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Islam and the Dilemma of Modernity Dr. Vincent J. Cornell, Ph.D. Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Middle East and Islamic

Islam and the Dilemma of Modernity Dr. Vincent J. Cornell, Ph.D. Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Middle East and Islamic Studies Emory University. “The World Turned Upside Down”. Nostalgia for Tradition in Christianity. Nostalgia for Tradition in Islam. Modalities of Bid’a in Islam.

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Islam and the Dilemma of Modernity Dr. Vincent J. Cornell, Ph.D. Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Middle East and Islamic

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  1. Islam and the Dilemma of Modernity Dr. Vincent J. Cornell, Ph.D. Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Middle East and Islamic Studies Emory University

  2. “The World Turned Upside Down”

  3. Nostalgia for Tradition in Christianity

  4. Nostalgia for Tradition in Islam

  5. Modalities of Bid’a in Islam • The root bada’a: to start or begin something new • Al-Badi’: a name of God (“Originator of the Heavens and the Earth”) • Badi’: genius or a work of genius (the writer Badi’ al-Zaman al-Hamadani, “Genius of the Age from Hamadan” [d. 1007 CE]) • Ibda’: the Arabic term for “creativity” • Bid’a before Islam: deviation from the traditions of the past • Bid’a in Islam: deviation from the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad and the Righteous Predecessors (al-Salaf al-Salih) • Sunna: the opposite of bid’a • Bad bid’a: “The worst of things are innovations (muhdathat) and every bid’a is misguidance (dalala)”— Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad • Good bid’a: Caliph ‘Umar’s institution of Ramadan group prayers

  6. Models of Succession to the Prophet Muhammad • The Sunni Model (Caliphate): political authority in hands of Quraysh tribe, ideally by consensus (Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates) • The Shiite Model (Imamate): direct descendant of the Prophet assumes both political authority and the right to interpret Islamic scriptures • The Kharijite Model (Amirate): the best available Muslim holds temporary political and military authority and can be removed by popular vote

  7. Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi (d. 950 CE)

  8. Nestorian Christianity

  9. Genealogy of the “Virtuous City”

  10. Farabi’s “Cities of Ignorance” (al-mudun al-jahiliyya) • The Necessity-Based City (al-madina al-daruriyya) • The City of Baseness (madinat al-nadhala) — Plato’s Oligarchy • The City of Hedonism and Ruin (madinat al-khissa wa-l-suqut) • The City of Honor (madinat al-karama) — Plato’s Timocracy • The City of Tyranny (madinat al-taghallub) — Plato’s Tyranny • The Assembly-Based City (al-madina al-jama’iyya) — Plato’s Democracy

  11. Averroes’ Ranking of Governmental Systems • The Virtuous City = Monarchy (al-ri’asa al-malakiyya) • Aristocracy (ri’asat al-afadil): Rule by the Best • Timocracy (ri’asat al-karama): The Rule of Honor • Oligarchy (ri’asat al-aqilla): Rule by the Few • Democracy (ri’asat al-jama’a): Rule by Councils or Assemblies • Tyranny (ri’asat al-mutaghallibin): Rule by Conquerers

  12. Farabi’s “Bad Weeds” • The Wicked City (al-madina al-fasiqa): society of the vain and morally lazy • The Changeable City (al-madina al-mubaddila or al-mutabaddila): society of social and political innovations (bid’a) • The Errant or Misguided City (al-madina al-dalla): society of false doctrines, led by false prophets

  13. Osama Bin Laden’s “Letter to the Americans” (October 6, 2002) You [Americans] are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shari’a of God in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature that affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator. You flee from the embarrassing question posed to you: How is it possible for God the Almighty to fashion His creation, grant men power over all creatures and land, grant them all the amenities of life, and then deny them that which they are most in need of: knowledge of the laws which govern their lives?

  14. “Wholesale Reflexivity” and the Muslim Mal du Présent • Anthony Giddens: “We are abroad in a world which is thoroughly constituted through reflexively applied knowledge, but where at the same time we can never be sure that any given element of that knowledge will not be revised.” • Fatima Mernissi: The contemporary Muslim feels “a desire for death, a desire to be elsewhere, to be absent, to flee to the past as a way of being absent. A suicidal absence.” • Muhammad Sidique Khan: “Until we feel security, you will be our targets.”

  15. The “Epistemological Crisis of Islam” • Identifying the Crisis: Conflicts over rival answers to key questions can no longer be settled rationally. This is because arguments that have worked in the past disclose new inadequacies, hitherto unrecognized incoherencies, and new problems for which there seem to be insufficient or no resources within established beliefs. • Solving the Crisis: New concepts and frameworks for the traditions of Islam must be developed. • They must constitute a new tradition. • They must be critical. • They must be authentic.

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