Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

Progressive Thinking in Contemporary Islam

It seems sensible to start by shedding light on the background context and then to define the broader framework within which the “progressive thinking” in contemporary Islam which we want to discuss is embedded.

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Honorary Professor at St. Georgen, Graduate School of Theology and Philosophy, Frankfurt/Main

Conference of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung

It seems sensible to start by shedding light on the background context and then to define the broader framework within which the “progressive thinking” in contemporary Islam which we want to discuss is embedded. The movements and trends which are shaping the contemporary Islamic world can be analyzed and assessed in the light of two conflicting forces, namely the notions of authenticity on the one hand and modernity on the other.
Such an approach perceives contemporary Islam as being torn between the authenticity in matters of life and doctrine which it derives from its past and the modernity which refers it to a present (and a future) in which Muslims no longer hold the reins of power and are therefore no longer able to control the development of thought (…)