In the fall of 1928, the Imam of Java, a certain Mohammad Basyuni Imran, had a letter delivered to the Lebanese author and scholar, Shakib Arsalan. In his letter, Basyuni Imran requested Arsalan to explain the reasons for the backwardness of Muslims of the time compared to other nations. Furthermore, Basyuni asked Arsalan to suggest what they need to do to join the ranks of nations that have overtaken them and, in many cases, rule over them. Arsalan published his response in a series of articles written for the Cairo-based Islamic journal, Al-Manar. Subsequently, these articles were combined and published in a book in 1930 with the title: Why did Muslims lag behind? And why did others progress? In his response, Arsalan begins with an analysis of what has gone wrong. He addresses the belief of some that Islam is to blame for the backwardness of Muslims. He goes on to give examples of how advanced nations progressed while holding firmly onto their religious beliefs. In simple, elegant prose, Arsalan takes the reader on a fascinating walk through history. There are references to pre-Islamic times and the early Islamic period, French colonialists in North Africa and their efforts to convert Muslim populations to Christianity, goings on in the British Houses of Parliament on the issue of transubstantiation, and much more. The latter part of the book has examples of recent (1930s and earlier) achievements of Muslims when they set their minds on doing something. It is a measure of the merit and excellence of Arsalan’s words that his book has never been out of publication. It remains among Arabic speakers as popular and relevant today as at the time it was first published almost a century ago.

In the fall of 1928, the Imam of Java, a certain Mohammad Basyuni Imran, had a letter delivered to the Lebanese author and scholar, Shakib Arsalan. In his letter, Basyuni Imran requested Arsalan to explain the reasons for the backwardness of Muslims of the time compared to other nations. Furthermore, Basyuni asked Arsalan to suggest what they need to do to join the ranks of nations that have overtaken them and, in many cases, rule over them. Arsalan published his response in a series of articles written for the Cairo-based Islamic journal, Al-Manar. Subsequently, these articles were combined and published in a book in 1930 with the title: Why did Muslims lag behind? And why did others progress? In his response, Arsalan begins with an analysis of what has gone wrong. He addresses the belief of some that Islam is to blame for the backwardness of Muslims. He goes on to give examples of how advanced nations progressed while holding firmly onto their religious beliefs. In simple, elegant prose, Arsalan takes the reader on a fascinating walk through history. There are references to pre-Islamic times and the early Islamic period, French colonialists in North Africa and their efforts to convert Muslim populations to Christianity, goings on in the British Houses of Parliament on the issue of transubstantiation, and much more. The latter part of the book has examples of recent (1930s and earlier) achievements of Muslims when they set their minds on doing something. It is a measure of the merit and excellence of Arsalan's words that his book has never been out of publication. It remains among Arabic speakers as popular and relevant today as at the time it was first published almost a century ago.

Zanzibari Muslim Moderns is a historical study of Zanzibar during the interwar years. This was a period marked by rapid intellectual and social change in the Muslim world, when ideas of Islamic progress and development were hotly debated. How did this process play out in Zanzibar? Based on a wide range of sources--Islamic and colonial, private and public--Anne K. Bang examines how these concepts were received and promoted on the island, arguing that a new ideal emerged in its intellectual arena: the Muslim modern. Tracing the influences that shaped the outlook of this new figure, Bang draws lines to Islamic modernists in the Middle East, to local Sufi teachings, and to the recently founded state of Saudi Arabia. She presents the activities of the Muslim modern in the colonial employment system, as a contributor to international debates, as an activist in the community, and more. She also explores the formation of numerous faith-based associations during this period, as well as the views of the Muslim modern on everything from funerary practices and Mawlid celebrations to reading habits. A recurring theme throughout is the question with which many Muslim moderns were confronted: who should implement development? And for whom?

In the fall of 1928, the Imam of Java, a certain Mohammad Basyuni Imran, had a letter delivered to the Lebanese author and scholar, Shakib Arsalan. In his letter, Basyuni Imran requested Arsalan to explain the reasons for the backwardness of Muslims of the time compared to other nations. Furthermore, Basyuni asked Arsalan to suggest what they need to do to join the ranks of nations that have overtaken them and, in many cases, rule over them. Arsalan published his response in a series of articles written for the Cairo-based Islamic journal, Al-Manar. Subsequently, these articles were combined and published in a book in 1930 with the title: Why did Muslims lag behind? And why did others progress? In his response, Arsalan begins with an analysis of what has gone wrong. He addresses the belief of some that Islam is to blame for the backwardness of Muslims. He goes on to give examples of how advanced nations progressed while holding firmly onto their religious beliefs. In simple, elegant prose, Arsalan takes the reader on a fascinating walk through history. There are references to pre-Islamic times and the early Islamic period, French colonialists in North Africa and their efforts to convert Muslim populations to Christianity, goings on in the British Houses of Parliament on the issue of transubstantiation, and much more. The latter part of the book has examples of recent (1930s and earlier) achievements of Muslims when they set their minds on doing something. It is a measure of the merit and excellence of Arsalan's words that his book has never been out of publication. It remains among Arabic speakers as popular and relevant today as at the time it was first published almost a century ago.

Since the earliest period of Islamic history, Arab thought has been dominated by a reverence for tradition and textual analysis. In this groundbreaking work, the great contemporary Arab philosopher Mohammed Abed Al-Jabiri seeks to chart a route towards modernity via the proposition that respect for textualism and tradition are not inconsistent with rationalism and that both history and philosophy are key to the evolution of knowledge systems and ways of reasoning in Arab culture. This book has been an enormous influence within the Arab world on the 'Islam and Modernity' discourse. It is published here for the first time in English and provides a fascinating insight into the currents of contemporary Arab thought.

During the second half of the twentieth century, the Arab intellectual and political scene polarized between a search for totalizing doctrines--nationalist, Marxist, and religious--and radical critique. Arab thinkers were reacting to the disenchanting experience of postindependence Arab states, as well as to authoritarianism, intolerance, and failed development. They were also responding to successive defeats by Israel, humiliation, and injustice. The first book to take stock of these critical responses, this volume illuminates the relationship between cultural and political critique in the work of major Arab thinkers, and it connects Arab debates on cultural malaise, identity, and authenticity to the postcolonial issues of Latin America and Africa, revealing the shared struggles of different regions and various Arab concerns.