The Renewal of Islam: An Oxford academic's antidote to bigoted narratives

The Renewal of Islam: An Oxford academic's antidote to bigoted narratives Submitted by Imran Mulla on Thu, 05/21/2026 - 15:42 Fitzroy Morrissey's new book is an honest and scrupulous history of modern Islamic thought The Sher-Dor Madrassah in Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (AFP) Off Last weekend the far-right agitator Tommy Robinson led a rally in central London to claim that white Britons are under threat. Robinson has long maintained that Muslims are invading Europe, that Islam is incompatible with the west and that any attempt to challenge talk of a Muslim takeover is an attack on freedom of speech. Many agree with him. Nigel Farage's Reform UK, Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives and sections of the British media pump out anti-Muslim narratives.  Their analysis is informed by ignorance and sustained by lies and conspiracy theories. Neither Farage nor Badenoch is renowned for their religious literacy. They would struggle, if challenged, to articulate a coherent definition of Islamism. But mainstream British discourse on Islam is on their side. Enter the Oxford academic Fitzroy Morrissey.  His new book, The Renewal of Islam: Thinkers and Believers of the Modern Era , is an accessible history of modern Islamic thought, and antidote to the ignorance and bigotry that dominates public debate. The Renewal of Islam refers to the Arabic word “tajdid”, meaning attempts at renewing the faith.  The Prophet Muhammad told his companions that at the start of each century God would send a “mujaddid”, a renewer. And so we are introduced to Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi, a scholar in Ottoman Damascus in the late 16th century.  He attacked the puritans of t...

Original source: Middle East Eye