Modern Islamic Thought

Modern Islamic Thought
Course Description
Modern Islamic Thought is designed as a course that acquaints students with important
intellectual movements and orientations in the modern and contemporary Islamic world since the
19th century. It examines measures taken by Muslim intellectuals in their attempt to
accommodate traditional Islamic notions in light of modernity and contemporary epistemic
conditions and contexts. The new surge of Islamic thinking which they represent appears as
multifarious strains rather than confined into monolithic articulation. Thus modern and
contemporary intellectual movements and tendencies will be investigated through the works of
their main proponents. The relationship between Muslim thought and the West will also be
properly explored.
The course will begin with an historical survey on the early modern Islamic thought propounded
by Jamal al-din al-Asadabadi and his student Muhammad Abduh. The first part ends with some
of the most influential Muslim thinkers that attempted to reconstruct Islam. The second part
introduces some sort of cartography of modern Islamic thought in which many intellectual
movements from revivalism to Islamic feminism will be examined. The third part constituted
geography of thought that tries to elaborate Islamic thinking and intellectual development within
spatial considerations. The overall aim of this course is to provide and to engage students with
the main of the whole gamut of ideas emerging from the engagement of Islamic thought with
modernity and zeitgeist.
Course Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, a student is expected to have acquired the following:
 Understanding of the development of modern Islamic thought from its historical,

political, social, and cultural context
 Understanding of several Islamic intellectual movements that emerged since the 19th
century as a result of engagement with modernity and the West while attempted to
contextualise Islamic notions
 Acquiring knowledge and learning of various Islamic intellectual movements, their
proponents and their transformation that later perhaps be used to develop as critical
foundation for further rethinking of Islamic thought.
 Developing an attitude of critical self-awareness about the possibilities of our intellectual
tools and methods for understanding of modern and contemporary Islamic thought.
Course Requirement
The course is composed of considerable material both in the lectures and in the readings. It is
assumed that students who register in the course will be obliged to fulfil minimum requirement
of attendance and will be required to prepare all the readings before they arrive in class. To
further motivate the preparation, there would be quizzes, class homework, group presentations,
and group discussions to be conducted during the semester. The course can be expected to be
highly appreciative of active participation and effective engagement demonstrated by sedulous
students.
Assessment
The assessment for Modern Islamic Thought is determined to be based on the following:
Attendance 10%
Presentation and participation 20%
Mid term essay 35%
Final term essay 35%
Course Policies
The course holds to the belief that excellence in learning can be achieved in an intellectual
environment where academic integrity is highly valued and carefully upheld. Consequently, all
assignments, projects, reports, papers and examinations submitted to this course are expected to
be the student’s own work. Students should always take great care to distinguish their own ideas
and knowledge from information derived from sources. Students are responsible for educating
themselves about plagiarism and will be held accountable for any consequences arising from
deriliction and non-observance.
Methods of Instruction
In this course the methods of instruction will be composed of: lecture presentation, group
presentation, group discussions, interactive dialogues, and audiovisual presentations.
Consultations
The course makes provision for consultations on academic issues pertaining to the lectures, the
readings, and the course. Two hours in each week are allocated for this particular purpose. It will
be made available on one hour before and one hour after the lecture. Students are welcome to
contact the lecturer during working hours or through electronic means.
Required Readings
The required readings necessary for the course are composed of primary references, secondary
references, audiovisual materials, and online resources. Students who enrol in this course are
assumed to be internet literate and are expected to be able to take maximum advantage of online
resources made available by the college. Secondary references are listed separately and be made
available upon request.
Audiovisual materials during the duration of this course will be presented in the class and are
consisted of the following film documentaries:
 Tradition in the Modern World (extraction)
 Dispatches: Muslim Reformation (extraction)
 Women of Islam (extraction)
The primary references are methodologically prepared to provide perspectives and to allow
students to work towards becoming independent readers that acquire rudimentary knowledge and
understandings of the course. They are the following:
 Abu-Rabi, Ibrahim M, 2006, The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic

Thought, Blackwell: Oxford
 Abu-Rabi, Ibrahim, M, 2004, Contemporary Arab Thought: Studies in Post-1967 Arab
Intellectual History, Pluto Press: London
 Boroujerdi, Mehrzad, 1998, Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph
of Nativism, Ithaca: Syracuse University Press
 Cooper, John; Mahmoud, Mohammad; and Nettler, Ronald (eds), 2000, Islam and
Modernity: Muslim Intellectual Respond, I.B. Tauris: London
 Esposito, John L and Voll, John Obert, 2001, Makers of Contemporary Islam, Oxford:
Oxford University Press
 Hourani, Albert, 1983 (2002), Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age: 1798-1939,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
 Jahanbakhsh, Forough, 2001, Islam, Democracy, and Religious Modernism in Iran
(1953-2000), Leiden: Brill
 Kamrava, Mehran (ed), 2007, The New Voices of Islam: Rethinking Politics and
Modernity, University of California Press
 Kurzman, Charles (ed), 2002, Modernist Islam 1840-1940: A Sourcebook, Oxford:
 Moaddel, Mansoor and Talattof, Kamran (eds), 2000, Modernist and Fundamentalist
Debates in Islam: A Reader, New York: Palgrave Macmillan
 Nabavi, Negin (ed), 2003, Intellectual Trends in Twentieth Century Iran: A Critical
Survey, Gainesville: University of Florida Press
 Rahnema, Ali, 2005, Pioneers of Islamic Revival, Zed Books: New York
 Safi, Omid, 2003, Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism, Oneworld
Publications: London
 Taji-Farouki, Suha (ed), 2006, Modern Muslim Intellectuals and the Quran, Oxford:
 Taji-Farouki, Suha, and Nafi, Basheer M (eds), 2004, Islamic Thought in the Twentieth
Century, London: I.B Tauris
 Vogt, Kari; Moe, Christian; and Larsen, Lena (eds), 2008, New Directions in Islamic
Thought, London: I.B Tauris
Course Content
The content of the course represented various topics discussed which are arranged as follows:
Part I. Description of Origins

 What is modern Islamic thought? The seed of modern Islamic thought: Jamal al-din al-
Asadabadi, Muhammad Abduh
 More than Political Movement: Ikhwan al-Muslimin. Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb
 Reconstruction of Islam I: Muhammad Iqbal, Hussein Nasr, Muhammad al-Ghazali
 Reconstruction of Islam II: Imam Khomeini, Murtada Mutahhari, Muhammad Baqir Sadr
Part II. Cartography of Thought
 Islamic identity: Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Ali Shariati, Hachim Djait, Daryush Shayegan
 Islamic economics: Mahmud Taliqani, Muhammad Baqir Sadr, Nawab Naqvi
 Islamic science: Ismail al-Faruqi, Naquib al-Attas, Mahdi Hairi Yazdi
 Islamic Left: Abdullah Laroui, Hassan Hanafi
 Islam and feminism: Fatimah Mernissi, Laila Ahmad, Ziba Mir-Husseini, Aminah
Wadud
 Islam and liberation theology: Asghar Ali Engineer, Farid Esack
 Rethinking Islam I: Fazlur Rahman, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
 Rethinking Islam II: Muhammad Abid al-Jabiri, Muhammad Arkoun
Part III. Geography of Thought
 Islam in the West: Khaled Abu al-Fadl, Tariq Ramadan, Abdullahi an-Naim
 Dynamics in Iran: Abdulkarim Soroush, Muhammad Mujtahid Shabestari, Muhammad
Taqi Misbah Yazdi
 Turkey and Indonesia: Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Fathullah Gulen and Nurcholish Madjid
 Dynamics in India: Wahiduddin Khan, Ali Nadwi, Mawdudi
Course schedule
The schedule of the course is arranged as follows:
Week Description Readings

1 Introduction Michiel Leezenberg, 2006,
Approaching Modern Islamic
Part I. Thought
What is modern Islamic thought? Cooper: introduction
The seed of modern Islamic thought: Taji-Farouki et al: ch.2

Jamal al-din al-Asadabadi, Muhammad
Abduh Hourani: ch.5-7
Rahnema: ch.2-3
Kurzman: ch.3,11
Moaddel:ch.1, 4-5
2 More than Political Movement: Ikhwan Rahnema: ch.6-7
al-Muslimin, Hasan al-Banna and
Sayyid Qutb Moaddel: ch.19,21
3 Reconstruction of Islam I: Muhammad Abu-Rabi: ch.10
Iqbal, Sayyid Hussein Nasr, Muhammad
al-Ghazali Kurzman: ch.43
Boroujerdi: ch.5
4 Reconstruction of Islam II: Imam Rahnema: ch.4,10
Khomeini, Murtada Mutahhari,
Muhammad Baqir Sadr Moaddel:ch.30
Jahanbakhsh: ch.4
5 Part II. Cartography of Thought Moaddel: ch.28,32
Islamic identity: Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Ali Nabavi: ch.1,4

Shariati, Hachim Djait, Daryush
Shayegan Boroujerdi: ch.3,5,6
6 Islamic economics: Mahmud Taliqani, Taji Farouki et al: ch.7
Muhammad Baqir Sadr, Nawab Naqvi
Jahanbakhsh: ch.4
7 Islamic science: Ismail al-Faruqi, Esposito et al: ch.1
Naquib al-Attas, Mahdi Hairi Yazdi
8 Islamic Left: Abdullah Laroui, Hassan Abu-Rabi: ch.16
Hanafi
Abu-Rabi ed: ch.13
Kamrava: ch.12
Esposito et al: ch.4

9 Islam and feminism: Fatimah Mernissi, Safi: ch.6
Laila Ahmad, Ziba Mir-Husseini,
Aminah Wadud Abu-Rabi ed: ch. 34-35
Kamrava: ch.8-10
Vogt et al: ch. 5

10 Islam and liberation theology: Asghar Safi: ch.2
Ali Engineer, Farid Esack
11 Rethinking Islam I: Fazlur Rahman, Taji-Farouki ed: ch.2,6
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
Kamrava: ch.7
12 Rethinking Islam II: Muhammad Abid Cooper: ch.7
al-Jabiri, Muhammad Arkoun
Abu-Rabi: ch.12-13
Taji-Farouki ed: ch.5
Kamrava: ch.1
13 Part III. Geography of Thought Taji-Farouki et al: ch.3,9
Islam in the West: Khaled Abu al-Fadl, Abu-Rabi ed: ch.16

Tariq Ramadan, Abdullahi an-Naim
Kamrava: ch.2
Vogt et al: ch.9-11

14 Dynamics in Iran: Abdulkarim Soroush, Cooper: ch.2
Muhammad Mujtahid Shabestari,
Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi Taji-Farouki ed: ch.7
Kamrava: ch.13
Esposito et al: ch. 7
Vogt et al: ch.1

15 Turkey and Indonesia: Bediuzzaman Abu-Rabi ed: ch. 1-3
Said Nursi, Fathullah Gulen and
Nurcholish Madjid Taji-Farouki ed: ch.3
Kamrava: ch.3
16 Dynamics in India: Wahiduddin Khan, Abu-Rabi ed: ch. 4-5,10
Ali Nadwi, Mawdudi
Rethinking on rethinking

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Modern Islamic Thought

 Understanding of the development of modern Islamic thought from its historical,

 Abu-Rabi, Ibrahim M, 2006, The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic

Part I. Description of Origins

Part II. Cartography of Thought

Part III. Geography of Thought

The schedule of the course is arranged as follows:

Week Description Readings

What is modern Islamic thought? Cooper: introduction

The seed of modern Islamic thought: Taji-Farouki et al: ch.2

Islamic identity: Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Ali Nabavi: ch.1,4

Esposito et al: ch.4

Vogt et al: ch. 5

Taji-Farouki ed: ch.5

Islam in the West: Khaled Abu al-Fadl, Abu-Rabi ed: ch.16

Vogt et al: ch.9-11

Esposito et al: ch. 7

Vogt et al: ch.1

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