Islamic myths and collective memory are very much alive in today s localized struggles for identity, and are deployed in the ongoing construction of worldwide cultural networks. This book brings the theoretical perspectives of myth-making and collective memory to the study of Islam and globalization and to the study of the place of the mass media in the contemporary Islamic resurgence. It explores the annulment of spatial and temporal distance by globalization and by the communications revolution underlying it, and how this has affected the cherished myths and memories of the Muslim...

Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi (1855-1902) was one of the most articulate and original proponents of the reformist ideas underlying modern Islamic thought, as well as an early precursor of Arab nationalism. A journalist, political activist and author, he fiercely resisted arbitrary government, exploitation of the poor, and ulama and Sufis who supported the absolutist rule. Adhering to the reformist ideal of a return to the scriptures and the model of the ancestors (salaf) as a way to free Islam from the shackles of tradition and accommodate it to modernity, he suggested as remedy to these ills a...

Islamic myths and collective memory are very much alive in today s localized struggles for identity, and are deployed in the ongoing construction of worldwide cultural networks. This book brings the theoretical perspectives of myth-making and collective memory to the study of Islam and globalization and to the study of the place of the mass media in the contemporary Islamic resurgence. It explores the annulment of spatial and temporal distance by globalization and by the communications revolution underlying it, and how this has affected the cherished myths and memories of the Muslim...