An Islamic Critique of Modernity - A discussion of Hallaq’s Argument for the Incommensurability of Islamic Governance and the Modern Nation State

Abstract

In this master thesis, we investigate Wael B. Hallaq’s critique of modernity as presented in his The Impossible State. We try to understand in what way it is a critique of modernity, and the way its author uses Islamic sources and a presentation of ‘paradigmatic Islamic governance’ as a critical tool for interrogating modernity. The first part of the thesis will be concerned with understanding modernity. We look at the emergence of some of its central categories such as the private and public spheres, instrumental reason as well as the central philosophical problem of the ‘separation of fact and value.’ The second part is a detailed presentation of Hallaq’s argument. In the third, we discuss the merits and consequences of the critique. The methodological tools to be used are taken from the field of Discourse Analysis, as presented by Phillips and Jørgensen in Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method (2002).