Modernism should be viewed as that part the more general Islamic revival which has the most affinity to the West and modernists represent that part of the spectrum of Muslim revivalism which has been most sympathetic to Western ideas and institutions. But if this is so, then it follows that revivalism should be seen as a sort of anti-western modernism. Such a view challenges the common representation of revivalism as simply a reaction against modernity. I would submit that revivalism is not so much anti-modern as it is anti-western. Revivalists have inherited from modernism a critical attitude toward the classical tradition, a commitment to revive Islam in relevant forms, and a willingness to appropriate many of the tools of modernity. What they reject is the perceived westoxification of the modernists. In this way revivalists are able to convincingly argue that their vision of Islam is just as relevant to the modern situation as that of the modernists -- in fact, more so because it offers real tools to resist western hegemony -- while at the same time holding a greater claim to authenticity… That revivalism is a truly modern response (and not just a reaction against modernity) should no longer be doubted. As Ernest Gellner suggests: A puritan and scripturalist world religion does not seem necessarily doomed to erosion by modern conditions. It may on the contrary be favoured by them. Gellners argument might suggest an explanation for the apparent failure of modernism with which we began: that is, revivalism has shown itself to be more modern than modernism. It has done so by effectively using the tools of modernity -- technology, means of communication, political organization -- but more importantly by voicing an ideology which is in fact more attuned than modernism to the political and sociological realities of modern Islamic societies, an ideology which offers both a convincing diagnosis and an invigorating cure for the spiritual, economic and political malaise of Muslim societies... The special contribution of South Asian thinkers to modern Muslim intellectual history has been widely recognized. Islamic modernism took early root in the Subcontinent and nowhere else did the modernist venture find as fertile soil or flourish with such vigor and variety. In originality, at least, South Asian modernists have been unequalled. We are hard pressed to identify rivals elsewhere in the Islamic world for the boldness of Sayyid Amad Khans speculations, the sophistication of Muammad Iqbals attempt to establish new foundations for Islamic theology, or the the radical rethinking of religious authority in the work of Ghulam Amad Parwez… https://mtholyoke.edu/~dbrown/modernism.htm
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 07:38:51 +0000
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