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Islam, the West and the Challenges of Modernity
Tariq Ramadan attempts to demonstrate, using sources which draw upon Islamic thought and civilization, that Muslims can respond to contemporary challenges of modernity without betraying their identity. The book argues that Muslims, nurished by their own points of reference, can approach the modern epoch by adopting a specific social, political, and economic model that is linked to ethical values, a sense of finalities and spirituality. Rather than a modernism that tends to impose Westernization, it is a modernity that admits to the pluralism of civilizations, religions, and cultures. Table of
Foreword
Introduction
History of a Concept
The Lessons of History
Part 1: At the shores of between God and Man
Part 2: The Horizons of Between Man and the Community
Part 3: Values and The Cultural Dimension of the Civilizational Face to Face
Conclusion
Appendix
Index Tariq Ramadan is a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford and a visiting professor in Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University. He was named by TIME Magazine as one of the one hundred innovators of the twenty-first century.
Foreword
Introduction
History of a Concept
The Lessons of History
Part 1: At the shores of between God and Man
Part 2: The Horizons of Between Man and the Community
Part 3: Values and The Cultural Dimension of the Civilizational Face to Face
Conclusion
Appendix
Index Tariq Ramadan is a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford and a visiting professor in Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University. He was named by TIME Magazine as one of the one hundred innovators of the twenty-first century.
372 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2000
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505 people want to read
About the author
Tariq Ramadan
109 books1,179 followersTariq Ramadan is the son of Said Ramadan and Wafa Al-Bana, who was the eldest daughter of Hassan al Banna, who in 1928 founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Gamal al-Banna, the liberal Muslim reformer is his great-uncle. His father was a prominent figure in the Muslim Brotherhood and was exiled by Gamal Abdul Nasser[3] from Egypt to Switzerland, where Tariq was born.
Tariq Ramadan studied Philosophy and French literature at the Masters level and holds a PhD in Arabic and Islamic studies from the University of Geneva. He also wrote a PhD dissertation on Friedrich Nietzsche, entitled Nietzsche as a Historian of Philosophy.[4] Ramadan then studied Islamic jurisprudence at Al-Azhar university in Cairo, Egypt.[5]
He taught at the College de Saussure, a high school in Geneva, Switzerland, and held a lectureship in Religion and Philosophy at the University of Fribourg from 1996 to 2003. In October 2005 he began teaching at St Antony's College at the University of Oxford on a Visiting Fellowship. In 2005 he was a senior research fellow at the Lokahi Foundation.[6][7] In 2007 he successfully applied for the professorship in Islamic studies at the University of Leiden, but then declined to take up the position, citing professional reasons.[8][9] He was also a guest professor of Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University Rotterdam,[10][11][12] till August 2009 when the City of Rotterdam and Erasmus University dismissed him from his positions as "integration adviser" and professor, stating that the program he chairs on Iran's Press TV, Islam & Life, was "irreconcilable" with his duties in Rotterdam. Ramadan described this move as Islamophobic and politically charged. Beginning September 2009, Ramadan, was appointed to the His Highness Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Chair in Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University.
Ramadan established the Mouvement des Musulmans Suisses (Movement of Swiss Muslims),which engages in various interfaith seminars. He is an advisor to the EU on religious issues and was sought for advice by the EU on a commission on “Islam and Secularism”.In September 2005 he was invited to join a task force by the government of the United Kingdom.[3] He is also the President of the Euro-Muslim Network,a Brussels-based think-tank.
He is widely interviewed and has produced about 100 tapes which sell tens of thousands of copies each year
As of 2009, Tariq Ramadan was persona non grata in Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia[19] Libya or Syria because of his "criticism of these undemocratic regimes that deny the most basic human rights".
Ramadan is married to a French convert to Islam and they have four children.
Tariq Ramadan studied Philosophy and French literature at the Masters level and holds a PhD in Arabic and Islamic studies from the University of Geneva. He also wrote a PhD dissertation on Friedrich Nietzsche, entitled Nietzsche as a Historian of Philosophy.[4] Ramadan then studied Islamic jurisprudence at Al-Azhar university in Cairo, Egypt.[5]
He taught at the College de Saussure, a high school in Geneva, Switzerland, and held a lectureship in Religion and Philosophy at the University of Fribourg from 1996 to 2003. In October 2005 he began teaching at St Antony's College at the University of Oxford on a Visiting Fellowship. In 2005 he was a senior research fellow at the Lokahi Foundation.[6][7] In 2007 he successfully applied for the professorship in Islamic studies at the University of Leiden, but then declined to take up the position, citing professional reasons.[8][9] He was also a guest professor of Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University Rotterdam,[10][11][12] till August 2009 when the City of Rotterdam and Erasmus University dismissed him from his positions as "integration adviser" and professor, stating that the program he chairs on Iran's Press TV, Islam & Life, was "irreconcilable" with his duties in Rotterdam. Ramadan described this move as Islamophobic and politically charged. Beginning September 2009, Ramadan, was appointed to the His Highness Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Chair in Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University.
Ramadan established the Mouvement des Musulmans Suisses (Movement of Swiss Muslims),which engages in various interfaith seminars. He is an advisor to the EU on religious issues and was sought for advice by the EU on a commission on “Islam and Secularism”.In September 2005 he was invited to join a task force by the government of the United Kingdom.[3] He is also the President of the Euro-Muslim Network,a Brussels-based think-tank.
He is widely interviewed and has produced about 100 tapes which sell tens of thousands of copies each year
As of 2009, Tariq Ramadan was persona non grata in Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia[19] Libya or Syria because of his "criticism of these undemocratic regimes that deny the most basic human rights".
Ramadan is married to a French convert to Islam and they have four children.
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November 10, 2008
The book is called Islam the West and the Challenges of Modernity. It is 342 pages long and is in my opinion the most important book to come out dealing with the subject in recent memory. Why is it important? A lot of times our scholars, intellectuals, and activists are bogged down in things that have little import on our daily lives. Many times we notice that they fail to ask the "right" questions and to show correct understanding. The loss of our Islamic community has been not only one in which we have fallen behind technologically, intellectually, militarily (symptoms of the greater disease) but one in which we have lost one of the distinguishing characteristics and abilities of that early generation of Muslims who spread Islam; Firasah. Firasah is keen insight, deep insight that is honed through observation, true understanding of people and the acquisition of knowledge. Firasah is a science and it is reported that Imam Shafi’ traveled to Yemen to learn it. This is exactly what Tariq Ramadan presents us with in his book.
Part I, At the Shores of Transcendence and Part II The Horizons of Islam are enough to make it required reading as they deal with the practical and the spiritual aspects of Islam in relation to our context and modernity. Ramadan goes into a deep discussion about the “Objectives of Sharia” and how they can be achieved in today’s environment. Ramadan rejects the old categorization of the world into Dar al Harb (House of War) and Dar al Islam (House of Peace). Constructs that he believes have long outlived their usefulness. Instead, Ramadan puts forward the idea of economic resistance to neo-liberal economic policies that are destroying cultures and people; in fact he calls this world order the new Dar al Harb.
The heart of the book though is Part III entitled Values and Finalities and deals in depth with the cultural dimension of the face off between Islam and the West. In it the Professor does something that not many Muslims have done or are capable of doing; he analyzes the historico-philosophical underpinnings of the West and the Islamic world couples it with eloquent, almost poetic and fluid prose and does not feign objectivity.
The difference between the West and Islam and the place where the West and Islam part ways is between Doubt and the Reminder. The West consecrates or repudiates Faith through Doubt, (look at Kierkegaard vs. Nietzsche) and this is a trend that exists from the earliest times since the fusion of Greek philosophy into the Judeo-Christian tradition. The West says "[d]oubt is the trial of fire necessary to any real faith." Tariq Ramadan replies this is not "audible" in all Civilizations especially Islam, "The experience of Faith in Islam is not…of a similar nature. We can find many Muslims who acknowledge not practicing their religion as they should, but very few are those who assert not believing at all...God's existence is almost never doubted; this seems to be a natural daily given fact of men and women...it is a question of cultural divergences; over here meaning was given to doubt; over there meaning is in the reminder."
Islam has been spared the tension of the prevalent Western method of doubt. If any tension exists in Islam it is that between forgetfulness and the reminder. Ramadan brings it back to the beginning,
"In effect, in the first times of creation, the Creator gathered all human beings and made them testify, 'And when the Lord took from the children of Adam, from their loins, their seed, and made them testify touching themselves, 'Am I not your Lord?' They said, 'Yes, we testify' - lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, 'As for us, we were heedless of this,'...There exists therefore, at the heart of each mans consciousness, essentially and deeply, an intuition and acknowledgement of the Creators presence. Just as the sun, clouds, wind, birds and all the animals naturally express their submission, so does the human being have in himself an almost instinctive aspiration towards Transcendence. This is the idea of fitra...one finds it mentioned in Sura Rum: 'So set they face to the religion, a pure faith - God's original upon which He originated mankind. There is no changing God's creation. That is the right religion; but most men know it not."
So revelation then,
"[i]s tantamount to reminding us of the proximity of the Faith of Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and all the Prophets. To reveal is tantamount to giving life to the light that lies asleep in each person’s heart, one that forgetfulness put down and suffocated. Here, there is no question of an original sin, an eternal fault or a challenge to the Creator. The one who does not believe, the infidel (Kafir) is the one who is no longer faithful to the original pact, the one whose memory is sleepy and whose sight is veiled. In the notion of Kufr, in Arabic, there is indeed the idea of a veiling which provokes the denial of Transcendence. Only God decides about light or veiling for human beings. The latter’s responsibility lies in their permanent commitment to their intimate effort to making memory live."
This insight into the important cultural divergences between the West and Islam was illuminating and liberating. He goes on to talk about some more of the differences. In the West we have a tragic play going on of the man finding himself alone in the world, looking for some meaning, whereas Islam says you are never alone, there are signs near and far that remind you of Allah. The call to prayer reminds you that you are not alone; the month of Ramadan reminds you that you are not alone. Every verse in the Quran is an ayah or sign. His signs are visible everywhere.
Some questions this does raise though is when we must confront Al-Ghazali, whose life story is one of struggle with doubt, what he called his “Malady of the heart,” and he touches upon in his autobiographical Munqidh min Ad-Dalaal (Deliverance from Error); this doubt is closer to the method of Descartes who developed Cartesian doubt and was heavily influenced by Ghazali.
Ghazali put all sciences into uncertainty in order to reach the certain, and this paradox is something I wish to research more and reconcile with the tension of forgetfulness and reminder.
Prof. Ramadan's intention was not simply to display the difference but to come to a true understanding of each civilization; civilizations that are now constantly facing off at each other. Without true understanding of differences and commonalities we can not come to exchange, and interact in a valuable and honest way; Prof. Ramadan's book makes this more possible now.
Part I, At the Shores of Transcendence and Part II The Horizons of Islam are enough to make it required reading as they deal with the practical and the spiritual aspects of Islam in relation to our context and modernity. Ramadan goes into a deep discussion about the “Objectives of Sharia” and how they can be achieved in today’s environment. Ramadan rejects the old categorization of the world into Dar al Harb (House of War) and Dar al Islam (House of Peace). Constructs that he believes have long outlived their usefulness. Instead, Ramadan puts forward the idea of economic resistance to neo-liberal economic policies that are destroying cultures and people; in fact he calls this world order the new Dar al Harb.
The heart of the book though is Part III entitled Values and Finalities and deals in depth with the cultural dimension of the face off between Islam and the West. In it the Professor does something that not many Muslims have done or are capable of doing; he analyzes the historico-philosophical underpinnings of the West and the Islamic world couples it with eloquent, almost poetic and fluid prose and does not feign objectivity.
The difference between the West and Islam and the place where the West and Islam part ways is between Doubt and the Reminder. The West consecrates or repudiates Faith through Doubt, (look at Kierkegaard vs. Nietzsche) and this is a trend that exists from the earliest times since the fusion of Greek philosophy into the Judeo-Christian tradition. The West says "[d]oubt is the trial of fire necessary to any real faith." Tariq Ramadan replies this is not "audible" in all Civilizations especially Islam, "The experience of Faith in Islam is not…of a similar nature. We can find many Muslims who acknowledge not practicing their religion as they should, but very few are those who assert not believing at all...God's existence is almost never doubted; this seems to be a natural daily given fact of men and women...it is a question of cultural divergences; over here meaning was given to doubt; over there meaning is in the reminder."
Islam has been spared the tension of the prevalent Western method of doubt. If any tension exists in Islam it is that between forgetfulness and the reminder. Ramadan brings it back to the beginning,
"In effect, in the first times of creation, the Creator gathered all human beings and made them testify, 'And when the Lord took from the children of Adam, from their loins, their seed, and made them testify touching themselves, 'Am I not your Lord?' They said, 'Yes, we testify' - lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, 'As for us, we were heedless of this,'...There exists therefore, at the heart of each mans consciousness, essentially and deeply, an intuition and acknowledgement of the Creators presence. Just as the sun, clouds, wind, birds and all the animals naturally express their submission, so does the human being have in himself an almost instinctive aspiration towards Transcendence. This is the idea of fitra...one finds it mentioned in Sura Rum: 'So set they face to the religion, a pure faith - God's original upon which He originated mankind. There is no changing God's creation. That is the right religion; but most men know it not."
So revelation then,
"[i]s tantamount to reminding us of the proximity of the Faith of Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and all the Prophets. To reveal is tantamount to giving life to the light that lies asleep in each person’s heart, one that forgetfulness put down and suffocated. Here, there is no question of an original sin, an eternal fault or a challenge to the Creator. The one who does not believe, the infidel (Kafir) is the one who is no longer faithful to the original pact, the one whose memory is sleepy and whose sight is veiled. In the notion of Kufr, in Arabic, there is indeed the idea of a veiling which provokes the denial of Transcendence. Only God decides about light or veiling for human beings. The latter’s responsibility lies in their permanent commitment to their intimate effort to making memory live."
This insight into the important cultural divergences between the West and Islam was illuminating and liberating. He goes on to talk about some more of the differences. In the West we have a tragic play going on of the man finding himself alone in the world, looking for some meaning, whereas Islam says you are never alone, there are signs near and far that remind you of Allah. The call to prayer reminds you that you are not alone; the month of Ramadan reminds you that you are not alone. Every verse in the Quran is an ayah or sign. His signs are visible everywhere.
Some questions this does raise though is when we must confront Al-Ghazali, whose life story is one of struggle with doubt, what he called his “Malady of the heart,” and he touches upon in his autobiographical Munqidh min Ad-Dalaal (Deliverance from Error); this doubt is closer to the method of Descartes who developed Cartesian doubt and was heavily influenced by Ghazali.
Ghazali put all sciences into uncertainty in order to reach the certain, and this paradox is something I wish to research more and reconcile with the tension of forgetfulness and reminder.
Prof. Ramadan's intention was not simply to display the difference but to come to a true understanding of each civilization; civilizations that are now constantly facing off at each other. Without true understanding of differences and commonalities we can not come to exchange, and interact in a valuable and honest way; Prof. Ramadan's book makes this more possible now.
May 15, 2007
Extremely good read on the subject for anyone interested. I like the way he challenges European Muslims to consider themselves to be of the host community, rather than a permanent immigrant one. I especially respect and accept his analysis of citizenship as a social leveller and a means for Muslims to contribute to the mainstream and benefit from it too.
August 31, 2008
a must for everyone. Reading this will give those interested in understanding how Islam and the issues we are facing in today's climate relate to one another. An excellent book by one of today's most prominant critical thinkers, scholars and Muslims.
May 13, 2015
The peak of this book was its last part on the Cultural Dimension. In it Tariq Ramadan portrays very insightfully the philosophical and cultural divergences between Western and Judaeo-Christian thought on the one hand and Islam on the other. The discussion is very profound and important to both Muslim and non-Muslim readers.
The book begins with the Islamic view of the world, of the Divine, of man and of his place. After outlining the essential beliefs of Islam, it then goes on to discuss community, politics, economics, and various other topics. The book has the merit of moving from general principles and abstract concepts to particulars, real world issues and contemporary problems, then back again. As such, one is not hung up in the clouds of abstract ideas but is also not lost in the particulars of contemporary issues without knowing what the author's methodology is or how he sees the bigger picture.
Tariq Ramadan is further well-versed in Western thought and history and manages to give the book a comparative outlook that is much appreciated. He is also well aware of contemporary problems and initiatives for solving them. He moves from the discussion of Tawhid to a comparison with the legacy of the Promethean myth in Western history and thought. His outline of economic principles in Islam is linked to examples of reformist communal economic projects and to the efforts at educational reform mounted by Paolo Freire.
On this account, it is important to remember that Ramadan is quite anti-establishment in his stance, and he takes this as a calling from the teachings of his religion. In pursuit of his goals, he also enumerates voices in the Western world among thinkers, philosohpers and others with an eye for analyzing and criticizing the problems of our modern world. From this he hopes that more dialogue can occur between Muslims and non-Muslims in pursuit of solutions to the common problems of our existence.
The book begins with the Islamic view of the world, of the Divine, of man and of his place. After outlining the essential beliefs of Islam, it then goes on to discuss community, politics, economics, and various other topics. The book has the merit of moving from general principles and abstract concepts to particulars, real world issues and contemporary problems, then back again. As such, one is not hung up in the clouds of abstract ideas but is also not lost in the particulars of contemporary issues without knowing what the author's methodology is or how he sees the bigger picture.
Tariq Ramadan is further well-versed in Western thought and history and manages to give the book a comparative outlook that is much appreciated. He is also well aware of contemporary problems and initiatives for solving them. He moves from the discussion of Tawhid to a comparison with the legacy of the Promethean myth in Western history and thought. His outline of economic principles in Islam is linked to examples of reformist communal economic projects and to the efforts at educational reform mounted by Paolo Freire.
On this account, it is important to remember that Ramadan is quite anti-establishment in his stance, and he takes this as a calling from the teachings of his religion. In pursuit of his goals, he also enumerates voices in the Western world among thinkers, philosohpers and others with an eye for analyzing and criticizing the problems of our modern world. From this he hopes that more dialogue can occur between Muslims and non-Muslims in pursuit of solutions to the common problems of our existence.
February 17, 2017
One of the quotes that I find it interesting,
" This reflection is interesting and coupled with that of many other intellectuals, it posits the major question of cultural choice. The technician thought and the idea of progress are not element of Western culture, they are Western culture. In this sense, to speak of modernity, is another way of speaking about Westernisation...Science brings forth science and technique justifies itself through its own progression : this is the reign of means and from now on there is no end anymore. Such is without doubt the principal characteristic of the society called "modern", "post-modern", "industrialised" and "technician". A sombre landscape, a sad perspective which led Serge Latouche to think that only the failure of the Western project can be salvific."
Ramadan wrote this book in such a constructive manner; dividing the topic into three different parts, covering from reconciliation of absoluteness of Revelation to the relativity of History, continued with social - politics- economics critical examinations in Islamic horizons and ended the book with values and finalities that delve into the cultural dimension of the West and Islam. European civilisation was built not just from the contribution of Graeco-Roman or Judaeo-Christian, but one must remember the contribution done by Muslims in Spain that created a tsunami of development in sciences, philosophy and mathematics to European(and to the rest of the world). It is a proof that such civilisation is built in the name of God and nourished by scientific reason that makes it accede to the understanding of created universe, the universe of signs(āyāt). He mentioned,towards the end of the book, by saying that the Western today has drifted away from the Judaeo-Christian tradition and by looking at the Renaissance itself, Jews and Protestants fight for survival has caused the liberation of the public from religious exclusivism. Definitely, definitely worth reading.
" This reflection is interesting and coupled with that of many other intellectuals, it posits the major question of cultural choice. The technician thought and the idea of progress are not element of Western culture, they are Western culture. In this sense, to speak of modernity, is another way of speaking about Westernisation...Science brings forth science and technique justifies itself through its own progression : this is the reign of means and from now on there is no end anymore. Such is without doubt the principal characteristic of the society called "modern", "post-modern", "industrialised" and "technician". A sombre landscape, a sad perspective which led Serge Latouche to think that only the failure of the Western project can be salvific."
Ramadan wrote this book in such a constructive manner; dividing the topic into three different parts, covering from reconciliation of absoluteness of Revelation to the relativity of History, continued with social - politics- economics critical examinations in Islamic horizons and ended the book with values and finalities that delve into the cultural dimension of the West and Islam. European civilisation was built not just from the contribution of Graeco-Roman or Judaeo-Christian, but one must remember the contribution done by Muslims in Spain that created a tsunami of development in sciences, philosophy and mathematics to European(and to the rest of the world). It is a proof that such civilisation is built in the name of God and nourished by scientific reason that makes it accede to the understanding of created universe, the universe of signs(āyāt). He mentioned,towards the end of the book, by saying that the Western today has drifted away from the Judaeo-Christian tradition and by looking at the Renaissance itself, Jews and Protestants fight for survival has caused the liberation of the public from religious exclusivism. Definitely, definitely worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews