Paths to Islamic Modernities: The Emergence of Reformist American Muslim Intellectuals and Their Dialectical Engagement with Modernity

Abstract

This article examines the emergence of reformist American Muslim intellectuals [hereafter RAMIs] and their discourses that challenge the authoritarian views and practices of traditional and fundamentalist Muslims in the U.S. over the last three decades. This study illustrates how RAMIs reformulate Islamic socio-political discourses on democracy, religious freedom, and gender equality when faced with the challenges of modernity and the complexity of meeting the needs of contemporary Muslims in multicultural societies. Many of the works produced by these intellectuals demonstrate a dialectical engagement, which refers to a critical reconciliation between liberating premises of modernity and Islamic ideas for greater social justice. Relying on multiple modernities framework, interviews, and critical discourse analyses of RAMIs’ major works, I argue that their distinct approach leads to the rise of Islamic modernities in the US. This study also shows that there are at least three levels of engagements with modernity among Muslims including rejection, adaptation, and critical synthesis.