Blackwell Reference Online

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No serious scholar of Islam can deny the impact that modernity and postmodernity have had upon contemporary Islamic thought. In this chapter I will outline how current Islamic thought has been impacted upon by these intellectual discourses. I will proceed from the inception of modernity and go on to discuss developments in the postmodern period. In my final analysis I will discuss contemporary Islamic thought and the discontents of modernity and postmodernity. By taking recourse to the work of current-day Islamist thinkers who are responding to the intellectual challenges of modernity and postmodernity, we are able to gauge the deep introspection that these two very important paradigms have effected upon contemporary Islamic discourse. From this perspective then, the impact of modernity and postmodernity upon Islamic discourse can hardly be construed negatively. The secular/Islamist polemic is an essential contributing factor to the emergence of a clearer conception of Islamic identity in current times.While the issue of identity will not be addressed in significant detail, the critique of modernity and postmodernity that is offered is certainly compelling evidence suggesting the emergence of a far more articulate and clearer Islamic self-image. The task of exploring the conception of an authentic Islamic self-image is beyond the scope of this chapter, but interrogating the philosophical ... log in or subscribe to read full text