Abstract
Abstract
This chapter argues that the search for liberal tolerance within Islamic thought will inevitably be a tautological, somewhat barren exercise, given the specific, historical origins of the liberal conception of tolerance. Moreover, through a comparison of the political ideas of two important Islamic thinkers of the twentieth century, Abul A’la Maududi (1903–1979), an influential Islamist thinker, and Javed Ahmed Ghamidi (1951–), a prominent contemporary public intellectual, the chapter argues for the value of thinking explicitly about the relationship between the state and the political relevance of difference, rather than of revealing attitudes towards minorities, or thinking of tolerance as a virtue.
This chapter argues that the search for liberal tolerance within Islamic thought will inevitably be a tautological, somewhat barren exercise, given the specific, historical origins of the liberal conception of tolerance. Moreover, through a comparison of the political ideas of two important Islamic thinkers of the twentieth century, Abul A’la Maududi (1903–1979), an influential Islamist thinker, and Javed Ahmed Ghamidi (1951–), a prominent contemporary public intellectual, the chapter argues for the value of thinking explicitly about the relationship between the state and the political relevance of difference, rather than of revealing attitudes towards minorities, or thinking of tolerance as a virtue.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Oxford Handbook of Comparative Political Theory |
| Editors | Leigh Jenco, Megan Thomas, Murad Idris |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, USA |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 2019 |
Keywords
- Islamic political thought; tolerance; Maududi; Ghamidi; South Asian thought