“I think the approach to Islam as a tradition is helpful. Tradition helps us to focus on questions about authority and temporality, and about the language used in relation to the two.” ThinkingTwoHelpingUsedLanguageFocusAuthorityApproachTraditionRelationIslamHelpfulTemporality 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
“Tradition is not something a man can learn; not a thread he picks up when he feels like it; any more than a man can choose his own ancestors. Someone lacking a tradition who would like to have one is like a man unhappily in love.” MenFeelsPicksTraditionAncestorThreadLacking Author:Talal Asad
“Tradition is an aspiration to connect the Self with the Other. One "internalizes" the Other as one acquires a sense of what one's own tradition is, what one belongs to and what gives valid shape to one's life.” GivingSelfShapesTraditionAspirationAcquire Author:Talal Asad
