Religion as Critique: Islamic Critical Thinking from Mecca to the Marketplace

321 Pages·2017·2.94 MB·English

by  Irfan Ahmad

RELIGION AS CRITIQUE
Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks
Carl W. Ernst and Bruce B. Lawrence, editors Highlighting themes with
historical as well as contemporary significance, Islamic Civilization and Muslim
Networks features works that explore Islamic societies and Muslim peoples from
a fresh perspective, drawing on new interpretive frameworks or theoretical
strategies in a variety of disciplines. Special emphasis is given to systems of
exchange that have promoted the creation and development of Islamic identities
—cultural, religious, or geopolitical. The series spans all periods and regions of
Islamic civilization.
A complete list of titles published in this series appears at the end of the book.
RELIGION AS CRITIQUE
Islamic Critical Thinking from Mecca to the
Marketplace
Irfan Ahmad
The University of North Carolina Press
Chapel Hill
© 2017 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Designed by Rebecca Evans
Set in Merope by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.
The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Cover photograph © istockphoto.com/Tassii
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ahmad, Irfan, 1974– author.
Title: Religion as critique : Islamic critical thinking from Mecca to the marketplace / Irfan Ahmad.
Description: Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, [2017] | Series: Islamic civilization and
Muslim networks | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017020949| ISBN 9781469635088 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469635095 (pbk :
alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469635101 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Islamic philosophy. | Faith and reason—Islam. | Critical thinking. | Criticism. | Reasoning.
Classification: LCC B745.R4 A36 2017 | DDC 181/.07—dc23 LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2017020949
To Abbī jī, Ayesha, Mubashshir
— AND —
To the memory of the Aboriginals and their cultures (in Australia and
elsewhere), victims of the Enlightenment and Western modernity!
Urdu couplet of Iqbal. Handwritten calligraphy by Mr. Mahmoud
Hatamabadi. Used with permission.
Gabriel on Creation’s Early Morn, gave me a lesson
Do not accept that heart which is a slave of reason
—MUHAMMAD IQBAL, Sult̤ān tīpū kī vaṣīʿat (which figures in Ẓarb-e-kalīm,
The Staff of Moses)