Islam and Modernity: Key Issues and Debates

Recent events have focused attention on the perceived tensions between the Muslim world and the modern West, with the sense that Islam appears resistant to internal development and inherently pre-modern. However Muslim societies have experienced most of the same structural changes that have impacted upon all societies: massive urbanization, mass education, dramatically increased communication, the emergence of new types of institutions and associations, some measure of political mobilization, and major transformations of the economy. These developments are accompanied by a wide range of social movements, and by complex and varied religious and ideological debates. This is the first book to provide an introduction to and overview of the debates and questions emerging regarding Islam and modernity. Key issues are selected to give readers an understanding of the complexity of the phenomenon, an historical perspective, and access to several manifestations of modernity in Muslim life such as social change, gender politics, and shifts in religious authority. Key Features *Each chapter concludes with a summary of the key ideas presented and a set of questions *Includes summaries of secondary literature *Provides a range of reflections on major debates on modernity in Islam *Contributing authors, drawn from the best-known academics in the field, summarise and update the main results from their specialized fields of scholarship