Theorizing Islam ─ Disciplinary Deconstruction and Reconstruction

The scholarly study of Islam has become ever more insular and apologetic. Academic Islamic Studies has tried to maintain a focus on truth, authenticity, experience and meaning and has effectively avoided discussion of larger social, cultural and ideological issues. Many scholars of Islam have presented themselves to their colleagues, the media and the public as the interpreters of Islam and have done so with an interpretation which tends, almost universally, to the liberal and egalitarian. The ignorance and hostility which the Islamic faith has faced since 9/11 has partly necessitated the taking of such a position. But, as 'Theorizing Islam' argues, the issue remains that only one interpretation of Islam is generally being presented and, as with any interpretation, this has its own assumptions. The aim of 'Theorizing Islam' is to explore the potential for a fuller, more honest and more sophisticated approach to both theory and methodology in the academic study of Islam.

Aaron W. Hughes is the Gordon and Gretchen Gross Professor of Jewish Studies and the Associate Director of the Institute of Jewish Thought and Heritage at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. His many books include The Texture of the Divine: Imagination in Medieval Islamic and Jewish Thought (Indiana University Press, 2003); Jewish Philosophy A-Z (Edinburgh University Press, 2005); Situating Islam: The Past and Future of an Academic Discipline (Acumen, 2008) and The Art of Dialogue in Jewish Philosophy (Indiana University Press, 2007).