Modernity and identity

Let us step through the portal and enter a time of great change in the Middle East.

The early 19th century to the mid-20th century saw the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of European imperialism. The intellectuals Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, Gamel Nasser, and Sayyid Qutb each had their own ideas of modernity, identity and religion during and following this period of change in the Middle East. Afghani can be seen as a central figure in Islamic modernism, where Nasser presents a revolution led from above by a socialist and secular state as an answer to modernity and how to organize state and society. Qutb gradually shifted from abandoning religious traditions and moving away from the past to actively embracing a progressive interpretation of religion as a solution to the issue of modernization and modernity.

Click on the longread to learn more about how these intellectuals, each in their own way, modified Western ideas of modernity to suit Middle Eastern needs.