Neo-traditionalism in Islam in the West: Orthodoxy, Spirituality and Politics

This book shows the importance of neo-traditionalism in the changing conceptions of religious orthodoxy, religious authority and spirituality for young Muslims in the West.

Examining Muslim neo-traditionalist scholars in the West and their community of young seekers of sacred knowledge, Walaa Quisay explores the emerging trend within Anglo-American Islam that emphasises the importance of ‘tradition’. This book focuses on spiritual retreats hosted by three main shaykhs – Hamza Yusuf, Abdal Hakim Murad and Umar Faruq Abd-Allah – to examine how religious authority is formed and affirmed.

Through interviews with seekers who have attended retreats, the author sheds light on how discourses are shaped and practised and analyses how neo-traditionalist shaykhs construct the notion of ‘tradition’ concerning what they perceive to have been lost in modernity. The importance is highlighted of neo-traditionalism in the changing conceptions of religious orthodoxy, religious authority and spirituality for young Muslims in the West, and Quisay examines the political implications to the shaykhs’ critiques of modernity as it pertains to political quietism, race and gender.

Studies the impact neo-traditionalism has on the religious and political subjectivities of Muslims in the West

• Shows the importance of neo-traditionalism in the changing conceptions of religious orthodoxy, religious authority and spirituality for young Muslims in the West
• Studies primarily – although not exclusively – three neo-traditionalist shaykhs: Hamza Yusuf, Abdal Hakim Murad and Umar Faruq Abd-Allah
• Analyses how neo-traditionalist shaykhs construct the notion of ‘tradition’ concerning what they perceive to have been lost in modernity
• Examines the political implications to their critiques of modernity – as it pertains to political quietism, race and gender.

About the Author

Walaa Quisay is Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at The School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh. Previously, she worked at the University of Manchester, the University of Birmingham, and Istanbul Şehir University. She has published extensively on neo-traditionalism and is currently working on carceral theologies. This will be her first monograph.

Table of Contents

Introduction

STORIES OF DISENCHANTMENT

1 Locating the (Neo-)Traditional

2 Modern Times

PLACES OF RE-ENCHANTMENT

3 Travelers to Tradition

4 Formation of Authority and Conditions of Plausibility

5 The Metaphysical Lens

6 Race, Gender, and Belonging

LOCATING NEO-TRADITIONALISM IN MODERNITY

7 The Sufi, the Palace, and the People

8 The Seekers, Politics, and Power

Conclusion

Bibliographic Information

Title: Neo-traditionalism in Islam in the West: Orthodoxy, Spirituality and Politics

Author (s): Simon O’Meara

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Length: 296 Pages

ISBN:‎ 9781399502771

Pub. Date: July 2023

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