Abstract
There is a divergence between religion and its modes of application, or religion and religiosity. This essay provides a critical analysis of Clifford Geertz’s book Islam Observed and tries to attempt the question of whether Islam is better understood exclusively as a set of socially conditioned symbols and practices. However, an anthropological interpretation solely based on symbols leaves much to be desired as it lends itself to a kind of radical relativism in which generalizable conclusions become impossible. The theological approach tends to bypass the role sociopolitical contexts play in sustaining, negotiating, and modifying religious doctrines. Islam has been studied from the perspectives of these two mutually exclusive methodologies. This study attempts to arrive at an interdisciplinary analysis in which theology and anthropology cooperate to formulate a comprehensive understanding of Islam as a social system sustained by specific practices and as a theological structure communicated through a dialogue between abstract doctrines and mundane rituals.
Highlights
IntroductionStudies: the traditional historical and theological as opposed to the anthropological
Two divergent yet complementary approaches have dominated the field of IslamicStudies: the traditional historical and theological as opposed to the anthropological
(2010) recounts how he felt like a neophyte in a workshop organized by SOAS in 2009 on the developments in the anthropology of Islam as a self-conscious project compared to the novelty of the same interest in Christian anthropology
Summary
Studies: the traditional historical and theological as opposed to the anthropological. One is likely to expect a major paradigm shift because of this cross-fertilization Anthropologists have expressed their openness to rethink their methodologies in order to accommodate religion as a legitimate member of their tribe (Robbins 2006; Bialecki et al 2008; Coleman 2010; Fountain and Lau 2013; Meneses et al 2014). Das (1984) refers to the works edited by Imtiaz Ahmad to explain that ethnographic research on specific Muslim communities exceedingly lends itself to the idea that observed Islam is plural, contextually contingent, and syncretic albeit founded on one scripture. This tension between unity and diversity has cultivated another tension between two modes of interpreting Islam. An integrated approach appears to be the remedy for the above-mentioned tension because anthropology and theology are complements to each other rather than substitutes
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