Engaging the Madrasa delves into the intellectual and political challenges that the Muslim scholarly community faces across the globe.
The rapid developments of the modern age have given rise to complex theological and philosophical challenges for Muslim scholarly communities. To confront these questions, editors Ebrahim Moosa and Joshua Lupo have curated a collection of essays offering balanced and nuanced perspectives that amplify the richness of the Islamic traditions while avoiding both conservative nostalgia or progressive amnesia.
Engaging the Madrasa grapples with the loss and reimagining of tradition in the modern world, bringing together madrasa scholars from India, Pakistan, and the United States to confront themes such as gender equality, the nation-state, colonial legacies, the role of technology, and more. In doing so, the contributors use both modern science and Islamic theological discourse to chart new pathways on which Muslim scholars and theologians around the globe can draw.
Edited by:
Ebrahim Moosa,
Joshua Lupo
Imprint: University of Notre Dame Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 16mm
ISBN: 9780268211035
ISBN 10: 0268211035
Series: Contending Modernities
Pages: 298
Publication Date: 15 May 2026
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Acknowledgments Introduction by Ebrahim Moosa and Joshua Lupo 1. Between Tradition and Technological Change: Ethical Bearings in a Digital Age by Ebrahim Moosa 2. Egalitarian Turn as Copernican Revolution Theorizing Continuity and Change in Islamic Theology and Law by Mahan Mirza< 3. Muslim Scholars, Islamic Studies, and the Gendered Academy: Contingent Reflections by Kecia Ali 4. Tawḥīd, Transcendence, and Contingency in Islamic Thought by Marcia Hermansen 5. The Problem of the Qur'an's Esoteric Interpretation (Taʾwīl): An Examination of Classical and Modernist Thought with Special Reference to Ibn Rushd by Waris Mazhari 6. Pedagogical Politics and the Formation of the Muslim Subject in the Era of the Nation-State by Mashal Saif 7. Rethinking Muslim Political Theology by Ammar Khan Nasir Postscript. Tradition, Change, and Community in Madrasa Discourses by Joshua S. Lupo Contributor Biographies
Ebrahim Moosa is the Mirza Family Professor of Islamic Thought and Muslim Societies at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of many books, including What Is a Madrasa? and Ghazālī and the Poetics of Imagination. Joshua Lupo is the assistant director of the Contending Modernities research initiative at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. With Atalia Omer, he is the co-editor of, most recently, Religion, Modernity, and the Global Afterlives of Colonialism.
Reviews for Engaging the Madrasa: Education and Islamic Thought in a Changing World
""The work of this volume opens vistas. Within its pages one finds an impressive array of perspectives dedicated to broadening the epistemic horizons of the contemporary madrasa context in dynamic and needed ways. Whether dealing with law and theology or science and pedagogy, each contributor guides us through their respective field of concern with erudition, sophistication, and care."" - Martin Nguyen, author of Modern Muslim Theology ""This marvelous volume details that work, helping us to better understand the complexities involved. It is that rare collection, filled not only with erudition, but also with hope."" - Amir Hussain, author of One God and Two Religions