Islam and Modernity - Essay Example

Islam and Modernity al Affiliation Islam and Modernity Introduction Several scholars have argued that religious principles are compatible with the experiences that men come across throughout their lives. These experiences are always changing from time to time and from place to place (Esposito & Voll, 2001). This debate on whether religious principles can exist hand in hand with the human experiences has reached a point where scholars are now studying if there is any possibility of religion and modernity existing peacefully. The big question in this paper is whether modernity and Islam are compatible and what modernity means to Islam (Kurzman, 2008). The opinions among scholars are divided on this issue. This is due to the fact that Islam is not only a religion, but as a lifestyle that is lived by those who belong to this religion. It is seen in almost every aspect of their everyday lives from work related to social related activities. Literature Review Scholars are theorists have investigated the relationship between Islam and the various experiences that human beings come across in the course of their life. These research works have strived to define modernity from the Islam perceptive and what it means to the Islam faith and those who belong to this particular religion. Cooper, Nettler & Mahmud (2008) says that there exists a dichotomy between modernity or modern experiences and Islam. According to this scholar, this dichotomy allows the Muslims to decide on whether to follow the current lifestyle or the religion. Cheryl et al. (2004) states that the Islam religion subscriber are at will to decide whether they want to go to “Mecca” or “Mechanization” with the later representing modernity. According to Hofert & Armando (2004), religion has come out to be a public issue in various countries. The modernization theory has also been has been rejected and supported at the same time by scholars and different theorists. Those who support the idea of modernization argue that Islam continue to be influenced by the modern lifestyle and experiences to the extent that a scenario referred to as Islamic modernity has emerged. This claim has however remained speculative. Silverstein (2005) tried to determine the Islamic modernities in order to show influence of mechanization on Islam It was done by exploring the various social examples of the Islamic modernity. Through the collection of both individual stories as well as the societal stories, an insightful analysis into the Islam modernities has been done. Through these personal and societal stories, Silverstein (2005) was able to strongly argue that modern lifestyles and Islamic lifestyle have been combined to form Islamic modernities. These examples are also not conclusive in that they are ad hoc and do not clearly show and explain how different grounds taken to synthesize the modern societal values and the Islamic values Modernity and the midway Culture The cause, origin and the effects of modernity have been widely debated by scholars and theorists. Malik (2004) notes that the word modernity itself tries to depict some kind of an evaluation as opposed to absolute meaning of the word. This word came into used for the first time in the 5th Century. It was used in explaining the then Christian lifestyle, the pagans and the traditional Roman lifestyle. Helfont (2009) defines modernity to be civilization that is characterized by a change in the way things are done. Modernity has several definitions, but the widely agreed one is that it refers to the norms, ways, values and standards that are present and witnessed in ever-growing civilization. In the various studies that have been carried, out on the relationship between human experience and religion, western modernity has been taken to overshadow other factors that influence religion. Modernity is viewed by focusing on the historical paths and trajectories. Modernity is argued by majority of the scholars to have originated from the West. Guttmann (2008) says that in all the definitions if modernity, the central issue remains that it demonstrates a change from the past in terms of norms, values, and beliefs. It is noted that in these changes, the norms and values come from the influential cultures. Over the years, the west has been very influential in dictating the norms compared to other world regions. The west has led the other regions in migrating from traditional practices to the current practices that are being witnessed in the world. It is due to this influence that most of the modern trends that affect various aspects of human lifestyle including religion are pointed towards the west. Bennett (2006) noted that western cultures, values, practices and views have found their way into various religions with Islam not being spared. This influence is however different from region to region and is known to also vary from one individual to the other. It is also indicated the influence seem to have so much gone into the Islam lifestyle due to the fact that the Muslims have always made their religion part of their everyday life. The religion defines how they carry out their activities in several settings of life. According to Hanif (2000), there appears to be a trend that is referred to as a midway lifestyle whereby modernity and religion seems to have reached a compromise. Helfont (2009) carried about a study among Islam believers in Turkey in order to explore this idea. In this study, modernism was defined as the western influence on the Islamic way of life. In his study, the author found out that there appears to be some form of compromise whereby several Muslims are viewed to be living what can be said to be a semi modern lifestyle while at the same time holding on to their traditional Islam values. Modern Science and Islam Another aspect of modernity that is widely studied with respect to religion and Islam in particular is the modern science. Masud, Salvatore & Van Bruinessen (2009) noted that the relationship which modern science and Islam have is a very vital pillar in grasping and exploring the effect of modernity on the religion. The postmodernist scholars have always been against the scientific meta-narratives. The science meta-narratives significantly influence how various occurrences and experiences are taken and understood. Science has continued to dominate the view that the world and the scholars have on modernity. Hanif (2000) says that with the emergence of the modern science, a duality of the western society and the traditional society and institutions like the Islamic schools was created. This duality has been widely witnessed in countries such as Turkey and Egypt, which were traditionally fully religious, but now appear to be moving away from the Islamic institutions. In such countries and societies, the fate of the various Islamic institutions that existed before the creation of a dual society is widely debated. According to Cheryl et al. (2004), modern science remains the preferred avenue for understanding occurrences and scenarios. In some cases, however, the modern science has faced opposition from the Islamic knowledge in the way some aspects of human life are understood and interpreted. Turkey is one such country where this has come into play. Silverstein (2005) says that in Turkey, there is a very tense argument on the understanding of causality. After the 1999 earthquake, there was a very intense argument in Turkey as to whether Allah was the one who created the earthquake or it is something that occurred naturally. This debate was witnessed in several media houses and platforms in Turkey. Science argues that earthquakes are natural occurrences while religion tends to believe that the events are caused by God. Asad (2003) says that this argument has continued to be witnessed with some theorist arguing that the modern society always call the creations of Allah to be natural occurrences. Discussions Most Muslims and other traditionalist view modernity to be a western thing. They believe that modernity originated from the western countries since they were the pioneers of the trend. Majority of those who are opposed to modernity take it to be a form of western secularism. This western secularism is at times taken to be something that tries to eliminate the religious values that are found is the traditional Islam lifestyle and religion. Some Muslim scholars still argue that modernity has become one of the greatest enemies of the Islam religion by opposing the value of the religion and rejecting the sovereignty of Allah. As it is noted by Esposito & Voll (2001), secularism is fast becoming anathema among some Islam religion subscribers. Majority of the Muslims who oppose secularism and individualism say that the western modernity is characterized by a world which is full of violence, loneliness and other western lifestyles which all overshadow the role that is played by religion and other traditions which have over the years shaped how the Muslims lived their lives (Silverstein, 2005). Some Muslim scholars believe that western modernity, as they popular refer to it, is fast overshadowing the religion and the traditional Islam lifestyle. This is seen through the various western cultures and lifestyle that have found their way into the Islamic lifestyle in some counties. Esposito & Voll (2001) however claims that this should not be a matter of concern. The reason Esposito & Voll (2001) says this is because Islam is part and parcel of modernity and the western secularism. Cheryl et al. (2004) argues that just like western modernity is part of Islam, so is Islam part of the western modernity. These two cultures and trends are, therefore, seen to be very much intertwined and cannot be separated from one another. The western culture which is a component of modernity argues that people or human beings are supposed to be allowed to act and also think the way they desire to do and in line with their own personal beliefs. The western culture allows for human being to view various phenomena whether based on science or religious understanding in their own way and in their own belief. Scholars like Guttmann (2008) however say that this contradicts the Islamic traditions and customs. The traditional Islam subscribers see this to be a trend that will lead to selfishness, denial of Allah and Fitna. In this aspect, secularism, which is carried in modernity, is viewed by Islam to be a form of blasphemy in most of the instances where it seeks to allow individuals to think and act in accordance to their will and beliefs. Asad (2003) noted that in the western countries where modernity is widely accepted because it is said to have originated there, people operate believing that their actions and decisions are controlled by reason and science alone. This is said to be one of the characteristics of free will modern society. In areas where modernity is accepted, majority of the people act on the basis of reasons, emotions, and the prevailing customs. This is on the contrary to the Islam belief where it is argued that people need to act on the basis of belief in Allah and salvation. However, Hanif (2000) says that the two modes of acting are creations of the modern society because both Islam and Western modernity are part of each other and the two put emphasis on the power of reason. Despite the argument that Islam and modernity are incompatible, it is clear that Islam can pro and anti-modernity depending on how modernity is viewed. Some scholars have clearly shown that Islam encourages modernity and the power of free will and reason even more than the western culture and Christianity. Rahman (2000) says that Islam has always encouraged the Muslims to individually seek their paths especially in matters to do with Allah. In addition to this, no single believer of Islam is said to have a monopoly over access of Allah and wisdom. As such Islam is seen as a religion that encourages free will that is part and parcel of the western modernity. Islam is a religion that can modernize. It can take in new things that are outside the Islam culture and traditions. In situations where the aspects of modernity appear to be outside the Islam religion, Muslims are normally able to seek and apply the Shariah principles and extend their laws to be able to respond to such situations. In this aspect, Islam is said to be flexible and compatible with most aspects of modernity. Rahman (2000) also says that Islam and modernity are very much compatible. Some scholars have argued that only the Islam subscribers in the modern urban cities are receptive of modernization. This view is opposed by Asad (2003) who indicate that the rural Islam population is more flexible to modernity and the western culture than the urban or city Islam communities. The rural Islam just like the urban Islam population has accepted that religion is not something that is rigid and immutable. Islam has, in the emergence of modernity, mutated and shriveled to other forms which has enabled it to be compatible with the modern culture and the western secularism. There is no reason why the Islam religion should demonstrate that it is unable to take in the challenges that come with the change. As such Islam has the capacity and capability to come up with alternative theories around the issue of modernity. In addition to this, Islam has the capacity and capability to integrate the Islam faith into the realistic theories that are less mythical about modernity. The mythical theories have viewed modernity as something that shifts the traditional values away and replaces them with ones that are less accepted in the faith. Conclusion The debate on the relationship that exists between modernity and Islam and what modernity means to Islam is one that has elicited mixed opinions and views from various quotas. Some scholars have argued that Islam and the ever changing human experiences brought about by modernity are very much incompatible. This stand has been taken by those who say that modernity tries to do away with the tradition Islam values and replacing them with values that promote free will (Helfont, 2009). Others have however indicated that Islam and modernity are very much compatible since the two are part and parcel of each other. An emergence of Islam modernity has been seen in some countries like Turkey where there appears to be integration of modernity into the Islam faith. In such societies, a compromise appears to have been reached between modernity and Islam. Studies have also found out the science knowledge and Islam knowledge at times contradict one another and thus resulting in the difference in opinions as whether modernity and Islam are compatible. In conclusion, however, it appears that Islam and modernity are compatible. Islam promotes various aspects of modernity such as free will. In addition to that, Islam is not so rigid to changes that result due to modernity. Due to this flexibility, it can be said that the two are very much compatible. The flexibility allows Islam to respond effectively to changes caused by modernity thereby allowing the two to be compatible. References Asad, T. (2003). Formation of secular Christianity, Islam and modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Bennett, L. (2006). Women, Islam and modernity. New York: Routledge Press. Cooper, J., Nettler, R. & Mahmud, M. (2008). Islam and modernity: Muslim intellectuals respond. Michigan: I. B Tauris. Cheryl, B. et al. (2004). Civil democratic Islam. New York: Rand Corporation. Esposito, J. & Voll, J. (2001). Makers of contemporary Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guttmann, R. (2008). Reformist voices of Islam: Mediating Islam and modernity. New York: M.E Sharpe, Inc. Hanif, N. (2000) Islam and modernity. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. Helfont, S. (2009). Yusuf- Al- Qradawi, Islam and modernity. Tel Aviv: Moshe Dayan Centre. Hofert, A. & Armando, S. (2004). Between Europe and Islam: Shaping modernity in tran- cultural space. Brussels: P.I.E. Kurzman, C. (2008). Liberal Islam: A source book. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Malik, I. (2004). Islam and modernity: Muslims in Europe and the United States. New York: Pluto Press. Masud, K., Salvatore, A. & Van Bruinessen, M. (2009). Islam and modernity: Key issues and debate. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd. Rahman, F. (2000). Islam and modernity: Transformation of an intellect tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Silverstein, B. (2005). Islam and modernity in Turkey. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Read More