Orientalism and the historicization of the Islamic heritage – 1
THE CONFLICT WITH the Orientalists should be one of methodology or epistemology, in contrast to the conflict waged against them…
Why I do not want an Islamic state or an Islamic law
I AM WELL AWARE that simply the above title is enough for the inquisition courts to unsheathe their swords, and…
Diagnosing the Arab Muslim Mentality as a Precursor to Reform
ATTEMPTS TO DIAGNOSE the factors contributing to paralysis and obstacles to Arab reform date back more than two centuries. They…
The Arabs and Islam – 3
THAT THERE IS a dual personality of ‘Arab’ and ‘Islamic’, a swinging back and forth between the past and the…
Arkoun and the defeat of reason in Islam – 1
‘Fundamentalism’ did not originally have the negative connotation it has today. Now, however, it has come to mean merely the…
Intellectual self-isolation and the prospects of constructing a culture – 2
THE FIRST HALF of the 20th century was spent in attempts to imitate Western modernity on a number of levels.…
Intellectual distortion and societal suicide
ONE ANCIENT CHINESE custom that arose in the tenth century towards the end of the Tang Dynasty was the binding…
A stiff-necked God!
IN ARABIC CULTURE there is a commonly used phrase: “Even the whole Earth cannot change my word,”[1] which Arab men…
Dīn and Dunya and the failure of Arab Enlightenment
WHAT ILLUSTRATES THIS best is that despite the fact that politics and political governance constitute some of our most pressing…
Contemporary Islamic thought and chronological alienation
ALIENATION IS ASSOCIATED with feelings of isolation from one’s social environment. This may be occasioned by psychological reasons, but others…