Book Review:Ernst, Carl W., and Richard C. Martin (eds.). 2010. Rethinking Islamic Studies: From Orientalism to Cosmopolitanism, University of South Carolina Press. (original) (raw)

Taking Religion Seriously: Finding a Place for Islam in the History of Religions

"In this paper, I review the study of Islam within the history of religions following its key entanglements towards becoming a discipline or what some would rather call a field of study. The presentation offers a synopsis of reflections by scholars who have critically examined the appropriateness of applying categories from the History of Religions to the study of Islam. Their reflections tracked some of the critical concerns and insights developed in the discipline. For the purpose of this presentation, I have identified a number of such scholars from Ismail al Faruqi who wrote a two-part essay in 1965 to Carl Ernst and Richard Martin whose edited book was published in 2010. In addition to these methodological essays, I will also turn occasionally to seminal works that have made an important contribution to thinking about Islam in the history of religions. These studies together provide perspective on the possibilities and limitations of focussing on religion in the study of Islam. I suggest three important theoretical moments in the study of Islam as it located itself within the history of religion: grappling with a phenomenological study of Islam; Islam in context; and Islam as discourse. Whilst each was very different, the questions raised were remarkable similar: the question of the place and voice of Muslims, the appropriateness of categories and the meaning of Islam. This latter naturally began with phenomenology and focussed on particularly religious experiences, but has since developed into a broader array of social processes and human conditions. This review weaves between these issues, reflecting on the past as it focuses on the future."

Studying Islam in Western and Non-Western Contexts

This essay provides an introduction to the following set of papers that deal with some of the methodological and theoretical issues that the study of Islam poses for the academic study of religion. It argues that, while still somewhat problematic, recent years have seen a number of younger scholars-particularly in Europe and the socalled Muslim World-engage in and wrestle with these theoretical issues. The result is that the study of Islam has come a long way since the apologetic aftermath of

Introduction : Current Issues in Islamic Studies

2010

What are the concerns of Islamic scholars today? This compendium of articles from outstanding scholars throughout the world presents a wide-ranging series of issues and developments in Islamic Studies, in order to profile the ‘state of the art’ in the discipline. The chapters are subdivided into five groups. First, Islam is defined, its multicultural aspect emphasized, and then illuminated with a review of the Islamic experience in Iberia. Next, the foundations of Islam – the Qur’an, justice, economics, education and political philosophy – are described and analyzed. The rich Islamic culture is then examined in the areas of literature and art. Contemporary issues concerned with the experience of Muslim women, Islam and democracy in Turkey, and Islam in the West are chronicled. The final three chapters present discourse on the diversity found within Islam of the Shi‘a and Sufi traditions. A brief paragraph to introduce each of the chapters is presented in the following section.