The versatility of Islam

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

5 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

06/04/2009

Category :

Political science

Sub category :

Humanities/philosophy

Oboulo.com selection criteria

$ 10.95 Add to cart

Summary :

Introduction
Hegemonic western discourses
Fundamental to the understanding of Starrett's statement
Islamic education
Islamic teachings
The sections on religious hierarchy
The idea of performativity
The social function of combating political radicalism
End of the spectrum and Fischer's argument
Putting Islam to work
Conclusion
Bibliography

Abstract

The technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence. And in permitting the reproduction to meet the beholder or listener in his own particular situation, it reactivates the object produced.
- Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

Hegemonic Western discourses placed islam within Orientalist frameworks, relegating it to a set of practices opposed to progress and modernity and denigrated as to the negative "Other" within an East/West binary. In reality, the confrontation of Egypt and Iran with modernity did not produce a march from the "old" to the "new" and usher in liberal secularism, but rather, resulted in a negotiation and complex interaction between religious orthodoxy and modern capitalist forces. Gregory Starrett's concept of "putting islam to work" refers to the process by which traditional ritual and orthodoxy is reformulated, fed to society and remolded into modern popular culture to facilitate political projects. Religion, Starrett argues, is a tool utilized by institutions to aid political enterprises, and is a vigorous and active participant in the processes of modernization. This paper shows the means by which religion was "functionalized" to suit modern aims, thus reveals that the categories of "sacred" and "secular", "traditional" and "progressive" are not mutually exclusive and oppositional, but symbiotically intertwined.