Lifeworlds of Islam

"Lifeworlds of Islam is a product of immense learning with an impressive historical and geographical span across multiple periods of Islamic history and many Muslim-majority societies. Moreover, the author succeeds in deriving lucid and substantial arguments out of this vast material. * Ateş Altinordu, American Journal of Sociology * Bamyeh examines Islam in terms of three lifeworlds, or realms of individual experience (both from the past and in the present)-the social, the philosophical, and the global-and he devotes a chapter to each. Comparatively little has been written on this topic, as the author admits, so his thoughtful and well-articulated book makes a significant addition to the scholarly literature on Islam... Summing up: Recommended * J. Jaeger, CHOICE * In this highly perceptive text, the sociologist Mohammed Bamyeh has given us a perspective of Islam that has been desperately needed for so long. Rather than focusing on its doctrinal systems, Lifeworlds of Islam explores how Islam manages to persist as a key reference point because it constantly adjusts itself in its engagement with the pragmatics of public life. Deeply informed and exceedingly readable, it is a valuable contribution to the sociology of Islam."" -Asef Bayat, Bastian Professor of Global and Transnational Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign This book dispels myths of Islamic exceptionalism. It shows how the sociological study of Islam in history and the present can provide benchmarks for a wider, worldly understanding of ideas of autonomy, authority, and solidarity. And yet, the reader will learn to appreciate the particularly empowering repertoires of Islamic traditions and to situate them judiciously within global processes."" -Armando Salvatore, author of The Sociology of Islam: Knowledge, Power and Civility With his focus on the lifeword and the contested meanings of what Islam has meant for Muslims in the last two centuries and in situations as diverse as Central Asia, India, Albania, Turkey, or the Arab world, Bamyeh produces stunningly nuanced interpretations and proposes articulations that will prove decisive for the writing of a new global social theory of religion. An eye opener for social theorists, and scholars versed in religious and social movement studies."" -Benoit Challand, Associate Professor in Sociology, New School for Social Research"