Islam, modernity and the concept of progress

Abstract EN

This paper aims to review definitions and scope of modernity and analyze it in the context of a specific religion, Islam.

The paper then highlights the harmony between progress and Islam based on the historical examples from the glorious eras of Islamic civilization in Andalusia and the Abbasid caliphate, in which modernity and religion were complementary in producing the novel innovations of that time.

Knowledge creation and technological advancements were strongly pursued during that time by numerous renowned Muslim scholars, intellectuals and philosophers.

This paper then examines the current situation in the Muslim world.

The majority of Muslim nations are backward, impoverished and stagnant due to rigidity and restrictions in political and intellectual freedom, in addition to gender inequality and discrimination.

As the paper finds, these unprecedented qualities are not a part of Islamic teachings, but the consequential effect of post colonialism and the politicization of religion by certain squatters using Islam for political interests and purposes.