Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age

Albert Hourani

In the face of Europe's rising prominence starting from the nineteenth century, Arab and Muslim thinkers became interested in studying the reasons for European progress versus the reasons for the backwardness of Islamic societies. They explored topics such as Islam and Western modernity, Arab and Islamic identity, and democracy and its potential success in Arab societies. In this book, Albert Hourani analyzes the responses of renowned authors and investigates their views, showing how two intellectual currents—one attempting to redefine social principles in Islam, and the second justifying the separation of religion from politics—intermingled, leading, in our era, to the emergence of Arab nationalisms. In this sense, Hourani's book, which serves as a survey of modern political and social thought in the Arab Middle East, is considered an important tool for understanding the region's turmoil and an indispensable reference for readers and researchers.