The Rise & Fall of Muslim Civil Society

• Attempts to explain the rise of Islamic fundamentalism have ranged from works which emphasize the very nature of Islam to works which emphasize poverty and underdevelopment. In his attempt to explain the rise of this phenomenon, Imady pursues a novel approach; namely, one that emphasizes institutional evolution.
• According to Imady, Islamic fundamentalism evolved from an earlier movement known as Islamic reform. The irony, as Imady illustrates, lies in the fact that this evolution was neither willed nor expected by the major proponents of Islamic reform. Rather, the institutions created by Muslim reformers took on a life of their own and were subsequently inflamed by a moral vision and a hostile government.
• In tracing the institutional activities of four major Muslim reformers, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d. 1897), Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905), Rashid Rida (d. 1935), and Hasan al-banns (d. 1949), Imady writes an account as of yet ignored by scholars of this field.
• The most important contribution of this book lies perhaps in the light it sheds on the institutional roots of organizations that sanction the use of indiscriminate violence to advance political objectives.

by Omar Imady

Omar Imady was born in 1966 to an American mother and a Syrian father. he received his doctorate in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. he is the author of A Child of Waiting (a collection of English poetry), Historicizing Damascus, and Letters to a Disciple. Imady has worked for the United Nations Development Program and has served as a consultant for a number of international organizations. Presently, he is the professor of history, humanities, and political science at NYIT in Amman, Jordan.