REL 137g 1st Edition Lecture 23 Current LectureIslam and its move from pre-modernity to modernity ModernityNot simply a time designation All contemporary communities are modernModern is relative (modern in comparison to all the communities that came before)Therefore, every era is modern A way of life that includes a number of new structural realities That fundamentally affect the way we look at life, the past and future These realities are brought into being by the rise of ‘The West’The progenitor of modernity The West as an entity emerges at a particular timeSometime around the 16th centuryIdea that conflict with Islam was the impetus to drive the West into one collective entity Confrontation when Columbus was travelling west to America, he ran into Muslims Leading structural innovationsCapitalism Leads to economic leaders and followersResults in a certain degree of economic dependenceThe West leads, the rest are dependant In particular for Islam: the commodification of money Liquid money becomes a commodity Brings back the institution of interest (riba)Enlightenment rationalism LiberalismClearing a way out of the pre-modern past Instead of “intelligible essences”Things are made of concrete realities rather that ‘essences’Good and evil is open to discussion, debate, interpretation and negotiationThey are not just what ‘God tells us’Modern science Based on empirical evidenceIf it cannot be proven, it does not existThe Nation-StateThe modern stateCitizenship/equalityMonopoly of lawSingle law of the landColonialism The medium through which the Muslim world would encounter the entire WestIslam’s responseMuhammad Ibn ‘Ahb al-Wahhab (1703 – 1792)Local movement within his own community to rid it of Western influences Founder of the Wahhabi movementNow has the reputation of being ultra-conservative and extremist bordering on violentOut of contextAgainst superstition Especially Sufi Supported full ijtihadBiddahUnsanctioned innovation (to him, the opposite of sunna)The Prophet perfected Islam and anything added after is unsanctionedAdvocated going back to the ways of the pious
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