Revisioning Modernity Challenges and Possibilities for Islam

Abstract

The 33rd Annual Conference of the Association of Muslim Social
Scientists (AMSS) was held on September 24-26, 2004, at George Mason
University Law School in Arlington, Virginia. It was cosponsored by
George Mason University, the Center for Global Studies (CGS), and the
Islamic Studies Program. Under the seamless directorship of Peter
Mandaville, program chair and CGS director, the timely subject of revisioning
modernity for and by Muslims in a post-9/11, post-Afghanistan,
and post-Iraq world was addressed in 10 panels. With the theme
“Revisioning Modernity: Challenges and Possibilities for Islam,” these sessions
focused primarily on identity formation, human rights, interfaith dialogue
and peacemaking, institutional development, methodological reform,
and knowledge paradigms. The conference featured a remarkable array of
scholars and graduate students who raised thought-provoking questions
and offered clear, yet nuanced, solutions based on studied field and academic
research.
For example, Saadia Yacoob’s (Huntington Learning Center, VA)
“Developing Identities: What Is Progressive Islam and Who Are
Progressive Muslims?” elicited an impassioned and contentious reaction
from the audience about this somewhat elusive term and whether it was a
contradiction of terms or a logical redundancy. She identified five common
elements of self-identified “progressive” Muslim: an anti-imperialist
stance, a belief that action and faith must go hand in hand, a championing
of the oppressed and poor, a return to core principles, and a belief in a pluralistic
and humanistic society.
Kamran A. Bokahri (Howard University, DC) used his “Moderate
Islam, Progressive Muslims, Democracy, and Post-Islamism” to discuss
themes related to identity formation among moderate Islamists, traditional
Muslims, liberal Muslims and regimes, all of which claim to represent ...