Chapter 3

Second Study

The second study is William M. Watt's Islamic Fundamentalism and Modernity. [14] In this book, Watt argues that
the traditional Islamic worldview is incompatible with the conditions and
demands of Western modernity. He contends that the modern Muslim mind is still
determined by the epistemological rules of the early phase of Islam‑what
Muhammad Arkoun might call the Classical Islamic phase. [15]

Watt offers only a quasi‑theoretical reading
of the subject of Islam and modernity. Although modernity is one of his key
analytic concepts, he does not define it clearly, nor does he adequately
portray the dynamics of Western hegemony over the Muslim world and their
current consequences.

The author further maintains that the traditional
Islamic outlook, which was formed in the early phase of Islam against the
background of the Qur'an, hadith and consensus, is based on the following
premises: (1) the unchangingness of the world, (2) the finality and superiority
of Islam, and (3) the idealization of Muhammad as the perfect model that Muslims
must follow. In reconstructing the epistemological foundations of this outlook,
Watt argues quite explicitly that there is no place in Muslim thinking for
development, social and economic progress and advancement. He justifies the
above view by saying that, "apart from the particular dangers inherent in
the idealization of early Islam, there is a general danger, namely, that the
community becomes so obsessed with recreating something past that it fails to
see and deal with the real challenges and problems of the present." [16]

It is clear that Watt treats the complex and rich
history of Islamic epistemology in a monolithic fashion. He is far less
successful in his attempt at the reconstruction of the Islamic theory of
knowledge than, let us say, both Fazlur Rahman [17] and Muhammad Arkoun, to
whom he refers very often.

In treating religious revivalism,' Watt argues that
Islamic resurgence has resulted from the ulama's desire to enhance their power
and social prestige. [18] This thesis, to my mind, misrepresents the formation
and growth of the modern Islamic movements, which should be understood, to a
large extent, as a reaction to the Western colonization of the Muslim world.
Although he declares that one of the great evils of the present day is "the
unscrupulous exploitation of the Third World by Western multinational
corporations," [19] he does not show how this exploitation has affected
the formation of the whole process of Islamic resurgence.

Watt's effort to present a true picture of the
conflict between Islam and modernity is highlighted by his failure to grasp the
complex composition of Islamic epistemology and its successive transformations
through the system of the Shari'ah. He argues, for instance, that the
traditional Islamic image "is making it difficult for Muslims to adjust
adequately to life at the end of the twentieth century." [20] Isn't the
role of theology in any religious system to constantly adapt its main presuppositions
to the exigencies of the changing world?

In conclusion, Watt fails to integrate the
historical reality of Western exploitation of the Muslim world into ‑coherent
system of analysis. At times, his analysis takes a highly descriptive form
which lacks a dynamic reflection on the process of modern history. Furthermore,
as indicated above, Watt's approach incorporates in it the notion of the
superiority of the Western culture over the Islamic one. It is time that Third
World thinkers take a critical stand towards the legacy of the West, Westernization,
and modernization in the Muslim world.

Notes:

[14]. William Montgomery Watt, Islamic Fundamentalism and Modernity (London and New York:
Routledge,1988).

[15]. Mohammed Arkoun, Essais sur la pensee islamique (Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose,
1984), especially chapter eight.

[16]. Watt, p. 22.

[17]. See Fazlur Rahman, Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1982), and Akbar Ahmed, Postmodernism and Islam (London: Routledge Press, 1992).

[18]. Watt, p. 43.

[19]. Ibid., p.102.

[20]. Ibid.,
p. 71.