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a study of the thought of Seyyed Hossein Nasr
International Islamic University Malaysia
Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences
Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia
The issue of the compatibility of Islam with modernity continues to be a recurring phenomenon, especially in this present time where the world has become a global village and where cultures and civilizations are constantly interacting and edging out one another. In the Muslim world, the issue centres on how to relate and interact with Western modernity considering the sharp differences between the two civilizations. While some Muslims hold that there cannot be a meeting point between them, others argue that Muslims should embrace modernity based on certain variables, the lack of which, they believe, is responsible for the backwardness and underdevelopment of the Muslim world. In the light of this debate, this thesis examines, analytically and critically, the issue of the compatibility of Islam with modernity as propounded by some modernist Muslim scholars through the views of one of the leading Islamic scholar and philosopher, Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Using the historical approach and analytical and critical methods, this thesis traces the genesis and growth of modernity and explores its central themes. It discusses the compatibility position by highlighting submissions on the issue before analysing the thoughts of Seyyed Hossein Nasr on Sacred Traditions (which includes Islam and other religions before it) and modernity. Finally, the thesis compares these two views based on the Islamic worldview, the present realities in the Muslim and modern Western world, and also based on the works of Muslim and modern Western scholars. It comes to the conclusion that the theory of the compatibility of Islam with modernity is an unworkable theory which leads not to the betterment of Islam nor Muslims but to the distortion of the Islamic faith and the creation of more problems in Muslim societies. Therefore, the thesis emphasizes the utilization of Islamization, in the comprehensive sense, in establishing a working relationship with modernity while advocating that Muslims should not be afraid to differ with modernity as there is no harm in being different since differences should be celebrated and not anathematized. However, in being different the thesis advocates for a violent free dispassionate approach and emphasizes the intensification of intellectual evolution and da'wah in helping the modern world and humanity at large, which is currently in turmoil as a result of modernity. There is a need to return to the fold of religion – precisely the Islamic religion, which has a comprehensive answer, system and logical approach to all human affairs since Islam is divinely ordained and comprehensively defined as “a total way of life”.
"A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Usul al-Din and Comparative Religion)." --On title page.
Thesis (Ph.D)--International Islamic University Malaysia, 2011.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 281-300).