Islamic Ethos and the Specter of Modernity

Reviews / Votes

"Vahdat introduces a broad range of carefully selected source material for English readers to contribute to current debates in the social sciences, specifically the nature and scope of modernizing change, as well as its intellectual and institutional contributions and impediments. This book will be of interest to those studying these issues at a more specific level in the Muslim world, as well as those who work more generally on theoretical debates in comparative politics and democratization." -Ali Gheissari, University of San Diego "The author examines the political views of nine 20th/21st Muslim ideologues; Sir Muhammad Iqbal, SayyidAbul 'Ala Maududi, Sayyid Qutb, Fatima Mernissi, Mehdi Haeri Yazdi, Mohamad Mojtahed Shabestari, Mohammad Khatami, Seyyed Hossein and Mohammed Arkoun. Each one is the subject of an independent essay but, ... all essays are by the same author. This provides refreshing continuity and eliminates the "curate's egg" problem when reviewing such a work. On the other hand, it provides the opportunity for the author to insert his own views throughout - which temptation Mr. Vahdat admirably eschews.... this is an extremely informative, well-researched, well-organised and well-presented book. " -The Islamic Quarterly: Vol 60, No. 1-133