Maxime Rodinson's interview on Islam, fundamentalism and the West - September 28, 2001
Maxime Rodinson (1915-2004) was one of the greatest Western scholars of Islam. A French Marxist historian, sociologist and orientalist; he was the son of a Russian-Polish clothing trader and his wife, who both died in the Auschwitz concentration camp. His study of the Arab world was strongly influenced by Marxism, and he described himself as having been a communist for 20 years. This post carries the text of the interview given by him two weeks after the WTC attacks of 9/11
Rodinson was interviewed by Gilbert Achcar in 1986, who said of him:
Rodinson was interviewed by Gilbert Achcar in 1986, who said of him:
His
relationship to Marx is furthermore the source of the great variety of themes
and focuses that characterizes his writings. For this reason his work cannot be
pigeonholed in the category of Islamic studies alone. His theoretical
contributions, in permanent dialogue with a Marxian inspiration that he never
renounced, in fact cover broader reaches of historical and sociological
research than the Islamic world alone. The Arab-Israeli conflict was an equally
important dimension of Rodinson’s work. His article “Israël, fait colonial?”
(“Israel: a colonial reality?”), published in the special issue of Les
Temps Modernes devoted to the debate sparked by the June 1967 war, was an
essential contribution to defining a critique of Zionism from the left. [2] This same Marxist
inspiration colors Rodinson’s reflections on Islamic fundamentalism in their
entirety: not only in his analytical approach, which is both fundamentally
“materialist” and comparative, but also in his political attitude. His
understanding (in the deepest sense of the word) of the sources of the
resurgence of fundamentalism as a political-religious ideology did not lead
him, thoroughly anti-clerical atheist that he was, to have the least sympathy
for it. [3] The Achcar interview of 1986 may be read here
This important interview was given to the newspaper Le Figaro on September 28, 2001, two weeks after the World Trade Center attacks. It is significant for its reflections on Islamist fundamentalism & extremist ideologies. It appears as an epilogue to the 2002 edition of his biography of Muhammad that first appeared in 1961.
Le Figaro: Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, many commentators wondered whether Islam and the West were incompatible. What is your analysis?
MR – That’s an old notion, a notion revived by recent events. But to put it that way is to pose the question badly. What is Islam? What is the West? Islam is a world of very different ways of thinking, that are sometimes even in conflict with each other.. download the PDF here
Also see
This important interview was given to the newspaper Le Figaro on September 28, 2001, two weeks after the World Trade Center attacks. It is significant for its reflections on Islamist fundamentalism & extremist ideologies. It appears as an epilogue to the 2002 edition of his biography of Muhammad that first appeared in 1961.
Le Figaro: Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, many commentators wondered whether Islam and the West were incompatible. What is your analysis?
MR – That’s an old notion, a notion revived by recent events. But to put it that way is to pose the question badly. What is Islam? What is the West? Islam is a world of very different ways of thinking, that are sometimes even in conflict with each other.. download the PDF here
Also see
Maxime Rodinson - An Unpublished Interview with Gilbert Achcar
Abhiruchi Ranjan and Chitra Adkar - Phobia of 'Islamophobia': death sentence for debate in JNU
Janet Afary & Kevin B. Anderson: Revisiting Foucault and the Iranian RevolutionAbhiruchi Ranjan and Chitra Adkar - Phobia of 'Islamophobia': death sentence for debate in JNU
सत्य की हत्या
The Broken Middle (on the 30th anniversary of 1984)
The religious persecution of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (1945-2010)/ Interview: My life fighting intolerance/ Mahmoud Mohammed Taha & the Second Message of Islam
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd's Legacy (Library of writings)
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd's Legacy (Library of writings)
Mahmoud Mohammed Taha was a Sudanese religious thinker and leader executed for apostasy at the age of 76 by the regime of Gaafar Nimeiry. (See his Court statement)
