Modernity and Islam

Abstract

Islam has always focused on including the aspects of various cultures into the religion and not set rigid rules that every follower has to follow. It has always combined various aspects of different civilizations and philosophies into its culture. Despite of this, Islam is considered as a conservative religion by many people. May people believe that it is a religion that cannot be linked with modernity. However, this paper will prove that Islam has always changed with changes in the world and that it has always emphasized bridging the gap between the Islamic law and the modern times.

Abstractii

Introduction1

Discussion1

Modernity2

Encounter of Islam with European Modernity2

The Reforms in Ottoman Empire and Modernization2

Islamic Modernism3

Jamal al-Din al-Afghani3

History of Islamic Modernism4

Impact of Early Modernists4

Time period between 1918 and 19685

From 1968 till Present5

History of Inclusion5

Fatwas, Flexibility and Authority6

Modern Progress and Religious Authority7

Conclusion8

Works Cited10

Modernity and Islam

Introduction

Islam is a religion that has always embraced various civilizations and philosophies of various cultures. The followers of Islam are not forced to become like Arabs because of being Muslims. This religion has spread across many countries across the world and has included the aspects of the culture of those countries. Despite of its ability to include various aspects of different cultures, Islam is viewed as a conservative religion. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to determine whether the religion Islam has modernized with the changes in the world. In order to do, this research paper focuses on the changes that have been brought into Islam with time. It also explains the concept of fatwa that the Islamic religious leaders give which provides a bridge between the Islamic and the modern world.

Discussion

Most of the islamic law theoristsbelieve on the Islamic Jurisprudence as the governing law and are against the concept of modernization. On the other hand, there is a reconstruction of Islamic tradition, this approach of religious modernization is the result of the confrontation of modernism with the Islamic world (Esfahani & Falavarjani, p. 98). Many of the Muslim thinkers and scholars have greatly contributed to the development of discourse of Islamic modernist and reformist. The legacies of those thinkers and scholars are inspiring the Muslim reformists even in today's world (Gregorian, p. 159).

Modernity

Modernity is the final result of process of modernization. It occurs when a society has attained a condition after going through some economic and social changes that begain in Western Europe. The modernization is the process that is related to the introducing the modern knowledge into different aspects of human life. the main aim of this process is to improve the life of the society as a whole (Alatas, p. 209).

Encounter of Islam with European Modernity

In the 18th century, major transformations were faced by Europe due to the ideas arising from Age the Enlightenment. During this time, the importance of human reasoning, science and rationality was stressed. Europe was able to gain global influence and power which resulted in making changes in the world's history. It resulted in creating a gap in the ...