسلام و قرآن شکل گرفته.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent read, but could make use of a larger variety of opinions.

[Faheem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly vibrant read, written with an unmitigated urgency.

[Ahmad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guru Besar yang "tidak dianggap" di negaranya sendiri, namun meraih ketenarannya di Amerika ini boleh dibilang luar biasa. Dianggap sebagai guru-nya para liberalis -yang di Indonesia telah menelurkan tokoh semacam Cak Nur, Syafii Maarif, dan Amien Rais dengan beragam karakter mereka.

Pemikirannya, terlepas dari berbagai kontroversi dan hujatan dari berbagai pihak, patut dicermati. Awalnya, saya tak boleh menyentuh bukunya. Tapi, sekali saya dilarang, semakin saya ingin membacanya.

Bagus kok!

[Leonardo]

...las formas actuales de fundamentalismo Islámico no deben ser entendidas como un retorno a formas sociales y valores pasados, ni siquiera desde la perspectiva de sus practicantes. Según Fazlur Rahman: “Actualmente es algo así como una confusión llamar „fundamentalistas‟ a dichos fenómenos del Islam, salvo porque enfatizan al Islam como la base de las dos fuentes: el Qur‟an y el Sunna del Profeta Muhammed. Por otra parte, enfatizan al ijtihad, el pensamiento original”.

Imperio Pág.115

[Muhammad Sohail · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a well rounded short review for those who are interested in an overview of intellectual history of Muslim tradition.