Islamic Fundamentalism And Modernity, Revolt Against Modernity Introduction and review

Although following different approaches and methods of analysis, both Watt and Youssef contend that if Muslims are to advance, they have to adopt Western premises and notions. Watt contends that the traditional Islamic outlook, which was formed in the early phase of Islam against the background of the Qur‘an and Hadith, as well as consensus, is based on the following premises: 1) the unchangingness of the world; 2) the finality and superiority of Islam, and 3) the idealization of Muhammad as the perfect model that Muslims have to follow. In conclusion, Watt fails to integrate the historical reality of Western exploitation of the Muslim world into a coherent system of analysis. In discussing the nature of the interaction between Islam and society and the modern Muslim world, Youssef observes that “in the process of asserting and affirming their independence, many of these (Muslim) nations have reached into the reservoir of their past in order to attempt to retrieve ‘archaic’ elements of their heritage; often they have displayed these elements in an exaggerated way” (p. Because of the author’s lack of a balanced and well-founded academic approach, he uses the concept of jihad as the main paradigm in the study of Islam and its current manifestations in the Muslim world. Youssef, who claims to follow a sound sociological and historical method, fails to show that colonialism, which manifests itself in the form of present- day Israel, is the natural extension of the Western presence in the Muslim world. To sum up, a comprehensive and balanced approach to study the different aspects of the relationship between Islam and society in the Muslim world, Islam and politics, and Islam and Westernization, is urgently needed.