Several texts prompted the forum on the religion of the old women of Nishapur. To give readers the ability to…
Al-Juwayni, al-Ghazali, and Talal Asad on the religion of the old women of Nishapur
Talal Asad
The future of enlightenment: Comparison, tradition, temporality
In The Iranian Metaphysicals, Alireza Doostdar describes his work as contributing to “comparative anthropologies of epistemology”—“how people know things and…
Thoughts on tradition in The Iranian Metaphysicals
While this book is an extraordinary accomplishment, rich in its ethnographic wanderings and sophisticated in its theoretical framing, my interest…
A clash of secularisms? The German historical experience
Claims made in the name of secularism vary greatly. At one extreme, self-described secularists in the United States portray their…
Muhammad Asad and the concept of an Islamic politics
In a talk prepared last year for a symposium on the life and work of his father, the anthropologist Talal Asad lays…
Hope, tragedy, and prophecy
It is hard not to be convinced by Akeel Bilgrami’s careful, patient, and generous exposition in “Secularism: Its Content and…
Believing in religious freedom
Like a good movie, the story of international religious freedom offers something for everyone. It pits cowardly oppressors against heroic…
Religion-making
Broadly conceived the term religion-making refers to the ways in which religion(s) is conceptualized and institutionalized within the matrix of…
Nothing is ever lost: An interview with Robert Bellah
Both an influential scholar and a public intellectual, Robert Bellah is one of the foremost sociologists of his generation. His…
Asecular revolution
Why have I chosen the term “asecular,” and not, say, “non-secular” or “post-secular,” to describe the power manifested by these…