The Sociology of Islam: Secularism, Economy and Politics

The contributions of Islam to world civilization are undeniable. However, in the last 100 years, Muslims have been confronted with the effects and ramifications of modernity, caused by the emergence of global capitalism. What does modernity ultimately mean for Muslims? How will the historical precepts of Islam meet the changes in our globalized world? To date, most scholars on Islam have tried to understand Muslim societies from historical observation alone. This simplistic academic approach does not allow us to understand the entire transformation that has taken place in Muslim societies. Sociological scholarship, on the other hand, argues that it would be difficult to understand Islam without first understanding the theoretical and practical underpinnings of the social structure of Muslim societies, which are embedded in the relationship between religion, the economy, politics, and society. This book, therefore, makes a connection between the economic system and its social and political consequences within Muslim societies. To do this, it examines the role of Islam within Muslim societies in the context of ongoing and increasingly powerful neoliberal economic processes in a globalized world. The Muslim understanding of secularism, modernity, the state, collective identity, immigration, and Islamic political thought and economic life are all shaped by forces of globalization and new market conditions. However, this is a mutually constitutive process, as Islam also influences the West and its perceptions of Islam because of the interdependent relations brought about by the global economy. These interdependencies create social and political transformation on both sides.