Islamic Humanism
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Tracing the course of thought, action, and expression in the golden age of Islamic civilization, L. E. Goodman's Islamic Humanism paints a vivid panorama that departs strikingly from the all too familiar image of Islamic dogma, authoritarianism, and militancy. Among the poets and philosophers, scientists and historians, ethicists and mystics of Islam, Goodman finds a warm and vital humanism, committed to the pursuit of knowledge and to the cosmopolitan values of generosity, tolerance, and understanding.Drawing on a wide range of writings, from love poetry to pietism, to satire, to history and metaphysics, and on to hunting, music and the dance, clothing, politics, and the marketplace, Goodman discloses the rich texture of classical Islamic civilization-its distinctive problematics and the space it left for the talents and creativity of the individual. His philosophic openness and easy familiarity place Islamic humanism securely in its larger context, revealing clearly what is of universa and abiding vitality and interest.
In place of stereotypes, suspicions, and unease, Goodman sets out concrete and detailed expositions and explorations of Islamic thought and experience as seen through the eyes of the participants themselves. His engaged but sympathetic readings penetrate beneath the surface of the ancient texts to the humanistic values embraced by some of the greatest thinkers of Islam. As a result, Islamic Humanism does much more than remind us how much we owe to the intellectual achievements of Islamic civilization. The work is a significant contribution to Western understanding of Islam and to Islamic self-understanding of the profoundly humanistic dimensions of the Islamic tradition.
Reviews
"The range and depth of this well documented, richly detailed, and elegantly written survey of human centered, even secular dimensions of classical Islamic civilization--its poetry, music, wine, war, love, play, hunting, dress/display, ethics, theology, epistemology, metaphysics, and grand tradition of Arabic universal history-are unparalleled. Islamic Humanism fills a serious gap in the literature and provides a rare opportunity to learn about significant dimensions of the Muslim heritage that deserve to be appreciated in our era of sectarian Muslim extremism and clashing civilizations. Although the expression 'Islamic humanism' may strike some as an oxymoron in today's world, Lenn E. Goodman's remarkable book is fascinating and inspiring, neither apologetic nor meddlesome."--Frederick Mathewson Denny, Professor, Islamic Studies and the History of Religions, Department of Religious Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder
"The work underscores the need to reread the religion of Islam and its civilization without succumbing to the events of the recent past, especially in the post-9/11, that have captured only partial images of those who call themselves Muslims. Goodman's life-long endeavor to understand the profound encounter between Muslim philosophers and the Greek heritage, and its implications for the unfolding of Islamic modernity is enlightening, intriguing and highly accessible. The book captures Muslim wisdom and humanism that is meant to be read and shared with intelligent Muslim and non-Muslim readership. The inspiring message that comes across the volume is its challenge to Muslims today to rise above ideology in order to critically appropriate their great heritage with openness and confidence--the Islam that is 'tolerant, pluralist, cosmopolitan without triumphalism and spiritual without repression.'"--Abdulaziz Sachedina, author of The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism
"Lenn Goodman has undertaken a tour de force in Islamic Humanism and successfully accomplishes his goals. He demonstrates with masterly skill, entertaining prose and with an eye for detail, the complex cosmopolitan world of classical and medieval Islam: a world that Jews, Christians, Muslims and people of many faiths inhabited. It was a not a perfect world, as Goodman tells us, but it is nonetheless a world that by today's standards would make us nostalgic. At the same time it also gives us hope: for if Muslims in the past did not only imagine a great civilization but actually created one, then what prevents them from imagining a better world for themselves and others in the twenty first century? Imagination, Goodman shows, is one element of that story." --Ebrahim Moosa, Duke University
About the Author(s)
Lenn E. Goodman is Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. Among his many publications are In Defense of Truth (2001), Jewish and Islamic Philosophy: Crosspollinations in the Classic Age (1999), Judaism, Human Rights, and Human Values (OUP, 1998), and God of Abraham (OUP, 1996).
