Apologising for the study of religion - no way!
An initial apology to religious insiders in the opening of Hughes' book got this review - of the book and of tensions in public and academic discourse about Islam and the study thereof - started. The book, after the strange initial apology, becomes a highly valuable introduction to a study-of-r...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
[2017]
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| In: |
Culture and religion
Year: 2017, Volume: 18, Issue: 1, Pages: 8-19 |
| Review of: | Muslim identities (New York : Columbia University Press, 2013) (Jensen, Tim) |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Hughes, Aaron W. 1968-, Muslim identities
/ Islam
/ Science of Religion
/ Method
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| IxTheo Classification: | AA Study of religion |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
B study of Islam B academic study of religion B insider-outsider perspectives B method and theory B Islamophobia |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | An initial apology to religious insiders in the opening of Hughes' book got this review - of the book and of tensions in public and academic discourse about Islam and the study thereof - started. The book, after the strange initial apology, becomes a highly valuable introduction to a study-of-religion approach to Islam, incorporating both insider and outsider perspectives, including primary sources and critical analyses, and describing the multitude of ‘Muslim identities’ and responses to so-called modernity. Desiderata: a more classical comparative approach to ritual and more nuance around its discussion of women and jihad. Returning to 'apologetics', the review renders a recent Danish debate suggesting scholars of Islam should investigate and expose Islam rather than provide a nuanced and qualified picture in accordance with empirical scientific principles. An example of public ignorance over the role of the scholar of religion, - and yet another example of the necessity of approaching Islam as any other religion, i.e. from a comparative, historical and critical-analytical point of view. Though the book (rightly) suggests that the academic study of religions is more novelty than norm, the reviewer sees no reason, whatsoever, for apologizing for study-of-religion principles and approaches to religion, Islam included. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-5610 |
| Reference: | Kritik in "Response (2017)"
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Culture and religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2017.1301974 |