Islam on the Street

Religion in Modern Arabic Literature

By (author) Muhsin al-Musawi

Publication date:

25 August 2011

Length of book:

304 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9780742562073

Islam on the Street deals with the popular side of Islam, as described not only in tracts and manuals written by Sufi shaykhs and Islamist thinkers from among the more militant groups in Islam, but also in writings by other, more secular thinkers who have also influenced public opinion. Muhsin al-Musawi explains the growing rift that has occurred between the secular intellectual—the forerunner of Arab and Islamic modernity since the late nineteenth century—and the upsurge of Islamic fervor in the street, at the grassroots level, and what these secular intellectuals can do to reconnect with the masses.

Preface: Islam in Literary Production
Chapter 1: Roads Not Taken: Arab Modernity and the Loose Ties with the Street
Chapter 2: Before Bidding Farewell: What do Narratives of Education Say?
Chapter 3: The Religious Dynamic: Recruitments in Political Vacuum
Chapter 4: Mass Culture Narratives
Chapter 5: In the Aftermath of Failures: The Reliance on Popular Religious Politics
Chapter 6: The Search for Islam
Chapter 7: The Bifurcated Poetic: Islam as Poetry
Conclusions
Index

This monograph is a unique and fascinating study of how the many aspects of modern trends in Islam find representation in modern Arabic literature. It combines literary and sociological investigation to explore the many ways that different trends in Islam—quietist to militant—find literary representation. Exploring this little studied but highly important subject, Professor Musawi offers readings of works by modern Arab authors that are detailed, learned, insightful, and illuminating. The author also focuses on how writers addressed and impacted different types of audiences, both popular and specialist. This volume is sure to stimulate much additional study; its influence will be felt for years to come.