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Islam Obscured: The Rhetoric
of Anthropological Representation is a collection of essays
critiquing the representation of Islam within four widely read
sociological and anthropological texts: Clifford Geertz,
Islam Observed, 1968, Chicago; Ernest
Gellner, Muslim Society, 1981,
Cambridge; Akbar Ahmed Discovering Islam,
1988, London; and Fatima Mernissi, Beyond the
Veil, 1987, Bloomington. The focus on these texts reflects
their canonical status and their broad appeal which – as Varisco
notes – has seen many of their key ideas slip into introductory
works of anthropology relatively unscrutinized. Arguably, Varisco’s
work aims to be equally seminal, in that it represents itself as a
step beyond these canons, as well as similarly addressing a broad
community of readers with an educated interest in Islamic Studies.
Where it differs is in its attempt to sweep away representations of
a single, organic ‘Islam’, which Varisco argues is endemic to all of
the above four texts, in preference for a growing body of
anthropological fieldwork which speak of a diversity of “islams”.
Varisco’s discourse analysis views the texts under investigation as
in the main writerly, exploring the cogency of claims, the veracity
of evidence and the plausibility of conclusions using a technique of
close reading that is witty, ruthless and at times almost exegetical
in its intensity. His standard bearers are primarily
anthropologists, most notably Abdel Hamid el-Zein (1934-1979), who
contemplated whether “a true single Islam exists at all” (Beyond
Ideology and Theology, California, 1977, p.227); and Talal
Asad, who claimed definitions of religion were fundamentally
essentialist in character, ultimately located in history and
specific realms of discourse (Genealogies of
Religion, Baltimore, 1993). The subsequent textual
interrogation tackles a rich tapestry of issues and concerns,
including gender, the politics of ethnographic authority, and
Orientalist discourse.
The critique of Geertz (Islam Observed,
1968, Chicago) by Varisco, though never disrespectful or flippant,
may shock some readers in the way it apparently bulldozes flat one
of the most widely read anthropologies of Islam, leaving it deeply
problematized and ultimately dated. But Varisco is no academic
iconoclast; rather, his objections knowingly reflect the influence
of post-structural thought on contemporary anthropology, which seem
to have passed this erstwhile classic by the way. Consequently, at
his best, Varisco artfully unpicks Geertz’s speculative idealizing,
most notably his oft-cited definition of religion, which is
cumulatively faulted as being loaded with ambiguities, conflated
terms and cultural assumptions. He also proves equally capable of
broader sweeps, dealing blows to Geertz’s meta-theories and their
flimsy anthropological foundations. On the down side, there is a
degree of overkill when Varisco tries to explain why
Islam Observed continues to rest so
comfortably on its reputation, where the old homily that ‘theories
die when their supporters do’ would have been sufficient.
Varisco’s tone is at times acerbic, but there is a taint of litmus
red in his critique of Muslim Society,
(Ernest Gellner 1981, Cambridge), which is lambasted for being
“summarily patched together” and “indignantly indifferent to
available scholarship” (p.53). Nevertheless, such tirades – which
include a tongue-in-cheek recommendation to avoid the book - do not
detract from a brilliant exposition of Gellner’s “theoretical
muddle”, which Varisco neatly exposes as being founded on a very
peculiar reading of a passage from Hume (The
Natural History of Religion, 1956 [1757], Stanford). Neither
do his spiky comments ever err into the realm of ad hominem attacks.
Rather, they are critical to locating the author Gellner, like
Geertz, within an academic community which too often lazily
represents Muslims through superficial appeals to anthropology and
other the Western academic writing.. A convincing argument is also
put forward that decontextualised references to Muslim intellectuals
frequently mask similar Orientalist presumptions. On this trail,
Varisco brings a refreshing eye to the iconic figure of Ibn Khaldun,
who is ably shrunk by an appeal to his writings rather than his
alleged popularity with Ronald Reagan’s economic advisors.
The location of Mernissi (Beyond the Veil,
1987, Bloomington) in its proper discursive realm is perhaps
Varisco’s most satisfying analysis because sufficient weight is
given to both text and context. Indeed, his mapping of the
development of a contemporary strand of Islamic gender discourse,
from the writings of the Orientalist William Muir (The
Life of Mahomet, 1861, London), through the works of Nabia
Abbot and Bint al-Shati’, to Mernissi and other pertinent writers,
could almost stand alone as an introduction to the topic. Yet within
this narrative, Varisco deftly draws out key themes which he then
brings to the final analysis, including the nature of the
relationship between sacred histories and contemporary gender
dynamics, plus the common presumptions which ultimately link
Mernissi’s discourse with Muir’s. Again, not unlike Geertz and
Gellner, it is the essentialising, in this instance of Muslim women,
the failure to support arguments with substantial empirical data and
the use of decontextualised historical texts that are the focus of
Varisco’s critique.
A similar focus is applied to Akbar Ahmed (Discovering
Islam, 1988, London), but as a prelude for confronting
Ahmed’s proposals for an Islamic Anthropology. Varisco views this
venture as being ultimately flawed, arguing that Ahmed’s
essentialising of Islam is theological and hence any proposed
Islamic anthropology would be “a handmaiden of the theologian”
(p.130), at odds with an empirical discipline founded on cultural
relativism, a belief in evolution and independence from religious
authoritarianism. Varisco’s arguments are at times one dimensional,
primarily as a result of a failure to properly contextualise his
critique within either the philosophy of social science or the
broader pursuit of Islamic academic disciplines. The consequence is
that his criticisms are on occasions clumsy and contentious, with
Varisco’s low point being a ludicrous assertion that a devout Muslim
would be unable to “pursue an objective and empirical investigation
of Muslim society” (p.132).
This comment is indicative of several problems which dog
Islam
Obscured. The most damning is Varisco’s a priori assumption
that certain belief systems predilect an empirical observer towards
greater objectivity, specifically Varisco’s own cultural
anthropology where practice is, as Varisco states so bluntly, “about
culture or it is about nothing” (p.162). Within this knowledge
system, culture is frequently an all pervading tool of social
analysis, no less so than Marx’s concept of class in Marxist
sociology and no less hegemonic. This subjugation of other knowledge
systems is evident in a number of repeated tropes, including the one
that represents anthropological data as a shining finger pointing
towards the real life of Muslims in contrast to the shadowy
half-truths imagined by idealists. Interpretation and codification
of field data are given sparse consideration in Varisco’s narrative,
and the fact that ethnography is a technique widely employed by a
range of social science disciplines is deemed irrelevant. The
problem is that Varisco fails to properly locate his own academic
perspective, or consistently acknowledge it as one amongst many.
Despite its flaws, I believe Islam Obscured capably elevates the
‘islams’ thesis from an issue of methodology to a convincing
conclusion of contemporary ethnology, and along with the burgeoning
number of ethnological studies of Muslim communities in both Muslim
majority nations and in the diaspora, has the potential to make a
significant contribution to intra-faith and interfaith dialogues.
The varied and diverse ways in which Islamic texts and beliefs
unfold within Muslim communities is now clearly supported by
empirical evidence, and the nature of this diversity arguably
demands to become a core research concern..
Yakoub Islam.
Originally published in the Muslim World Book
Review. |