Islam, Critique, and the Canon: A Takhayyul Discussion Panel

Islam, Critique, and the Canon is an attempt to unsettle the scholarly gaze on the Islamic by questioning what is perceived and treated as such by bringing the notions of canon and critique into the conversation at theoretical and epistemological levels. The collection of articles in this newly released special issue joins a stream of thought and pushes the boundaries of existing scholarship through a reconsideration of what constitutes ‘the Islamic,’ with a particular focus on non-western lineages of critique and affective rather than rationalist registers of Islamic politics. The main question thus emerges: Where do we locate the critique in Islam and in the studies of Islamic societies?

Co-editors Sertaç Sehlikoglu and Mashuq Kurt join fellow author Humeira Iqtidar to discuss the release of their new special issue, exploring the formation and evolution of the populist Islamist canon, including the imaginaries they produce and the contours of the critique they generate.

Dr Sertaç Sehlikoglu is a social anthropologist, Associate Professor at UCL’s Institute of Global Prosperity, and the Principle Investigator for the ERC-funded Takhayyul Project. Her work focuses on intangible aspects of human subjectivity that enable humans to change and transform social life.

Dr Mashuq Kurt is a lecturer in Sociology in the Department of Law and Criminology at Royal Holloway, University of London. His research lies at the intersection of political sociology and anthropology of religion, specifically focusing on Turkey and Kurds.

Professor Humeira Iqtidar is a Professor in the Department of Political Economy at King’s College London. Her research brings together postcolonial theory, comparative political theory and Islamic thought with a focus on modern South Asia.

An access guide to Room B05, Darwin Building can be found on AccessAble.

TAKHAYYUL is a collaborative research project that will ethnographically excavate the imaginative forces in the formation of populist religious aspirations in the interconnected geographies recently coined as the Balkan-to-Bengal complex - namely the Balkans, the Middle East, and South Asia.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

UCL Darwin Building, Gower Street, London, United Kingdom