Ummah or Nation Identity Crisis in Contemporary Muslim Society By Abdullah al-Ahsan. Leicester, UK: The Islamic Foundation, 1992/1413, 158 pp.

Abstract

The interaction of societies and worldviews is one of the great themes
of modem world history. Abdullah al-Ahsan makes an important contribution
to the explanation and W1derstanding of these interactions in the
context of the Islamic world. In particular, he concentrates on the issues
of ultimate sociopolitical identity and how it is affected by the attitudes
and beliefs of modem Muslims: the dual loyalty to "nation" and to the
greater Islamic commnity (ummah).
This book opens with a discussion of the term "um.mah" and its conceptual
development in Islamic history. Then it addresses the develop­
ment of nationalism in the modem world, particularly during the colonial
era in Turkey, Egypt, and South Asia, and leading to "the identity crisis
of the modem Muslim." Al-Ahsan concludes with a discussion of contemporary
transnational Muslim organizations, giving special attention to the
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which he describes as both
a potentially ummatic entity and an organization of nation-states.
"The problematic relationship between European secular thought and
traditional Islamic ideas has created an identity crisis in contemporary
Muslim society" (p. 145), al-Ahsan says. This is not just a matter of the
coexistence of different identities within an individual or group, which is
natural; rather it involves defining a Muslim's "supreme loyalty." For
such a loyalty to be successful it should "be strong enough to generate a
sense of unity among its adherents and at the same time be flexible
enough to accommodate other identities within its fold" (p. 146). This is
a matter of individual identity and "an adherent should have the freedom ...