Jens Zimmermann
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199697755
- eISBN:
- 9780191738159
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199697755.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Theology
The analysis of contemporary culture in this chapter explains the need for a common humanistic ethos and offers a working definition of humanism to clear the ground for retrieving the religious roots ...
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The analysis of contemporary culture in this chapter explains the need for a common humanistic ethos and offers a working definition of humanism to clear the ground for retrieving the religious roots of humanism. The two cultural developments that provide fresh opportunity for recovering the humanistic ethos that originally shaped Western culture are the exhaustion of secularism and the return of religion. The chapter concludes that the secularist separation of reason and faith is untenable, and that the idea of the secular is actually a religiously founded, Christian concept within which humanism finds its proper place.Less
The analysis of contemporary culture in this chapter explains the need for a common humanistic ethos and offers a working definition of humanism to clear the ground for retrieving the religious roots of humanism. The two cultural developments that provide fresh opportunity for recovering the humanistic ethos that originally shaped Western culture are the exhaustion of secularism and the return of religion. The chapter concludes that the secularist separation of reason and faith is untenable, and that the idea of the secular is actually a religiously founded, Christian concept within which humanism finds its proper place.
Jonathan Benthall
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781784993085
- eISBN:
- 9781526124005
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784993085.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Middle Eastern Cultural Anthropology
This book is the fruit of twenty years’ reflection on Islamic charities, both in practical terms and as a key to understand the crisis in contemporary Islam. On the one hand Islam is undervalued as a ...
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This book is the fruit of twenty years’ reflection on Islamic charities, both in practical terms and as a key to understand the crisis in contemporary Islam. On the one hand Islam is undervalued as a global moral and political force whose admirable qualities are exemplified in its strong tradition of charitable giving. On the other hand, it suffers from a crisis of authority that cannot be blamed entirely on the history of colonialism and stigmatization to which Muslims have undoubtedly been subjected – most recently, as a result of the “war on terror”.
The book consists of seventeen previously published chapters, with a general Introduction and new prefatory material for each chapter. The first nine chapters review the current situation of Islamic charities from many different viewpoints – theological, historical, diplomatic, legal, sociological and ethnographic – with first-hand data from the United States, Britain, Israel–Palestine, Mali and Indonesia. Chapters 10 to 17 expand the coverage to explore the potential for a twenty-first century “Islamic humanism” that would be devised by Muslims in the light of the human sciences and institutionalized throughout the Muslim world. This means addressing contentious topics such as religious toleration and the meaning of jihad.
The intended readership includes academics and students at all levels, professionals concerned with aid and development, and all who have an interest in the future of Islam.Less
This book is the fruit of twenty years’ reflection on Islamic charities, both in practical terms and as a key to understand the crisis in contemporary Islam. On the one hand Islam is undervalued as a global moral and political force whose admirable qualities are exemplified in its strong tradition of charitable giving. On the other hand, it suffers from a crisis of authority that cannot be blamed entirely on the history of colonialism and stigmatization to which Muslims have undoubtedly been subjected – most recently, as a result of the “war on terror”.
The book consists of seventeen previously published chapters, with a general Introduction and new prefatory material for each chapter. The first nine chapters review the current situation of Islamic charities from many different viewpoints – theological, historical, diplomatic, legal, sociological and ethnographic – with first-hand data from the United States, Britain, Israel–Palestine, Mali and Indonesia. Chapters 10 to 17 expand the coverage to explore the potential for a twenty-first century “Islamic humanism” that would be devised by Muslims in the light of the human sciences and institutionalized throughout the Muslim world. This means addressing contentious topics such as religious toleration and the meaning of jihad.
The intended readership includes academics and students at all levels, professionals concerned with aid and development, and all who have an interest in the future of Islam.
