“You do not need intellectuality for deep faith. You do not need it for behaving humanely towards people whether fellow Muslims or non-Muslims. You do not need a concept, a theory, you do not need intellectual arguments for justifying a way of living that is already in place in order for it to proceed.” PeopleWayNeedsOrderTheoryIntellectualConceptsArgumentFellows Author:Talal Asad
“The notion of "humanity" as a form of transcendence derives, I think, from the conviction that intellectuality possesses an absolute power, from the demand that our best behavior depends on our ability to think abstractly, in terms of a universal rule, about something called humanity, that we need to understand humanity abstractly so that we can act responsibly towards those who represent it.” ThinkingNeedsFormHumanityTermAbilityDependsDemandBehaviorUniversalAbsolutesNotionConvictionTranscendenceAbsolute Power Author:Talal Asad
“Certainly in order to understand the natural world one needs clarity, logic, and the capacity for theory building. But that understanding tends to improve because and to the extent that it is provisional, hypothetical, when it looks for disconfirmation in the particular rather than final proof as a universal.” WorldNeedsLooksOrderUnderstandingNaturalBuildingParticularTheoryCapacityLogicUniversalFinalsProofClarityNatural WorldHypothetical Author:Talal Asad
“I think we need to think about Islamic tradition as a way of asking questions that cut across (and transgress) the assumptions of a purely secular world in which we already know how things stand for individual subjects as well as for societies.” ThinkingKnowsWorldWayNeedsWellsIndividualKnow HowCuttingSubjectsTraditionAskingAssumptionIslamicSecularAsking Questions Author:Talal Asad
