Traditional Islam in the modern world

Description

This book seeks to distinguish clearly between traditional Islam and both modernism and the ‘‘fundamentalist’’ or resurgent forms of Islam which are often confused with traditional Islam. The author, who speaks from the traditional point of view, delineates clearly how traditional Islam, as rooted in the Quran and the prophetic Sunnah, and as lived over the centuries by Muslims, differs from both the modernist and the ''fundamentalist'' schools in so many domains ranging from art and science to politics. He then discusses the encounter of traditional Islam with the challenges which face it in the modern world in general, as well as in the specific realms of education, science, philosophy and architecture and urbanism which are of central concern to the contemporary Muslim world. The book also devotes a section to some of the leading Western interpreters of Islam who in one way or another have appreciated and made known some aspects of traditional Islam to the West and who represent another dimension of the encounter between traditional Islam and the modern world. Finally, the existing tendencies of thought in the Islamic world are described. The author considers how these tendencies may develop in the future and looks at the trends which are most likely to dominate the Islamic world in the years to come. S.H. Nasr was born in Iran. He studied in America where he received his BS in physics from M.I.T. and his MA and PhD in the history of science and learning with concentration in Islamic Science, from Harvard. From 1958-79 he was professor of philosophy at Tehran University. In 1979 he became Professor of Islamic Studies at Temple University and is now University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University.