Between Modernity and Post-Modernity

Abstract

Kazuo Shimogaki 's working paper, number fourteen in the IMES series, is a critical essay of The Islamic Left, a so-far one-time-only privately produced journal. Three of its five articles are written by Hasan Hanafi, a professor at Cairo University, and a summary/translation of Hanafi's first and most important article. The essay itself abounds in grammatical and typographical errors, while the swnmary/translation is done very well. There is enough evidence that Shimogaki has a sharp mind, and I anticipate eagerly future works. Unfortunately, Shimogaki 's subject matter is not very enlightening, even though many reasons are given for the study of The Islamic Left. Hanafi is located firmly in a reformist tradition with al Afghani and • Abduh. He has all the prejudices of an Egyptian Arab, 1 indulges in endless analyses of the "reality" of the Muslim world (with the smug conviction that his gaze is universal), revels in a knee-jerk hatred of Sufism,2 and makes his case for technological boosterism. He also takes for granted the "backwardness" of the Muslim world, as if the prime accomplishment of western civilization (which is the creation of nuclear weaponry-what else has engaged the wealth and brain power of the United States as much?) was bungled by Islamic civilization. Shimogaki attempts to reform Hanafi in light of postmodernity, but his own understanding of postmodernity is sketchy (in other words, very postmodern). Seeing postmodemity teleologically, Shimogaki writes that Hanafi "has not yet reached the newest thought movement in the West, ...