Islamist questioning and [C]olonialism: towards an understanding of the Islamist oeuvre

Abstract

This paper revisits the narratives of two South Asian ‘Islamists' to explore what their questions and critiques offer for a discussion on Colonialism and the Islamist oeuvre. Departing from resilient biases in scholarship that dismiss the need to engage Islamist expressions, I focus on a realm of Islamist self-understandings. This paper highlights key facets of Muhammad Iqbal's and Abul Ala Maududi's questions of Colonialism and their psychological implications, and uncovers their metaphors and reconstructions that operate as technologies of critique. I also emphasize the urgency to engage these Islamists in light of the inadequacies of present scholarship on this topic, and the diverse translation and appropriation of their questions. This study bears implications for the understanding of Islamist consciousness and the broader rubric of Muslim intellectualism.