An Enchanted Modern is an ethnographic research conducted by Lara Deed in the Southern suburbs of Beirut. Deeb demonstrates that Islam and modernity are not in opposition but complimentary. She examines the ways that individual and collective expressions along with the understanding of piety have been debated, contested and reformulated. By emphasizing the ways modernity and piety are lived, debated and shared by ‘everyday Islamist’, this book shows that Islamism is not static or monolithic. In the
Summary of the Argument Laura Deeb’s An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi’i Lebanon seeks to rectify post-9/11 notions of political Islam as anti-modern and incongruous with Western formulations of secular modernity. Specifically, Deeb is writing in opposition to a Weberian characterization of modern secular Western societies as the development of bureaucracies through social rationalization and disenchantment. Within this Weberian framework Deeb asserts that Shia communities are
human life? Fourth, how does the historical transition from pre-modern to modern or postmodern societies affect the strength, visibility and nature of religion? What are the consequences/influences of modernity on secularization process? What are multiple modernities or are there multiple modernities today? Fifth, what social factors and transitions influence individuals’ religious beliefs, practices, transformation, communities, religious movements, the strength and character of religious identity
Modernisation, Westernisation and Islam Background: The core purpose of this research is to look over the issue in three aspects i.e. • What is Islam’s stance over modernisation? • What is Islam’s stance over westernisation? • What is the prime difference between modernisation and westernisation? I have been compelled to do this research because of several reasons. Firstly, the widely believed phenomenon that muslims are a backward creed and Islam in principle is against development in science and
The golden age of Islam, starting in the 16th century and ending in the 19th century, was a time when intellectuality thrived within an Islamic environment and the Muslim state was strong. During this time, European, North African, and Southwest Asian nations had maintained a relatively symbiotic relationship through trade, colonialism, and adaptation of ideas. The Muslim world began to languish during the 19th century when European Imperialism turned to the Middle East. This decline was also a result
Progress and the Immovable Will of Catholicism and Islam The religious authority in Catholicism and Islam is found in their similar structures of an authority figure who is the final word on the interpretation of their religious text. Through the perils of punishment with the selling of indulgences in the early days of Catholicism to the threat of Sharia Law in modern day Islamic extremes, the threat of damnation and punishment has always been a way for the faiths to keep their followers in line
The issues of Islam being compatible with liberty, and democracy, such principles of “modernity” that make us free are questioned regarding the religion of Islam. Amin reasons that there are questions from both sides regarding Islam; however, there are inadequate answers to these questions. Instead of simplifying the answers, the author states that when a deed is done in
Leadership Muslim nations face a crisis of leadership, which affects both them and their relationship with other countries. In Muslim society the leader embodies both political and moral authority. Yet even the best-known thinkers who comment on Islam, like Professor Samuel Huntington and Francis Fukuyama, have failed to identify the importance of Muslim leadership. On the surface there is a bewildering range of leadership: kings, military dictators, mullahs, democrats, and, as in the Taliban in
commonly consider Islam as an unchangeable and essentialist political framework to carry out this command. Hence, many Islamic movements by and large have emerged through the
assumption, ideal, and threat of Muslim unity to advance political agendas" (5). This approach is important as it demonstrates how the purpose of the creation of the Muslim world was so the Christian West could position it in everlasting conflict against Islam.
Following this historical situating, Scott then looks at how the Dhammakaya temple has used discourses on merit making within Buddhism to create a situation where “... ... middle of paper ... ...o de-essentialize and de-Orientalize religious system of Islam, and instead locate it as part of a historical discursive tradition where practices were contested and in flux. This challenges notions of what authentic religious practices are in Theravada Buddhism, and in doing so expands an understanding of what
future of the endless conflict between Islamic extremism and modernity? The last one is particularly burning, since it touches an issue, entwined in ever-lasting controversy, aggression and needless carnage - the issue of Islamic fundamentalism and its extreme manifestation - terrorism. In my paper I argue that in its essence Islamic fundamentalism is a negation of the values, upheld by globalization, democracy, true Islam and modernity. There are several interconnected focal factors that render
In Islam, there is prevailing an equal treatment for both men and women. Islam worked as a changing factor to upgrade the position of women and for the betterment of the then pre-Islamic Arabian women to the early Islamic Arabian women. The Arabian peninsula which was mainly the center of spreading Islam is an arid place for survival. The Arabian people used to live within their clans where they belonged to from birth. Particularly, the Bedouin (nomadic group) culture evolved from this area and everyone
analyzing Ben Singer’s work Melodrama and Modernity, as he attempts to define modernity in contrast to this universal antiquity. Singer portrays modernity as something fluid, saying “Modernity is ostensibly a temporal concept” (Singer 17). The truth is modernity is a pattern that transcends time. Singer fancies modernity as a straight line progressing from caveman to businessman. John Anthony West, an author and Egyptological researcher
emotionalism, differences, which to an outside observer might seem superficial, are, in fact, quite profound to the believers. Religion, therefore, becomes much more problematic than secularism when dealing with world politics. Westernization and modernity have been key players in the creation of otherness amongst nations. Through the spheres of influence, Western societies have tried to push their beliefs on other societies. Ultimately, what it comes down to is Judeo-Chris... ... middle of paper
Homosexuality has become one of the most controversial subjects debated within Christianity. There are many views concerning how this issue should be handled, in these differing views both sides support their perspective using valid principles of Christianity. Christian perspectives on homosexuality have presented controversial arguments based on the different values and principles that are used to support their specific side of the argument. Christianity follows specific principles laid out by
When talking about the concept of modernity, most people will probably think such concept is related to the contemporary era they live in where many advanced technology present in everyday life. In this so-called modern era, people from different regions and cultural backgrounds share many similar characteristics, such as their daily technology or civilization, general knowledge and science, and even the way they dressed. In fact, many characteristics or values that are different with those shared
Religion has always been of high social importance and influence within civilization and their society. This essay will argue that as modernity has progressed the social importance of religion has receded, but the gradient of this recession and by how much varies upon the society. Modernity typically refers to a “post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions”
do. In Islam: The Straight Path, John Esposito attempts to address many common misconceptions that those looking from the outside have regarding this great world religion that counts more than one billion people as its followers. Esposito begins by tracing the historical development of Islam from its humble beginnings with Muhammad and his revelation of the Quran. He describes the basic tenets of belief that are found in the Quran, along with its development through the Golden Age of Islam expansion
Before venturing into the ideals and movements of Islamic feminism, it is important to recognize some of the biased views Westerners often take when it comes to women in Islam. Because of the portrayal of women in the Arab world through pop-culture and the media, some Westerners may believe that Islam creates a society in need of modernity. The concepts of religious government are also foreign to the Western world. Feminists often focus on the practice of veiling women in Islamic tradition as a law made