Islam and Modernity

Introduction

Fazlur Rahman, a Pakistani scholar who left Pakistan in 1968 after his reformist views had provoked protests and then taught at the University of Chicago, published the book in 1982. Starting from the history of Islamic education, he argues that Islamic thought declined when law and theology lost touch with a coherent understanding of the Qur’an. His method of the “double movement” first reconstructs the moral principles behind specific Qur’anic rulings from their historical situation and then applies these principles to present circumstances. Rahman calls for an Islamic intellectualism that unites religious and modern learning. The book is widely discussed in reformist Islamic thought.

Connections

Builds on

• The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam1930 · Muhammad Iqbal

Taken up in

• Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur’an2002 · Asma Barlas