Protean View

This episode of Protean View features Sherman Jackson on the subject of his new book, The Islamic Secular (OUP, 2024).

Jackson’s central claim in the book is that Islam has its own version of the secular, distinct from other common understandings and applications in both Western scholarly and quotidian discourses. His book represents an attempt to theorize this form of the secular in conversation with a range of recent works in Islamic studies, philosophy, religious studies, anthropology, political theory, and secular studies.

The conversation focuses on the theoretical foundations of Jackson's argument, especially the meaning, coherence, and tenability of a so-called religious secular. Jackson also discusses how his views compare and contrast with those of other theorists wrestling with similar questions, including Rushain Abbasi, Wael Hallaq, Shahab Ahmad, and others.

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This episode of Protean View features Salman Sayyid, a leading scholar in Critical Muslim Studies and Professor of Social Theory & Decolonial Thought at the University of Leeds.

Sayyid addresses a range of relevant topics, including the “Muslim question,” the intersections of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, the genocide in Palestine, and the complex relationship between Islam and the state. He also shares his insights on the concept of defeat and the nature of resistance in its aftermath.

This wide-ranging conversation offers a deep and unflinching look at some of the most important questions shaping contemporary Muslim experiences and global politics.

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Our first episode of Protean View features Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, a political theorist and professor of modern culture and media at Brown University. She discusses her latest book, The Jewelers of the Ummah: A Potential History of the Jewish Muslim World (Verso, 2024), which examines how French colonialism in the Maghreb and Zionist colonization in Palestine effaced a vibrant “Jewish Muslim world.”

Azoulay explores the history of Jews and their integral place within the Muslim ummah by focusing on the forgotten legacy of Algeria’s Jewish jewelers. She also shares her personal journey of embracing her identities as a Palestinian Jew, Algerian Jew, and Muslim Jew, and offers a powerful challenge to the boundaries of modern national and political identity.

If you enjoyed this episode and want more from Protean View, including exclusive content, please follow and support us on ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠.

Follow us on ⁠⁠X⁠ and ⁠⁠Bluesky⁠ and visit our ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ for the latest.