DOC Early Islamic Iran (The Idea of Iran) by From I.B.Tauris in History

Description

Many scholars of Islam are interested in creating a liberal; inclusive; pluralistic; feminist; and modern version of the religion that they believe to be explicit in the pages of the Qur'an; but missed by earlier interpreters. In so doing; they create "good" Islam and; in the process; seek to define what does and does not get to count as authentic. As the purveyors of what they now believe to be veritable Islam; they subsequently claim that rival presentations are bastardizations based either on Orientalism and Islamophobia (if one is a non-Muslim) or misogyny and homophobia (if one is a Muslim that disagrees with them). Instead of engaging in critical scholarship; they engage in a constructive and theological project that they deceive themselves into thinking is both analytical and empirical. This book provides a hard-hitting examination of the spiritual motivations; rhetorical moves; and political implications associated with these apologetical discourses. It argues that what is at stake is relevance; and examines the consequences of engaging in mythopoesis as opposed to scholarship.