Religion as Critique: Islamic Critical Thinking from Mecca to the Marketplace

Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks

by Irfan Ahmad

Irfan Ahmad makes the far-reaching argument that potent systems and modes for self-critique as well as critique of others are inherent in Islam--indeed, critique is integral to its fundamental tenets and practices. Challenging common views of Islam as hostile to critical thinking, Ahmad delineates thriving traditions of critique in Islamic culture, focusing in large part on South Asian traditions. Ahmad interrogates Greek and Enlightenment notions of reason and critique, and he notes how they are invoked in relation to "others," including Muslims. Drafting an alternative genealogy of critique in Islam, Ahmad reads religious teachings and texts, drawing on sources in Hindi, Urdu, Farsi, and English, and demonstrates how they serve as expressions of critique. Throughout, he depicts Islam as an agent, not an object, of critique.

On a broader level, Ahmad expands the idea of critique itself. Drawing on his fieldwork among marketplace hawkers in Delhi and Aligarh, he construes critique anthropologically as a sociocultural activity in the everyday lives of ordinary Muslims, beyond the world of intellectuals. Religion as Critique allows space for new theoretical considerations of modernity and change, taking on such salient issues as nationhood, women's equality, the state, culture, democracy, and secularism.

Genres: Islam, Religion

300 pages, Paperback

Published December 4, 2017

Reviews

[versarbre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely.

[Mohamed Suhail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply insightful , scholarly work by Irfan Ahmed. He deconstructs the enlightenment and shows it in a different light , and also illustrating the critique that has been at work in the Muslim world at scholarly level as well as at the level of common man. A wonderful read , especially liked the writings about Moulana Moududi , his critique , how he was criticised , and counter criticism to that. In the last chapter , he uses proverbs to illustrate criticism at work in places that we don't usually think of and finally , ends it in style with the Hawker as a critic.