Samira Haj conceptualizes Islam through a close reading of the writings of Muhammad ibn 'Abdul Wahhab (1703-87) and Muhammad 'Abduh (1849-1905)-each of whom is representative of a distinct trend, chronologically as well as philosophically, in the constitution of modern Islam.

Samira Haj conceptualizes Islam through a close reading of two Muslim reformers--Muhammad ibn 'Abdul Wahhab (1703-1787) and Muhammad 'Abduh (1849-1905)--each representative of a distinct trend, chronological as well as philosophical, in modern Islam. Their works are examined primarily through the prism of two conceptual questions: the idea of the modern and the formation of a Muslim subject. Approaching Islam through the works of these two Muslims, she illuminates aspects of Islamic modernity that have been obscured and problematizes assumptions founded on the oppositional dichotomies of...