Book Review
Contemporary thought in the Muslim world: trends, themes, and issues
by Carool Kersten, London and New York, Routledge, 2019, 218 pp., £96
(hardback), ISBN 978-0-415-85507-5
Reviewed by Dr. Adis Duderija, Griffith University
Kersten’s highly informative book comes closest to truly qualifying as
providing a global overview of contemporary Muslim thought in both Muslim
minority and majority contexts which is what it purports to do. This book
leaves just about no stone left unturned when it comes to providing an overview
of the intellectual landscape of contemporary Muslim thought. Of particular
importance is the rare acknowledgment of the progressive Muslim thought as an
independent and coherent intellectual category in its own right that this book
review author has theorized on and discussed at length elsewhere for over a decade
(Duderija 2011; Duderija 2017). Also, unlike other studies on
contemporary Muslim thought that usually are dominated by studies on scholars
from the Middle East and South Asia or have either a Sunni or Shi’i focus, this
book not only gives due consideration to the important ideas of academics and
intellectuals across the major sectarian divide but also incorporates views
from scholars based in Indonesia such as Nurkolich Majid and Yudian
Wahyudi and to a lesser extent those from Malayasia.
In the introduction the author explains that the book is syncretic
rather than analytical in nature with the view of not only deconstructing the
ideas of selected Muslim intellectuals but also aiming to “point out parallels
and contrasts, differences and similarities between thinkers and their ideas,
presenting a variety of themes and issues of interlocking concerns for
contemporary Muslim intellectuals” (p.1).
The first chapter deals with the problem of taxonomy and categorizing
contemporary Muslim intellectual thought. Kersten provides a useful overview of
major current typologies and comes up with a conceptually fruitful (but
somewhat reductive if approached from a sociological perspective) three-fold
typology, namely: traditional, reactionary and progressive. The first category
is associated with mainstream taqlidi madhhab
based approach whereas the second is associated with the neo ahl al hadith cum
salafi camp. This review agrees that this typology is “at the same time broad
and accurate enough to capture and characterize the enormous variety of ideas
circulating in the Muslim world today” (p.3). Kersten correctly acknowledges
that no typology can do justice to this bewildering variety. As noted above
Kersten is to be commended for emphasizing the existence and discursive coherence
behind the progressive Muslim category, a trend which is often overlooked in
many works on contemporary Muslim thought. In this context Kersten provides a
very useful genealogy and correctly identifies Muslim academics and
intellectuals who can be placed into this category that largely corresponds to
and expands on those identified by this reviewer (Duderija 2011; Duderija
2017). Furthermore, Kersten also, in this reviewer’s mind, correctly
recognises that the most innovative and creative thought is found in
this camp and that female Muslim scholars are almost exclusively
associated with it (pp.17-20).
The second chapter is titled “The Philosophies of Knowledge-
Transmission and Reason” and focuses on the question of and various approaches
to epistemology in contemporary Muslim thought that has been historically
dominated by Islamic disciplines of usul ul fiqh and fiqh. The
author adopts Al-Jabiri’s threefold typology (bayani, ‘irfani and
burhani) to describe these various approaches. Kersten places the emphasis
on the ideas of the heritage thinkers of Al-Jabiri (d.2010) , Hassan Hanafi
(d.2021), Muhammed Arkoun (d.2010) and Abu Zayd ( d.2010) which all could be
seen as proponents of the burhani epistemology (associated in classical Islam with Ibn Rushd d.1198 CE). Moreover, in his survey
Kersten discusses the ideas of scholars associated the Ankara School of
Theology as well as the so-called New Intellectuals in Iran. He also includes a
discussion on rationalist approaches to Islamic philosophical spirituality ( ihsan)
as discussed by Khaled Abou El Fadl ( as encapsulated in his idea of God’s Beauty (husn) to
be employed as a hermeneutical lens through which to correctly
understand not only Islamic ontology but also epistemology).
The third chapter carries the title of “Scripture-Alternative Ways of
Engaging with the Qur’an”. Here the focus is on explaining non-mainstream approaches
to Qur’anic interpretation associated with contextualist hermeneutics developed
by Abdullah Saeed, literary approaches adopted by Amin Al-Khuli ( d.1966) and
his student Abu Zayd , contemporary scriptural hermeneutics-informed
ideas developed by Farid Esack, ‘feminist’ tafsir of amina wadud (whose method like that
of Saeed has been greatly influenced by the great modernist of the 20th century Fazrul
Rahman (d.1988)) , the somewhat ‘eccentric’ approach of the Syrian engineer
Muhammad Shahrur ( d.2019) , the Sudanese scholar Mahmoud Taha ( d.1985)-
who was executed by the Sudanese regime of that time for his idea on Qur’anic
interpretation- as well as the ideas of the Shi’i cleric Shabestari and the Iranian intellectual living in exile
in America, Abdolkarim Soroush.
“Spiritual Dimension of Contemporary Muslim Thought” is the title of the
fourth chapter that focuses on and approaches Islamic spirituality(tasawwuf),
known in the west as Sufism, from the perspective of psychology, literature and
Islamisation of knowledge perspectives. In concert with other chapters, and
keeping with the book’s broad scope, Kersten here not only provides brief
historical description of the development of tasawwuf but also discusses the ideas of a wide number of Muslim
scholars writing on the topic from very different perspectives
including the ideas of such as Syed Hossein Nasr , Ziauddin Sardar, Nurkolish
Majid ( d.2005), Osman Bakar ,Naquib Al-Attas, Al-Taftazani and many
others including scholars from Turkey and Indonesia.
The fifth chapter focus on Islam and Politics and ideas of secularity,
freedom and democracy. Kersten, in this respect, rightly emphasizes the organic
link between epistemology, theology and political ideas in contemporary Muslim
thought. He identifies and groups two approaches with respect to
conceptualizing the relationship between religion and politics into
conflationists and de-conflationists ( p. 103) the latter of whom advocate a
minimalist influence of religion in politics. The chapter focuses primarily on
the ideas of deconflationists from across the Muslim world including Iran,
Indonesia, Turkey, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and western Muslim intellectuals such
as Tariq Ramadan and Bassam Tibi.
Chapter six has its focus on Shari’a in the context of Muslim scholars’
debates on its nature and whether this concept should be conceptualized as a
broad ethical guide or a specific and fixed Islamic legal system. Among others,
Kersten discusses the concept of maqasid al shari’a as playing an
important role in these discussions. Again, consistent with his overall broad-based
approach, he incorporates the views of many scholars writing on the nature of
the concept of Shari’a such as Khaled Abou El Fadl, Hashim Kamali and Jasser Auda
but crucially also incorporates the less well-known views of scholars from
Indonesia such as Yudian Wahyudi. Kersten also includes in this chapter a
discussion on new jurisprudence for Muslim minorities (al- fiqh al
aqalliyyat) as developed by scholars such as taha Jabir Al-Alwani (d.2016),
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and Tariq Ramadan.
Chapter seven is titled “Dealing with Difference and
Plurality-Emancipation, Toleration and Human Rights”. The chapter is based on
the assumption, correct in my view, that
Muslim attitudes toward women, gender equality and religious plurality should
be all linked to and subsumed under, for conceptual and analytical purposes, to
discussions on modern human rights (p.149). Kersten here discusses Muslim
feminist writers and scholars from the 20th and 21st centuries
including male pioneers of Muslim women emancipation such as Qasim Amin (d.1908)
and Tahir Al-Haddad (d.1935) as well as contemporary scholars such as amina
wadud, Ziba-Mir Hosseini, Asma Amrabat, and Sadiyya Shaikh. In relation to
religious pluralism, Kersten discusses the ideas of Norcholish Majid (and some
of his high-profile students) and Farid Esack. With respect to intersections
and conceptual relationship between modern human right schemes and Islamic law Kersten
incorporates the views of Ali Bulac, Abdullahi An’Naim, Mohsen
Kadivar, Al-Jabiri , Soroush and Khaled Abou El Fadl who all advocate for the
possibility of reconciling the two human rights traditions.
The final chapter eight carries the title “Issues of the twenty -First
century -Globalisation, Ecology and Medial Ethics”. Faithful to its overall
approach and structure, Kersten provides an informative overview of major
Muslim contemporary scholars writing on the issues pertaining to globalization
( e.g. Sadiq Al-Azm (d.2016), Hassan Hanafi, Syed Hussein Alatas ( d.2007), Ali
Bulac and Muhammad Arkoun), ecology ( Syed Hussein Nasr and other less well
known scholars) and medical ethics/bioethics ( Ebrahim Moosa and Omar Haque).
Now to some minor criticisms. With respect to Malaysia in the context of
the chapter six on shari’a more attention should have been given to the ideas
of Hashim Kamali on tajdid, Islam Hadhari, and maqasid as shari’a
as he has been writing on these themes for close to four decades contributing
significant novel and original insights on these issues. Moreover, the
important ideas of Ebrahim Moosa on Shari’a as an intellectual enterprise in
Islamic ethics warranted inclusion in this chapter as well. In the western
Muslim context with respect to the relationship between Islam and politics,
Kersten does not mention the concept of fiqh al al-aqlliyyat which would
have been more logical compared to chapter seven in which concept is briefly
discussed. Moreover, the important ideas of Nader Hashmi and Ali Abkar on
compatibility of Islam with religious secularity should have been discussed in
this chapter. On the question of the intersection between Islamic
and natural law in chapter seven dealing with difference and plurality, the
significant ideas of Anwar Emon from University of Toronto deserved at least a
mention. In the eight chapter on the concept of Islamic medical and bioethics
important work being done by scholars associated with the Centre for Islamic
Law and Ethics (CILE) in Qatar such as Muhammad Ghaly and Mu’taz Al-Khattib
should have been included and in the context of globalization important
insights by Abdenor Prado and Samir Amin (d.2018) deserved at least a mention.
Another more significant lacuna that needed filling would be in the
field of contemporary Hadith and Sunna studies, particularly important works of
progressive minded Muslim scholars such as Javed Ghamidi, Faqihuddin Abdolkodir
,Sadiyya Sheikh, Nimet Barazangi and myself who have been revising the concept
of sunna and have provided creative and original ideas with respect to classical hadith
sciences with specific reference to reform/renewal Muslim family laws. The
omission of inclusion of the ideas of scholars from western Balkans such as
that of Enes Karic and Ahmet Alibasic who do write in English is also a
setback. Finally, the absence of a conclusion is rather curious and is a missed
opportunity for the author to reinforce the interlocking of the themes
discussed in the book and perhaps look into the future developments when it
comes to likely developments in contemporary Muslim thought.
Overall, however, I would highly recommend this book to upper level undergraduate
students in the broad field of Islamic Studies onward and anyone who is
interested in contemporary Muslim thought, especially the
progressive trend where, according to both the author and this book reviewer,
the most creative and innovative thought in contemporary Muslim
thought is to be found.
