Islamic Modernism A Multiple Modernities Perspective

Islamic Modernism in the West: A Multiple Modernities Perspective Introduction and background Modernization theory has been one of the master theoretical narratives to understand the major institutional and cultural transformation from traditional societies to modern ones. It is developed by the founders of sociology and has dominated the prevalent understanding and explanations of many social differentiation processes including differentiation, rationalization, individualization, urbanization, and secularization for a long time. Hence, sociologists believed that the consequences of modernization were unavoidable and common destinations for modern or all modernizing societies. Sociologist also expected western modernity will be a single†¦show more content†¦There are many modernities, not only one single patter of modernization. These developments forced sociologists for a paradigm shift in the dominant one-side understanding of western modernity. In this context, Islam and the discourse of western Muslim intellectuals have gradually gained visibility through the continuing migration and the growth of new generations in the western societies. Western Islam also has emerged in the hearth of modernity; yet did not follow the same patters of classical modernization trends. However, it could not escape the hegemonic influence of modernity. As a result, American (western) Islam is emerging not only as a response to the challenges (premises) of modernity but also through a ‘transformative dialectical engagement’ with the ethos of modernity, which gradually pave the path towards the rise of Islamic modernism in the west. Hence, the multiple modernities thesis serves as a more adequate theoretical approach than the prevailing modernization or secularization perspective to understand the continued importance of Islam in the western context. The Emergence of Islamic Modernism Being and living in