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Contemporary Arab Thought: Studies in Post-1967 Arab Intellectual History
Contemporary Arab Thought is a complex term, encompassing a constellation of social, political, religious and ideological ideas that have evolved over the past two hundred years — ideas that represent the leading positions of the social classes in modern and contemporary Arab societies.
Distinguished Islamic scholar Ibrahim Abu-Rabi‘ addresses such questions as the Shari‘ah, human rights, civil society, secularism and globalization. This is complimented by a focused discussion on the writings of key Arab thinkers who represent established trends of thought in the Arab world, including Muhammad ‘Abid al-Jabiri, Adallah Laroui, Muhammad al-Ghazali, Rashid al-Ghannoushi, Qutatnine Zurayk, Mahdi ‘Amil and many others.
Before 1967, some Arab countries launched hopeful programmes of modernisation. After the 1967 defeat with Israel, many of these hopes were dashed. This book retraces the Arab world’s aborted modernity of recent decades. Abu-Rabi‘ explores the development of contemporary Arab thought against the historical background of the rise of modern Islamism, and the impact of the West on the modern Arab world.
Distinguished Islamic scholar Ibrahim Abu-Rabi‘ addresses such questions as the Shari‘ah, human rights, civil society, secularism and globalization. This is complimented by a focused discussion on the writings of key Arab thinkers who represent established trends of thought in the Arab world, including Muhammad ‘Abid al-Jabiri, Adallah Laroui, Muhammad al-Ghazali, Rashid al-Ghannoushi, Qutatnine Zurayk, Mahdi ‘Amil and many others.
Before 1967, some Arab countries launched hopeful programmes of modernisation. After the 1967 defeat with Israel, many of these hopes were dashed. This book retraces the Arab world’s aborted modernity of recent decades. Abu-Rabi‘ explores the development of contemporary Arab thought against the historical background of the rise of modern Islamism, and the impact of the West on the modern Arab world.
512 pages, Paperback
First published November 20, 2003
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July 11, 2016
Ibrahim Abu-Rabi’s Contemporary Arab Thought is an ambitious and much-needed attempt to survey its eponymous topic in the post-1967 era. Arguing, quite accurately, that scant attention has been paid in English to the works of Arab intellectuals in the past half-century, the author attempts to address this lacuna by providing both a broad survey of general trends and an in-depth analysis of particularly notable individuals. While field experts may be able to identify material and thinkers that have been left out of this study, the work contains an immense amount of detail that is likely to be much more than sufficient, even overwhelming, for the average scholar.
Abu-Rabi begins with a lengthy (40 page) introduction that does a good job of outlining the historiography and the need for such a study, but is not as successful for setting up the reader for the material ahead or guiding them through it. Thus one emerges somewhat unprepared as they move into Part One, “Themes”, which is intended as a broader survey of general trends in Arab political thought since 1967. The author’s first chapter, however, which is essentially an extension of his introduction, does a fair job of establishing the boundaries of the study and highlighting the difficulties in undertaking it. Chapter two continues this trend by examining four currents of Arab though – Islamic, nationalist, liberal, and Marxist/Leftist – and provides a decent summary of the scope and concerns of each.
Abu-Rabi’s third chapter is the first to examine a particular topic in more depth and chooses secularism as its focus. Rather than accepting the term at face value, or proffering a digestible and pragmatic definition, however, he spends considerable time unpacking the term and its multifarious meanings, as well as deconstructing the simplistic misperceptions about its relationship to Arab thought. Secularism, in this regard, is not a monolithic entity, but a complex notion that can (and has) been interpreted in different ways by thinkers within the same discipline and trend and has been appropriated by each to varying degrees. Chapter four delves deeper into secularism and examines the ways in which different Arab intellectual traditions have engaged the concept since 1967.
The author then proceeds to investigate the relationship between Islamism and nationalism, arguing once again that there is no universal agreement on the interplay between these two concepts. Some thinkers from both camps postulate that the two are incompatible, while others are more willing to find common ground and suggest that the two can be mutually beneficial, or even that one is inherent in or necessitates the other. The sixth chapter is somewhat more eclectic and deals with the thinking on the relationship between capitalism, modernity, and the “Arab” identity, with particular attention paid to the evolution of these concepts from the perspective of the Gulf, as well as Islamist reactions to various interpretations of these concepts. Chapters seven and eight accomplish much of the same for the notion of globalization, first unpacking the term in great depth and then surveying the wide of range of intellectual responses to the phenomenon.
Chapter nine is the first in Part Two, “Thinkers”, which examines particular intellectuals that Abu-Rabi believes have been most influential since 1967. First is Rashid al-Ghannushi, although the chapter begins with a review of Islamism in the contemporary age. The author considers Ghannushi one of the first post-1967 thinkers to advocate for a non-secular state; he believed that it could be achieved without violence and could engage modernity if the latter’s oppressive and exploitative elements could be removed. Next is Shaykh Muhammad Al-Ghazali, who was critical of the Islamism of his day and grew increasingly more so until his death. In particular, he believed that Arab thinkers had to make better use of the Quran and the Sunnah to engage modernity and improve the state of the Muslim world, which has been a failure of an ulama that has been too connected to the political elite. Hope, therefore, lies in the power of the masses. The eleventh chapter is more general and examines several crises and issues related to Islam and Muslims in the contemporary world.
Abu-Rabi then proceeds, over the course of two chapters, to discuss Muhammad Abid al-Jabiri in terms of the concept of “Arab Reason”, which the latter attempts to deconstruct and critique. The first is more a review of the Jabiri’s historical and epistemological background to the term, while the second focuses more on how Jabiri believed it could be applied to “the possibility of scientific/capitalist revolution in the Arab world.” Arab reason, in his view, needs to be updated to meet the challenges of the modern world, or else Arabs will continue to be left in a disadvantaged position. In doing so, he devalues the contribution of Islam to contemporary Arab thought. The author then investigates Arab nationalist thought through Costantine Zurayk, whose strongly positive views of the “west” led him to believe that Arabs could only achieve standing on the international stage if they coopted “western” values. Zurayk further argued that Arab “stagnation” has not been the fault of an oppressive “west”, but of the “ignorance, poverty, and disease” of the Arab people and a refusal to adopt the boons of modernity. Embracing nationalism and rationalism, through the guidance of the intelligentsia, is the only path forwards.
Abu-Rabi’s final two body chapters examine Arab Marxist thought through Mahdi Amil and Abdallah Laroui. The former, focusing on Lebanon, attempted to understand the modern Arab world in a Marxist fashion through the interpretive framework of Louis Althusser; his analysis is, therefore, more traditional in relation to the broader theory. His work is a chronicle of Lebanese history understood as a product of class conflict and capitalist development. The latter, on the other hand, is more radical and distinguished by his hostile disappointment with nearly all contemporary Arab thinkers. He believes that it is essential for Arab thinkers to engage more with “western” traditions while dispensing with its oppressive and problematic elements. Naturally, in his mind, traditionalism and religion represent obstacles to progress as well. Regardless of the reason, however, it is the intelligentsia, in their role as leaders of Arab development, who are to blame for the marginalization of society, as it was their responsibility to guide society through modernity.
In relation to the extensiveness of the book’s introduction, the conclusion is surprisingly brief and is somewhat eclectic in terms of what it chooses to address. This can be forgiven to an extent, considering the vast amount of material that he discusses, but, like many of the chapters, it does not succeed in tying everything together and thus one could not get a good idea of the book’s major themes and ideas by merely reading the conclusion. Perhaps, however, this is the point, as the work’s eponymous topic is not something that can be summarized in a concise, neatly-packaged form. Nonetheless, one can say that Contemporary Arab Thought’s strength is in its breadth and comprehensiveness, not its accessibility. The sheer amount of material presented, combined with a sometimes confusing organizational structure and a substantial dearth of signposting and recapitulation, will likely be very overwhelming to any reader. Combined with the author’s dry writing style, this can make it very difficult to maintain one’s concentration while perusing the pages. Specialists in Arab political thinking will find much of value here, but I suspect that even they would have a difficult time taking everything in during one read-through. For the non-specialist, even careful note-taking will likely not eschew the need for a re-read or two if one wants to truly appreciate all that this book has to offer. My recommendation would be to browse this study casually on the first read and make note of those themes and ideas that are of greatest interest, returning at a later time to review those sections in more depth and use them a jumping-off points for future reading and research.
Abu-Rabi begins with a lengthy (40 page) introduction that does a good job of outlining the historiography and the need for such a study, but is not as successful for setting up the reader for the material ahead or guiding them through it. Thus one emerges somewhat unprepared as they move into Part One, “Themes”, which is intended as a broader survey of general trends in Arab political thought since 1967. The author’s first chapter, however, which is essentially an extension of his introduction, does a fair job of establishing the boundaries of the study and highlighting the difficulties in undertaking it. Chapter two continues this trend by examining four currents of Arab though – Islamic, nationalist, liberal, and Marxist/Leftist – and provides a decent summary of the scope and concerns of each.
Abu-Rabi’s third chapter is the first to examine a particular topic in more depth and chooses secularism as its focus. Rather than accepting the term at face value, or proffering a digestible and pragmatic definition, however, he spends considerable time unpacking the term and its multifarious meanings, as well as deconstructing the simplistic misperceptions about its relationship to Arab thought. Secularism, in this regard, is not a monolithic entity, but a complex notion that can (and has) been interpreted in different ways by thinkers within the same discipline and trend and has been appropriated by each to varying degrees. Chapter four delves deeper into secularism and examines the ways in which different Arab intellectual traditions have engaged the concept since 1967.
The author then proceeds to investigate the relationship between Islamism and nationalism, arguing once again that there is no universal agreement on the interplay between these two concepts. Some thinkers from both camps postulate that the two are incompatible, while others are more willing to find common ground and suggest that the two can be mutually beneficial, or even that one is inherent in or necessitates the other. The sixth chapter is somewhat more eclectic and deals with the thinking on the relationship between capitalism, modernity, and the “Arab” identity, with particular attention paid to the evolution of these concepts from the perspective of the Gulf, as well as Islamist reactions to various interpretations of these concepts. Chapters seven and eight accomplish much of the same for the notion of globalization, first unpacking the term in great depth and then surveying the wide of range of intellectual responses to the phenomenon.
Chapter nine is the first in Part Two, “Thinkers”, which examines particular intellectuals that Abu-Rabi believes have been most influential since 1967. First is Rashid al-Ghannushi, although the chapter begins with a review of Islamism in the contemporary age. The author considers Ghannushi one of the first post-1967 thinkers to advocate for a non-secular state; he believed that it could be achieved without violence and could engage modernity if the latter’s oppressive and exploitative elements could be removed. Next is Shaykh Muhammad Al-Ghazali, who was critical of the Islamism of his day and grew increasingly more so until his death. In particular, he believed that Arab thinkers had to make better use of the Quran and the Sunnah to engage modernity and improve the state of the Muslim world, which has been a failure of an ulama that has been too connected to the political elite. Hope, therefore, lies in the power of the masses. The eleventh chapter is more general and examines several crises and issues related to Islam and Muslims in the contemporary world.
Abu-Rabi then proceeds, over the course of two chapters, to discuss Muhammad Abid al-Jabiri in terms of the concept of “Arab Reason”, which the latter attempts to deconstruct and critique. The first is more a review of the Jabiri’s historical and epistemological background to the term, while the second focuses more on how Jabiri believed it could be applied to “the possibility of scientific/capitalist revolution in the Arab world.” Arab reason, in his view, needs to be updated to meet the challenges of the modern world, or else Arabs will continue to be left in a disadvantaged position. In doing so, he devalues the contribution of Islam to contemporary Arab thought. The author then investigates Arab nationalist thought through Costantine Zurayk, whose strongly positive views of the “west” led him to believe that Arabs could only achieve standing on the international stage if they coopted “western” values. Zurayk further argued that Arab “stagnation” has not been the fault of an oppressive “west”, but of the “ignorance, poverty, and disease” of the Arab people and a refusal to adopt the boons of modernity. Embracing nationalism and rationalism, through the guidance of the intelligentsia, is the only path forwards.
Abu-Rabi’s final two body chapters examine Arab Marxist thought through Mahdi Amil and Abdallah Laroui. The former, focusing on Lebanon, attempted to understand the modern Arab world in a Marxist fashion through the interpretive framework of Louis Althusser; his analysis is, therefore, more traditional in relation to the broader theory. His work is a chronicle of Lebanese history understood as a product of class conflict and capitalist development. The latter, on the other hand, is more radical and distinguished by his hostile disappointment with nearly all contemporary Arab thinkers. He believes that it is essential for Arab thinkers to engage more with “western” traditions while dispensing with its oppressive and problematic elements. Naturally, in his mind, traditionalism and religion represent obstacles to progress as well. Regardless of the reason, however, it is the intelligentsia, in their role as leaders of Arab development, who are to blame for the marginalization of society, as it was their responsibility to guide society through modernity.
In relation to the extensiveness of the book’s introduction, the conclusion is surprisingly brief and is somewhat eclectic in terms of what it chooses to address. This can be forgiven to an extent, considering the vast amount of material that he discusses, but, like many of the chapters, it does not succeed in tying everything together and thus one could not get a good idea of the book’s major themes and ideas by merely reading the conclusion. Perhaps, however, this is the point, as the work’s eponymous topic is not something that can be summarized in a concise, neatly-packaged form. Nonetheless, one can say that Contemporary Arab Thought’s strength is in its breadth and comprehensiveness, not its accessibility. The sheer amount of material presented, combined with a sometimes confusing organizational structure and a substantial dearth of signposting and recapitulation, will likely be very overwhelming to any reader. Combined with the author’s dry writing style, this can make it very difficult to maintain one’s concentration while perusing the pages. Specialists in Arab political thinking will find much of value here, but I suspect that even they would have a difficult time taking everything in during one read-through. For the non-specialist, even careful note-taking will likely not eschew the need for a re-read or two if one wants to truly appreciate all that this book has to offer. My recommendation would be to browse this study casually on the first read and make note of those themes and ideas that are of greatest interest, returning at a later time to review those sections in more depth and use them a jumping-off points for future reading and research.
April 5, 2025
Abu-Rabi's work is a significant contribution to the field, prompting essential discussions on the role of intellect and ideology in shaping the future of Arab societies.
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