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Papers by Rushain Abbasi

Political Theology, 2023

The idea of the modern secular presupposes the existence of a holistic premodern world in which t... more The idea of the modern secular presupposes the existence of a holistic premodern world in which the amorphous phenomenon of religion penetrated all realms of life. But the existence of an Islamic distinction between the religious and non-religious domains suggests otherwise: not a latent secularity, but rather a difference of an altogether different kind. But if it is not equivalent to the "secular," then what is it?

Studia Islamica, 2021

In recent years, the validity of the category of religion has been increasingly subjected to seve... more In recent years, the validity of the category of religion has been increasingly subjected to severe criticism across several academic disciplines. The thrust of this critical position—despite the nuances and sophistication of the various arguments advanced in support of it—rests, in the main, on one central claim, which is that the notion of religion did not exist in non-Western and premodern civilizations and is, therefore, a unique invention of the modern West. It is my contention, however, that in fixating on the Western construction of the category of religion and the theoretical problems associated with it, scholars have neglected to consider whether a similar concept might have existed prior to the modern West, and if so, what this might mean for our understanding of religion as a historical phenomenon. As a remedy to this trend, this article will engage in a comprehensive conceptual historical analysis of the Arabic term dīn (and its related categories) in order to demonstrate that, contrary to popular belief, premodern Muslims did indeed possess a concept akin to the modern sense of “religion” long before the rise of the modern West, and that, furthermore, they were the first community in history to sustain and develop a rich and robust discourse around the idea of religion, which consequently played a major role in various social, political, and intellectual endeavors in Islamic history. My investigation will reveal that premodern Muslims continuously redefined and repurposed the concept of religion (based on a readily available conceptual vocabulary produced within the Late Antique Near East) in the process of offering particular sociological accounts of the origins and nature of religion, addressing political concerns like the unravelling of power, classifying the “Other,” and more.

Journal of Islamic Studies , 2020

This article challenges the widely-held belief, within and outside academia, that premodern Musli... more This article challenges the widely-held belief, within and outside academia, that premodern Muslims did not make a distinction between the religious and secular. I explore the issue by examining several usages of the dīn–dunyā binary across diverse genres of medieval Islamic writings and assessing to what extent it accords with or diverges from the categories of the religious and secular as commonly used in the modern Western world. I situate my particular counter-claim vis-à-vis the argument against the relevance of the religious–secular distinction to Islam made by Shahab Ahmed in his, What is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic. My findings show that contrary to Ahmed and the broader consensus, premodern Muslims did in fact view the world in terms of distinct spheres of religion and non-religion and that this distinction was used to understand phenomena as diverse and significant as politics and prophethood. Nevertheless, the two categories interacted in a way distinct from the common understanding of the two in the modern world insofar as, under the medieval Islamic conception, it was religion that regulated the secular. My article will make sense of these similarities and differences in an effort to present an indigenous account of the religious–secular dialectic in medieval Islam, one that problematizes the current standard account which holds that these categories were invented within the modern West.

Book Reviews by Rushain Abbasi

The Marginalia Review of Books, 2023

My review of Thomas Bauer's "A Culture of Ambiguity: An Alternative History of Islam" and J. Andr... more My review of Thomas Bauer's "A Culture of Ambiguity: An Alternative History of Islam" and J. Andrew Bush's "Between Muslims: Religious Difference in Iraqi Kurdistan."

Journal of Law and Religion, 2019

Political Theology, 2023

The idea of the modern secular presupposes the existence of a holistic premodern world in which t... more The idea of the modern secular presupposes the existence of a holistic premodern world in which the amorphous phenomenon of religion penetrated all realms of life. But the existence of an Islamic distinction between the religious and non-religious domains suggests otherwise: not a latent secularity, but rather a difference of an altogether different kind. But if it is not equivalent to the "secular," then what is it?

Studia Islamica, 2021

In recent years, the validity of the category of religion has been increasingly subjected to seve... more In recent years, the validity of the category of religion has been increasingly subjected to severe criticism across several academic disciplines. The thrust of this critical position—despite the nuances and sophistication of the various arguments advanced in support of it—rests, in the main, on one central claim, which is that the notion of religion did not exist in non-Western and premodern civilizations and is, therefore, a unique invention of the modern West. It is my contention, however, that in fixating on the Western construction of the category of religion and the theoretical problems associated with it, scholars have neglected to consider whether a similar concept might have existed prior to the modern West, and if so, what this might mean for our understanding of religion as a historical phenomenon. As a remedy to this trend, this article will engage in a comprehensive conceptual historical analysis of the Arabic term dīn (and its related categories) in order to demonstrate that, contrary to popular belief, premodern Muslims did indeed possess a concept akin to the modern sense of “religion” long before the rise of the modern West, and that, furthermore, they were the first community in history to sustain and develop a rich and robust discourse around the idea of religion, which consequently played a major role in various social, political, and intellectual endeavors in Islamic history. My investigation will reveal that premodern Muslims continuously redefined and repurposed the concept of religion (based on a readily available conceptual vocabulary produced within the Late Antique Near East) in the process of offering particular sociological accounts of the origins and nature of religion, addressing political concerns like the unravelling of power, classifying the “Other,” and more.

Journal of Islamic Studies , 2020

This article challenges the widely-held belief, within and outside academia, that premodern Musli... more This article challenges the widely-held belief, within and outside academia, that premodern Muslims did not make a distinction between the religious and secular. I explore the issue by examining several usages of the dīn–dunyā binary across diverse genres of medieval Islamic writings and assessing to what extent it accords with or diverges from the categories of the religious and secular as commonly used in the modern Western world. I situate my particular counter-claim vis-à-vis the argument against the relevance of the religious–secular distinction to Islam made by Shahab Ahmed in his, What is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic. My findings show that contrary to Ahmed and the broader consensus, premodern Muslims did in fact view the world in terms of distinct spheres of religion and non-religion and that this distinction was used to understand phenomena as diverse and significant as politics and prophethood. Nevertheless, the two categories interacted in a way distinct from the common understanding of the two in the modern world insofar as, under the medieval Islamic conception, it was religion that regulated the secular. My article will make sense of these similarities and differences in an effort to present an indigenous account of the religious–secular dialectic in medieval Islam, one that problematizes the current standard account which holds that these categories were invented within the modern West.

The Marginalia Review of Books, 2023

My review of Thomas Bauer's "A Culture of Ambiguity: An Alternative History of Islam" and J. Andr... more My review of Thomas Bauer's "A Culture of Ambiguity: An Alternative History of Islam" and J. Andrew Bush's "Between Muslims: Religious Difference in Iraqi Kurdistan."

Journal of Law and Religion, 2019