Defenders of Reason in Islam: Mu'tazilism from Medieval School to Modern Symbol Richard C. Martin and Mark R. Woodward, and Dwi S. Atmaja

Defenders of Reason in Islam traces the origin and development of the traditionalist-rationalist debate in Islamic societies from the early centuries to the modern era. The book examines in particular the influence of the medieval rational school of theology known as the Mu'tazila, which all but disappeared in Sunni Islam in the late Middle Ages, but which has been rediscovered by modernist Muslim intellectuals as part of their challenge against fundamentalist interpretations of Islam. The book focuses on two key texts, one dictated in Arabic towards the end of the tenth century by the late great Mu'tazili theologian, 'Abd al-Jabbar', the other written in the 1970s by the Indonesian Muslim modernist, Harun Nasution. The texts, which are translated in full, are considered both as examples of Mu'tazili thought and as documents reflecting the contexts and theological preoccupations of different historical ages. The authors conclude with an analysis of contemporary scholarly interest in the rational and critical spirit of Mu'tazilism. They consider the views of Mu'tazilism and rational theology held by key modernist Muslim thinkers and explore the implications of modernity on the continuing revelation-reason debate. Richard C. Martin is Professor and Chair in the Department of Religion Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. He specializes in Islamic Studies, Comparative Religious Studies and Religion and Conflict. Mark R. Woodwoard, an anthropologist specializing in Islam in Indonesia, is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Arizona State University. Dwi S. Atmaja is Professor of Arabic at the Islamic University of Pontianak, Indonesia.