Lived Islam: Colloquial Religion in a Cosmopolitan Tradition

by A Kevin Reinhart

Does Islam make people violent? Does Islam make people peaceful? In this book, A. Kevin Reinhart demonstrates that such questions are misleading, because they assume that Islam is a monolithic essence and that Muslims are made the way they are by this monolith. He argues that Islam, like all religions, is complex and thus best understood through analogy with language: Islam has dialects, a set of features shared with other versions of Islam. It also has cosmopolitan elites who prescribe how Islam ought to be, even though these experts, depending on where they practice the religion, unconsciously reflect their own local dialects. Reinhart defines the distinctive features of Islam and investigates how modernity has created new conditions for the religion. Analyzing the similarities and differences between modern and pre-modern Islam, he clarifies the new and old in the religion as it is lived in the contemporary world.

Genres: Islam

256 pages, Paperback

Published January 31, 2020

Reviews

[Edz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A much needed breakdown of a question which both Muslims and non-Muslims have been wrestling with, in trying to understand the diversity of Muslims and their unicity at the same time.

The book starts off with introducing the way in which scholars of the Western academic tradition study Islam as an object of research yet fail to properly assess actually existing manifestation of Islamic practice (i.e. how Muslims practice their faith on a daily basis), arguing instead for the concept of a “Lived Islam” akin to a living language with various dialect differences. This leads to a critique of the prevalent paradigms used in Islamic studies, starting with the essentialist one (used by both Orientalists and Islamists) positing an unchanging nature to Islam which is present everywhere yet nowhere at the same time, resembling more of a conceptual paragon than an actual living and breathing religious tradition, and the regional parochialism (aka the “islams” approach, popular in cultural and post colonial circles) which problematizes the idea of a unified Islamic tradition on which Muslims draw their beliefs and practices from. Consequently, the author proposes their own framework inspired by sociolinguistics of a “Lived Islam” with a Dialect version, a Koiné version as well as a Cosmopolitan one who, while interrelated, help to show the ways in which Muslims differ as well as resemble each other. In regards to “Dialect Islam”, local inflections have an effect on the shaping of the Muslim community’s practices as well as their understanding of said practices, which are informed by an overarching “Koiné Islam” acting as the shared language of Muslims across the ummah (e.g. five pillars, Qur’ān, hadīth, shar’īa etc.). On the other hand, “Cosmopolitan Islam” seeks to reform the Dialect version into what it deems to be Islamically correct, as per the the requirements of the scholars and jurists, those entrusted with ‘ilm (i.e. religious knowledge) and preservation of religion written in compendiums of fiqh, which is more or less the Islam that most academics tend to focus on. This is then woven together wonderfully in the final chapter wherein the author explains the impact of modernity on the development of “Cosmopolitan Islam” which, while seemingly gaining the upper hand thanks to recent technological advancements (print and media, but especially the Internet), paradoxically starts loosing ground by virtue of those same modern tools to Muslims seeking to reaffirm their Islamic identity and self-understanding as Muslims. Indeed, as the Prophet was reported to have said: اختلاف أمتي رحمة

One of the better books I’ve read this year, for it captures in few pages what scholars have been trying to arrive at for decades in trying to uncover this most mystifying religion. We can only hope future scholarship will take heed of this brilliant work, in sha Allah.

[Recep Güler · Rating 5 out of 5]

what is Islam? what we mean when we say "Islam"? how can we talk about Islam? we can say these questions is main questions of book.

in first chapter Kevin Reinhart do criticize some approach mainly essentialist approach and pluralist (Islams) approach too. after that Author make is own model of approach. in the very first pages he says this model derived from sociolinguistics. and then he draw some similarity between language usage and Islam. And there is three type of language "usage" and this can be used when we talk about Lived ıslam as well. the next three chapter is about these three aspects;

dialect ıslam

the koiné ıslam (shared ıslam)

cosmopolitan ıslam / standard ıslam.

Overall it was so good book and author have a unique approach. it is totally worth much more attention.

[Faheem · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book basically solves the plurality paradox of Islam; how can there be such unity within such astonishing diversity?

Ahmed Shahab attempted and failed, in my mind, so did Thomas Bauer, but Reinhardt has presented a very neat succinct solution.

In many ways the thesis is so simple actually, it hits you, why didn't anyone think of it sooner. In many ways, it’s genius is of articulating in a neat way what everyone was thinking of all the time.

The chapter on the revenge of ‘standard Islam’ will I’m sure inform universities for decades.

This is destined to be classic, you can see why scholars have considered it quietly revelatory.

[Jojo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Todella hyviä esimerkkejä! Valaiseva teos, joka auttaa ymmärtämään miksi islam on niin monimuotoinen uskonto ja miten se näkyy käytännössä