Muslims as Actors : : Islamic Meanings and Muslim Interpretations in the Perspective of the Study of Religions / / Jacques Waardenburg.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DGBA Backlist Complete English Language 2000-2014 PART1
• VerfasserIn: Waardenburg, Jacques,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter, , [2012]; ©2007
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Language: English
• Series: Religion and Reason : Theory in the Study of Religion , 46
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (471 p.)

This book deals with Islamic studies and with the question how the scholarly study of religion can contribute to the study of Islam. The author advocates studying Islamic phenomena as signs and symbols interpreted and applied in diverse ways in existing traditions. He stresses the role of Muslims as actors in the ongoing debate about the articulation of Islamic ways of life and construction of Islam as a religion. A careful study of this debate should steer clear of political, religious, and ideological interests. Research in this area by Muslims and non-Muslim scholars alike should address the question of what Muslims have made of their Islam in specific circumstances. Current political contexts have created an unhealthy climate for pursuing an “open” approach to Islam based on reading, observing, listening and reflecting. Yet, precisely nowadays we need to look anew at ways of Muslim thinking and acting that refer to Islam and to avoid certain schemes of interpreting Muslim realities that are no longer adequate for present-day Muslim life situations. Muslim recourses to Islam can be studied as human constructions of value and meaning, and relations between Muslims and others can be seen in terms of human interaction, without blame always falling on Islam as such.

Table of Contents

i-iv -- Preface -- Contents -- Introduction -- Selected Literature -- Part One: Two Questions -- Chapter 1. Can the Science of Religion Render Service to the Study of Islam? -- Chapter 2. Can We Study Islam as a Signification System? -- Part Two: Issues in Islamic Studies -- Chapter 3. Islamic Studies and the Study of Religions and Cultures -- Chapter 4. Some Social Scientific Orientations in Islamic Studies -- Chapter 5. Islamic Studies and Intercultural Relations -- Chapter 6. Presuppositions and Assumptions in Islamic Studies -- Part Three: The Practice of Islamic Studies in History -- Chapter 7. Massignon as a Student of Islam (1883–1962) -- Chapter 8. Some Developments and Trends in Islamic Studies Since 1950 -- Chapter 9. Recent Scholarly Presentations of Islam -- Chapter 10. Islamic and Religious Studies under the Conditions of the Cold War -- Part Four: Studying Religions -- Chapter 11. Religions as a Subject of Empirical Research -- Chapter 12. Classical Phenomenology of Religion in the Netherlands 1920–1950 -- Chapter 13. Eliade as a Student of Religion (1907–1986) -- Part Five: Muslims and Their Islam -- Chapter 14. Believers in Focus. Exploring Muslim Life -- Chapter 15. Islamic Reform and Renewal. Recourse to Scripture -- Part Six: Further Reading -- 1. Middle Eastern Responses to Western Islamic Studies -- 2. Religion(s) and the Study of Religion(s) -- 3. Interpretative Studies of Religion -- 4. Gender and the Academic Study of Religion -- 5. The Study of Religions in Various Countries -- 6. Islamic Studies in Various Countries -- Indexes -- 1. Index of Persons -- 2. Index of Subjects -- 3. Index of Concepts (Problem-Oriented)