http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2008/07/09/disentangling-islam-and-the-post-colonial-state/ Secularism, religion, and the public sphere Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:27:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2008/07/09/disentangling-islam-and-the-post-colonial-state/comment-page-1/#comment-3500 Ahmet T. Kuru Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:07:19 +0000 http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/?p=289#comment-3500 In his insightful review of Abdullahi An-Naim’s important book, Joel Migdal asks “How ready Muslims are for...normal or distributive politics?” Migdal rightly stresses the psychological aspect of the Muslim condition, which has led many to the politics of redemption, or one may call, ressentiment. At this point, Migdal asks An-Naim to go beyond rational examination of Muslims’ relations with Islamic law and bring more of their particular (post)colonial experiences in the analysis. I would also ask “how ready is secularism for making Muslims part of ‘normal’ politics'?” Particular versions of secularism that Muslims experienced in France and Turkey make it hard to give a positive answer. Therefore, we need to talk not only about Islam but also about secularism in multiple terms. There is no Islam and secularism, but there are Islams and secularisms. In his insightful review of Abdullahi An-Naim’s important book, Joel Migdal asks “How ready Muslims are for…normal or distributive politics?” Migdal rightly stresses the psychological aspect of the Muslim condition, which has led many to the politics of redemption, or one may call, ressentiment. At this point, Migdal asks An-Naim to go beyond rational examination of Muslims’ relations with Islamic law and bring more of their particular (post)colonial experiences in the analysis. I would also ask “how ready is secularism for making Muslims part of ‘normal’ politics’?” Particular versions of secularism that Muslims experienced in France and Turkey make it hard to give a positive answer. Therefore, we need to talk not only about Islam but also about secularism in multiple terms. There is no Islam and secularism, but there are Islams and secularisms.

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