Title: The Islamic Secular with Dr. Sherman Jackson

In his latest book, Dr. Sherman Jackson contends that the basic point of the secular in the modern West is to “liberate” certain pursuits–the state, the economy, science–from the authority of religion. This is also assumed to be the goal and meaning of “secular” in Islam. Dr. Jackson asserts, however, that that assumption is wrong and conclusively demonstrates this point through extensive historical and scholarly analysis. Furthermore, Dr. Jackson argues that, as opposed to the key roles secularization plays in the Western secular, the Islamic Secular is a complement to religion: in effect, a “religious secular.” Nowhere, Dr. Jackson demonstrates, are the practical implications of this more impactful than in Islam’s relationship with the modern state. Join Dr. Sherman Jackson and moderator Dr. Nader Hashemi for a discussion on Dr. Jackson’s latest book, The Islamic Secular (2024), and how the authentic conception of the Islamic Secular impacts the relationship between Islam and the modern state.