Full Description
Like anywhere else, the present-day Islamic world too is grappling with modernity and postmodernity, secularisation and globalisation. Muslims are raising questions about religious representations and authority. This has given rise to the emergence of alternative Islamic discourses which challenge binary oppositions and dichotomies of orthodoxy and heterodoxy, continuity and change, state and civil society. It also leads to a dispersal of authority, a collapse of existing hierarchical structures and gender roles. This book further argues that the centre of gravity of many of these alternative Islamic discourses is shifting from the Arabic-speaking 'heartland' towards the geographical peripheries of the Muslim world and expatriate Muslims in North America and Europe. At the same time, in view of recent seismic shifts in the political constellation of the Middle East, the trends discussed in this book hold important clues for the possible direction of future developments in that volatile part of the Muslim world.
Contents
Contents: Introduction: alternative Islamic discourses and religious authority, Carool Kersten and Susanne Olsson; Ijtihad and the derivation of new jurisprudence in contemporary Shi'ism: the rulings of Ayatollah Bujnurdi, Liyakat Takim; Judicial and rational challenges of the doctrine of jurist's rule, Mohammad Fazlhashemi; Muslim perception of Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement: accommodating or hindering modern Turkey?, Zeki Saritoprak; A Turkish Mahdi? Apocalypticism in Harun Yahya's Da'wah enterprise, Anne Ross Solberg; `Amr Khaled on individual proactivity, Susanne Olsson; Harmonious being: a space for an alternative way of exploring religion, Abdullah Hamidaddin; Islamic post-traditionalism in Indonesia: revisiting tradition and the future of Islam, Carool Kersten; Women's agency in transforming religious discourse: gender-sensitive interpretations of Islam in Indonesia, Ann Kull; Treading a dangerous path? The use of Islam in women's rights advocacy, Nida Kirmani; Index.
