Islam and the tyranny of authenticity
Subtitle: an inquiry into disciplinary apologetics and self-deception
By: Aaron W. Hughes
Publisher: Equinox
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Sheffield, UK; Bristol, CT
Language: eng
Number of pages: 143
ISBN-13: 9781781792162; 9781781792179
Subjects: Apologetik; Moderne; Reform; Authentizität; Study and teaching; Apologetic works; Islamische Theologie; Islam
Description: Many scholars of Islam are interested in creating a liberal, inclusive, pluralistic, feminist, and modern version of the religion that they believe to be explicit in the pages of the Qur'ān, but missed by earlier interpreters. In so doing, they create "good" Islam and, in the process, seek to define what does and does not get to count as authentic. As the purveyors of what they now believe to be veritable Islam, they subsequently claim that rival presentations are bastardizations based either on Orientalism and Islamophobia (if one is a non-Muslim) or misogyny and homophobia (if one is a Muslim that disagrees with them). Instead of engaging in critical scholarship, they engage in a constructive and theological project that they deceive themselves into thinking is both analytical and empirical. This book provides a hard-hitting examination of the spiritual motivations, rhetorical moves, and political implications associated with these apologetical discourses. It argues that what is at stake is relevance, and examines the consequences of engaging in mythopoesis as opposed to scholarship. -- Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 129-138) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: Preface: Noble lies; title: Introduction: Setting the problem, laying the ground; title: 1. Islamic religious studies and the politics of identity; title: 2. Prisoners of Said; title: 3. Insiders, outsiders, and the path between; title: 4. Business as usual; title: 5. Jacob Neusner meets Islamic studies; title: 6. Turf wars; title: Bibliography; title: Index.