Overview

This book investigates the central role of reason in Islamic intellectual life. Despite widespread characterization of Islam as a system of belief based only on revelation, John Walbridge argues that rational methods, not fundamentalism, have characterized Islamic law, philosophy and education since the medieval period. His research demonstrates that this medieval Islamic rational tradition was opposed by both modernists and fundamentalists, resulting in a general collapse of traditional Islamic intellectual life and its replacement by more modern but far shallower forms of thought. However, the resources of this Islamic scholarly tradition remain an integral part of the Islamic intellectual tradition and will prove vital to its revival. The future of Islam, Walbridge argues, will be marked by a return to rationalism.

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9780511761959

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'This is a daring attempt to understand the role of reason in the Islamic intellectual tradition and to explain it in simple, lucid terms. Full of fresh insights.' Zafar Ishaq Ansari, International Islamic University 'This book is beautifully written and researched, deeply learned and contemplated by a fellow citizen of the 21st century who wishes to demonstrate that Islam is a reasonable mode of being human. This book demonstrates what should never have been doubted: that the venture of Islam - like the venture of Christianity or Buddhism or Judaism - has been enacted by none other than practising human beings who wish to know why they are 'here,' why they live, and why they suffer and to discover how they can live better while they are 'here.' The answers that are given are the results of human reason, but the language in which such answers are formed may be the language of science, the language of religion, the language of the enlightenment, the language of the church, or the language of Islam. This book goes some good and necessary distance in dispelling the current darkness, and I am grateful to its author for having written it.' Todd Lawson, University of Toronto

'This is a daring attempt to understand the role of reason in the Islamic intellectual tradition and to explain it in simple, lucid terms. Full of fresh insights.' Zafar Ishaq Ansari, International Islamic University 'This book is beautifully written and researched, deeply learned and contemplated by a fellow citizen of the 21st century who wishes to demonstrate that Islam is a reasonable mode of being human. This book demonstrates what should never have been doubted: that the venture of Islam - like the venture of Christianity or Buddhism or Judaism - has been enacted by none other than practising human beings who wish to know why they are 'here,' why they live, and why they suffer and to discover how they can live better while they are 'here.' The answers that are given are the results of human reason, but the language in which such answers are formed may be the language of science, the language of religion, the language of the enlightenment, the language of the church, or the language of Islam. This book goes some good and necessary distance in dispelling the current darkness, and I am grateful to its author for having written it.' Todd Lawson, University of Toronto 'Walbridge's book is clearly the product of many years of study and reflection. Its tone is thoughtful, scholarly, and temperate. It is a fruitful source of insights for scholars of Islam, the Middle East, and international politics. Those who argue that Islam is inherently radical and irrational must take account of the argument he offers here, and the path he indicates for the modernization of Islam.' Luigi Bradizza, The European Legacy

Author Information

John Walbridge is a Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University. He is the author of nine books on Islam and Arabic culture, including four books on Islamic philosophy, including The Wisdom of the Mystic East: Suhrawardi and Platonic Orientalism (2001) and Suhrawardi: The Philosophy of Illumination (with Hossein Ziai, 1999).

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