Islamic Reform and Conservatism Al-Azhar and the Evolution of Modern Sunni Islam

by Gesink, Indira Falk

• ISBN13: 9781845119362
• ISBN10: 1845119363
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-12-15
• Publisher: Atlas Books

Summary

The famed reform debates at al-Azhar Madrasa in nineteenth-century Cairo - one of the most influential centres of religious study in Sunni Islam - were enormously influential for twentieth-century Islamic thought. In this book Indira Gesink argues that narratives of these debates overemphasize the roles of famous modernists like Muhammad 'Abduh, obscuring important themes. By restoring conservative voices to the debate, she shows that conservative 'ulama engaged many of the same issues as reformers and led committees that generated and implemented reforms; ultimately, conservative leaders at al-Azhar provided crucial legitimacy for the reforms to become rooted in public life. Drawing on obscure, but important, archival sources to illustrate the important contributions of conservative scholars to the evaluation of twentiethcentury Sunni Islam, 'Islamic Reform and Conservatism' is indispensable for all those interested in the modern Middle East, religious history, secularism, modernism and religious reform.

Author Biography

Indira Falk Gesink is Associate Professor of History at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. She received her PhD in History from Washington University in St. Louis in 2000, and lived in Egypt in 1995-1996 and 1998.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Note on Transliteration	p. viii
Introduction	p. 1
Religion and the State: Al-Azhar During Muhammad 'Alis' Rule	p. 9
Order and Disorder: The Evolving Critique of Madrasa Education (1834-1870)	p. 37
Progress, Nationalism, and the Negative Construction of al-Azhar 'Ulama (1870-1882)	p. 59
A Conservative Defense of Taqlid	p. 89
Efficiency, Mission, and the Meaning of 'Ilm (1882-1899)	p. 111
The Syrian Riwaq Cholera Riot	p. 143
Muhammad 'Abduh and Ijtihad	p. 165
Who Reformed al-Azhar?	p. 197
Conclusions	p. 231
Notes	p. 237
Selected Bibliography	p. 279
Index	p. 293
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