Journal of the Contemporary Study of Islam

British Muslim Voices From the Age of Modernity

2026-05-18T16:34:55-06:00

This study explores responses to Western modernity through the lens of prominent British and British South Asian Muslim thinkers and practitioners. It examines their evolving engagement with modernity, spanning from the era of empire to contemporary times, and critiques their religious and intellectual positions using a framework informed by Farzin Vahdat’s model of human subjectivity in Muslim thought. This framework highlights the tensions between human subjectivity and divine authority, as well as those between Islamic modernity and democratic ideals. The study also incorporates insights from Postcolonial literature to better understand how South Asian diasporic writers in Britain engaged with the empowerment of the self and negotiate their identity within the context of colonial legacies and the modern world. Through the analysis of six key figures, the article investigates the ways in which their ideas and practices, whether modernist or neo-traditionalist, have contributed to broader discussions about the empowerment of the self, faith, and the reconciliation of Islamic thought with modernity.

The Concept of Political Dissent and Legitimate Opposition in Nahj al‑Balaghah

2026-05-18T16:34:47-06:00

This article offers a comprehensive examination of political dissent and legitimate opposition within the framework of Islamic political thought, with a primary focus on Nahj al‑Balaghah, a foundational text attributed to Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661 CE). Through a meticulous hermeneutic analysis of key sermons (e.g., Sermon 3, Sermon 34, Sermon 40, Sermon 61, and Sermon 92) and letters (e.g., Letter 53 to Malik al‑Ashtar), the study constructs a normative framework for legitimate opposition, emphasizing principles such as justice (‘adl), rationality (‘aql), ethical restraint (akhlaq), communal benefit (maslahah), and the Qur’anic duty of enjoining good and forbidding wrong (amr bi’l‑ma‘ruf wa nahy ‘an al‑munkar). These principles are deeply contextualized within classical Islamic scholarship (e.g., Al‑Farabi, Al‑Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, and Ibn Taymiyyah) and systematically compared with Western theories of civil disobedience, as articulated by John Locke, John Rawls, Jürgen Habermas, and Hannah Arendt. The article addresses a significant gap in Islamic political thought by providing a systematic, comprehensive treatment of dissent, with direct relevance to contemporary Muslim societies navigating complex issues of governance, authority, and resistance. It includes an extensive historical context of Imam ‘Ali’s caliphate, practical implications for modern governance, methodological limitations, and detailed suggestions for future research, thereby ensuring a robust contribution to both Islamic and global political discourses.

Imam Khomeini’s Conception of Mustad‘afin and Modernity’s Concept of Sovereignty

2026-05-18T16:35:09-06:00

By using ‘thin’ and ‘thick’ words purely derived from Islamic metaphors and signifiers, Imam Khomeini castigates the West’s claim for meta-narrative and pretension to universality. He deconstructs its appropriation of the cultural production of voiceless “others” and setting of the rules of the game – same/other, the West/the Rest, civilization/barbarism. Contrary to Muslim apologists, eclectics and hybridists’ clichés of articulating Islam within the Western logocentric logic, the Imam articulates an overarching discourse in the idiom of Islamic truth regime with almost no reference at all to Western political doctrines. In particular, the Founder of the Islamic Republic’s Qur’anic notion of mustad‘afin (downtrodden) vis-à-vis that of mustakbirin (the arrogant) is a discourse outside modernity’s logic of the Westphalian nation-state sovereignty. As guiding principles of its foreign policy, Iran tries “to prepare the way for the formation of a single world community… and to sustain the continuity of the struggle for the liberation of all-deprived and oppressed peoples (mustad‘afin) throughout the world” (Preamble of the Constitution). It considers its ideal “the realization of human felicity throughout human society”, and “independence, freedom and the rule of justice and Truth to be the right of all people of the world” (Article 154 of the Constitution). In sum, the notion of mustad‘afin is a pursuit of what Rorty called ‘final vocabulary’. It is to turn upside down the table of “self/other” project. It is a tale of both de-centering and re-centering – the de-centering of modernity and re-centering of Islam.

IMPACT

2026-05-18T16:35:17-06:00

Islamic communities face unique, multifaceted psychological stressors shaped by historical and current events including the global conflict, Islamophobia, and the stigma surrounding mental health care. This forms an urgent need to develop culturally tailored treatments to improve the efficacy and utilization of mental health care in Muslim communities. Current approaches are purely spiritually focused or entirely immersed within Western medicine. This paper intends to reconcile valuable scientific methods from psychoanalytic practice and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with theological principles from Islamic practice to drive better outcomes. Thus, we propose the novel Islamic Methodology for Psychoanalysis and Culturally Tailored Therapy (IMPACT). IMPACT reforms psychoanalytic techniques in the diagnosis process to determine the root cause of psychological ailments. We adapt free association, transference, dream analysis, and resistance to accurately identify potential sources of trauma. After diagnosis, IMPACT suggests the utilization of several CBT practices, including Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT), cognitive restructuring, guided discovery, and thought recording. However, the IMPACT framework recognizes the sensitive, stigmatized, often oppositional position of some Muslims to Western mental health interventions. Each technique is appropriately modified to not only ensure compatibility with theological doctrine, but more importantly to maximize therapeutic potential and efficacy. Practitioners should seek to incorporate relevant portions of IMPACT during sessions with Muslim clients. Future study is necessary to clinically validate this theoretical framework.

A Critical Appraisal of the International Handbook of Learning, Teaching, and Leading in Faith-Based Schools

2026-05-18T16:35:02-06:00

Published by Springer in 2014, the International Handbook of Learning, Teaching, and Leading in Faith-Based Schools, edited by Chapman, McNamara, Reiss, and Waghid, established itself as a critical scholarly text dedicated to the rigorous analysis of the substantial global growth in faith-based schooling. This vital resource moves beyond simplistic definitions to deeply examine how religious identity and values profoundly shape the practice of learning, teaching, and leadership.