Kassim, Husain

Dr. Husain Kassim is Associate Professor at University of Central Florida, Orlando. His areas of specialization are Islamic Studies, Islamic Law and Medieval Philosophy. He is the author of Sarakhsi: The Doctrine of Juristic Preference in Islamic Jurisprudence and Concept of Treaties and Mutual Relations (1995)and Aristotle and Aristotelianism in Medieval Muslim, Jewish and Christian Philosphy (2000), as well as several articles on similar topics.

Legitimizing Modernity in Islam: Muslim Modus Vivendi and Western Modernity

2005 0-7734-6235-X
This present study constructs modernity in Islam. Its value lies in its approach towards finding categories from within the shari' a law to create a space for an alternative possibility of modernity in the Muslim modus vivendi without changing its religious orientation. This unique approach remains within the Muslim tradition yet finding room for modernity in the Muslim world that is compatible with Western modernity. The author is remarkably successful in employing the ideas of Western modernity from Kant through Habermas and recent French theory (Levinas, Derrida etc.) in all its fundamental features such as the concepts of justice, human rights, secularization, individual freedom and society, democracy, gender relations, banking and financial transactions etc. that can be accommodated in the Muslim ethos.