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Modernism and the contextualization of Islamic doctrines : the reform of Indonesian Islam proposed by Nurcholish Madjid

This thesis investigates the Islamic response to modernization and its common dilemma as seen through the eyes of Nurcholish Madjid, one of the most influential and prominent Muslim thinkers in Indonesia today. He and his followers represent the most radical development in Indonesian Islamic religio-political discourse in recent decades. This study will survey the growth of his thought from his first involvement with the Islamic renewal movement in the early 1970s, or more precisely after the inception of the New Order era, until the mid-1990s. The movement that he has founded seeks to reformulate the positive nature of modernity and its essential affinity with the purpose and spirit of Islam. The general thrust of Madjid's contribution in the discourse on Islamic modernism in Indonesia is to call Indonesian Muslims to change their attitude and way of thinking in order to play a proper and realistic role in national development and in reinterpreting universal Islamic values to fit the specific socio-economic, political, and cultural values of the nation. In so doing, Madjid proposes his concept of reactualization of Islamic teachings through ijtihad and reinterpretation of the Qur'an using what is called a contextual or substantial approach in that he is associated with the legacy of the neo-modernist approach proposed by Fazlur Rahman, Madjid's chief mentor. According to him, this concept is essential to the survival of the universalism of Islam. Therefore, the basic principle of neo-modernism consists in reinterpreting Islam according to its historical context while making its universal and substantial principles as well as its basic goal and spirit the primary consideration.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.21210
Date January 1999
CreatorsFathimah, Siti.
ContributorsBoullata, Issa J. (advisor)
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Arts (Institute of Islamic Studies.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001659364, proquestno: MQ50513, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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