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The Politics of Muslim Cultural Reform: Jadidism in Central Asia (Comparative Studies on Muslim Societies)
Adeeb Khalid offers the first extended examination of cultural debates in Central Asia during Russian rule. With the Russian conquest in the 1860s and 1870s the region came into contact with modernity. The Jadids, influential Muslim intellectuals, sought to safeguard the indigenous Islamic culture by adapting it to the modern state. Through education, literacy, use of the press and by maintaining close ties with Islamic intellectuals from the Ottoman empire to India, the Jadids established a place for their traditions not only within the changing culture of their own land but also within the larger modern Islamic world.
Khalid uses previously untapped literary sources from Uzbek and Tajik as well as archival materials from Uzbekistan, Russia, Britain, and France to explore Russia's role as a colonial power and the politics of Islamic reform movements. He shows how Jadid efforts paralleled developments elsewhere in the world and at the same time provides a social history of the Jadid movement. By including a comparative study of Muslim societies, examining indigenous intellectual life under colonialism, and investigating how knowledge was disseminated in the early modern period, The Politics of Muslim Cultural Reform does much to remedy the dearth of scholarship on this important period. Interest in Central Asia is growing as a result of the breakup of the former Soviet Union, and Khalid's book will make an important contribution to current debates over political and cultural autonomy in the region.
Khalid uses previously untapped literary sources from Uzbek and Tajik as well as archival materials from Uzbekistan, Russia, Britain, and France to explore Russia's role as a colonial power and the politics of Islamic reform movements. He shows how Jadid efforts paralleled developments elsewhere in the world and at the same time provides a social history of the Jadid movement. By including a comparative study of Muslim societies, examining indigenous intellectual life under colonialism, and investigating how knowledge was disseminated in the early modern period, The Politics of Muslim Cultural Reform does much to remedy the dearth of scholarship on this important period. Interest in Central Asia is growing as a result of the breakup of the former Soviet Union, and Khalid's book will make an important contribution to current debates over political and cultural autonomy in the region.
360 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 23, 2024
Not sure any other book is a better source for information on Jadidism. Khalid's focus on the 'spirit' of Jadidism - how they viewed the world around them, and how the world saw them - gives the reader a good idea of what they fought for.
The Jadids were incredibly progressive for their time, and most of the values they held are shared by us in the West in the modern day. They viewed the proper treatment of women as equal to men, called for education for everyone, and saw the groups that were doing better than them (such as Jews and Armenians) under the same circumstances as simply more knowledgeable (instead of enemies), advocating for their own people to see them as examples for self-improvement.
To me, that's proof that the Muslim world is not incompatible with civil society. Unfortunately it faces many of the setbacks Jadids saw back then (exploitation and downright bullying by bigger nations, getting pushed back on their advancements by traditionalists, etc) but the spirit of Islam is progress, and I'm confident we'll see the religion advance with the times.
Rated it 4/5 stars because the formatting on the book is a little confusing, though I only read one edition of it. Some paragraphs are incredibly long and break the reading flow.
The Jadids were incredibly progressive for their time, and most of the values they held are shared by us in the West in the modern day. They viewed the proper treatment of women as equal to men, called for education for everyone, and saw the groups that were doing better than them (such as Jews and Armenians) under the same circumstances as simply more knowledgeable (instead of enemies), advocating for their own people to see them as examples for self-improvement.
To me, that's proof that the Muslim world is not incompatible with civil society. Unfortunately it faces many of the setbacks Jadids saw back then (exploitation and downright bullying by bigger nations, getting pushed back on their advancements by traditionalists, etc) but the spirit of Islam is progress, and I'm confident we'll see the religion advance with the times.
Rated it 4/5 stars because the formatting on the book is a little confusing, though I only read one edition of it. Some paragraphs are incredibly long and break the reading flow.
February 15, 2022
Just a super helpful, super clearly written historical overview 👍
July 27, 2023
a movement rarely noted, this is a good read on the particulars of a specific place at a specific time
not for everyone, but its for me.
not for everyone, but its for me.
March 25, 2012
Pretty much THE book giving a historical context to Political Islam in Central Asia. Khalid is a great writer and he does a good job sectioning everything off geographically (Tatars are a separate issue for him), chronologically, and politically. He really knows his stuff.
The book goes into great detail about who the original Central Asian Jadids were and what their goals were. He discusses how they are in a tight spot between the Russian Empire and the Empire's local lackeys, a tight spot that wasn't alleviated by revolution. The ending, when Khalid notes that only one of the originals died peacefully. It wasn't them but the Generation of '38 that became the Soviet Bureaucrats that rule Central Asia today. The Jadids remain a nice little story of what could've been.
The book goes into great detail about who the original Central Asian Jadids were and what their goals were. He discusses how they are in a tight spot between the Russian Empire and the Empire's local lackeys, a tight spot that wasn't alleviated by revolution. The ending, when Khalid notes that only one of the originals died peacefully. It wasn't them but the Generation of '38 that became the Soviet Bureaucrats that rule Central Asia today. The Jadids remain a nice little story of what could've been.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews