Islam's Renewal

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Revolt

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Libya: First Experience of the Arab World and Islam

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 3-11

   3. How the Middle East Began to Be Studied

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 13-19

   4. Leaders of Revival in Islam

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 21-32

   5. Two Historical Movements

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 33-45

   6. Leaders and State Formation

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 47-68

   7. Leaders Against Colonialism

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 69-89

3. Part II

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-91

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   2. A Way of Approaching Islamic History

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 93-99

   3. Thinkers Rather than Activists

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 101-106

   4. What Is Modernity in Islam?

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 107-114

4. Part III

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 115-115

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   2. Features of Later Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Islamic Movements

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 117-121

   3. Renewal Again

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 123-128

   4. The Postmodern Era: The Rage of Islam

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 129-140

   5. How Individual Countries Have Reacted in the Postmodern Era

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 141-167

   6. Palestine: The Root Cause of Muslim Despair

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 169-183

   7. Conclusion: A Hope for Tolerance

      • Derek Hopwood

      Pages 185-189

5. Back Matter

   Pages 191-198

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The book considers some of the solutions proposed by Muslim activists and thinkers in their attempts to renew (tajdid) their ways of life and thought in accord with the demands of the age in which they lived. The two ways of reacting are studied – the movements led by men of action and inspiration, and the thoughts of quietist scholars who laid greater emphasis on calm continuity.  These two streams have often collided and particularly so in the contemporary age of greater violence. Other related problems are also considered: how a non-Muslim should regard the religion of the ‘other’; the ways modernization have been dealt with; and the two root causes of Muslim ‘rage’ today – the invasions of the West and the failure to reach an equitable solution to the problem of Palestine. Building on the author’s sixty-year experience researching the history of Islam, the book will appeal to students and scholars across the fields of Islamic studies, religious history and Middle Eastern politics.

• Islamic studies
• Islamic reform
• Islamic renewal
• Islamic revolt
• religious history
• Middle Eastern politics
• Muslim thinkers
• Muslim activists
• Islam and modernization
• history of Islam
• Arab world and Islamd
• Muslim leaders and state formation
• Muslim leaders against colonialism
• Twentieth century Muslim thinkers
• Twenty-first century Muslim thinkers
• Post-modern era and Islam
• Palestine and Islam

• St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

  Derek Hopwood

Derek Hopwood is Emeritus Fellow of the Middle East Centre of St Antony’s College, Oxford, UK, where he taught modern Middle East studies for over thirty years. He was Visiting Professor at the Universities of Provence, Pennsylvania, Khartoum and Ain Shams. He was founding secretary of the British Society for Middle East Studies and the Middle Libraries Committee and their European equivalents. He is the author or editor of and contributor to numerous books on Middle East and Islamic studies.

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