Omnia El Shakry’s The Arabic Freud is both admirably ambitious in its quest to map “the topography of modern selfhood”…
Vectors of translation
post-colonialism
Looking back while hurtling forward
At a time when the late twentieth century giants of comparative social science—like S.N. Eisenstadt and Robert Bellah—have recently passed away…
Religious freedom, minority rights, and geopolitics
Conventional wisdom has it that religious liberty is a universally valid principle, enshrined in national constitutions and international charters and…
The secularization of secularism
In the newest issue of Theory, Culture & Society, British sociologist Gregor McLennan takes a closer look at the "postsecular…
The challenge of creating change
Abdullahi An-Na‘im's Islam and the Secular State has rightfully received a great deal of attention and commentary. A prominent Muslim…
Preaching to the converted
Islam and The Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a is avowedly didactic, aiming to persuade Muslims in public debate…
Arguing with An-Na`im
What is interesting about An-Na`im's arguments is that they ground the case for the secular state not in the Quran,…
Disentangling Islam and the post-colonial state
The separation---and combination---of religion and state have created almost as many configurations as there are states in the world today.…
Islamic politics and human rights
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im's expressed goal in Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari'a is to convince Muslims…
A secular state must deliver
It is hard to disagree with the main arguments of Abdullahi an-Na'im's impeccable book: a healthy religious life requires a…