Freedom, Modernity, and Islam

Freedom, Modernity, and Islam provides a discussion of the philosophical origins of the notions of freedom in both a Western and Islamic context. Richard K. Khuri maintains that our standard theories of modernization do not fully explain the global resurgence of fundamental religion. Only with a new analysis of freedom, using Western and non-Western sources, can we have a spontaneous synthesis that will inspire genuine freedom for all individuals

and societies in the Arab-Muslim world. In the West, in post-Enlightenment times, the definition of freedom has shrunk; it is now irreducibly enmeshed with narrow notions of rationality and a "morality" of self-interest. He challenges this conception and explicates other dimensions of freedom: quality, transcendence, and the conditions under which community might enhance freedom. Khuri then applies that analysis to his examination of the status of freedom in the Arab Muslim world, past and the present. He determines which ideas have led to the considerable lack of freedom that marks many Middle Eastern societies today.