{Scholarship and Fundamentalism}[15th September 1990]

[Redbook7:296-297][19900915:1747]{Scholarship and Fundamentalism}[15th September 1990]

.1747

‘... In Dr Akhtar’s view, democracy relies on fooling “most of the people all of the time”. From his use of the phrase, one might have thought that “objective scholarship” and Islamic fundamentalism were the most natural of bedfellows.’*

It may seem odd that in C[ircles] A[nalysis &] S[ynthesis] Faith (and thus Fundamentalism) and Scholarship are so close together.

I think the answer is that Faith in the fundamentalist context is essentially O[uter] C[ircle], a matter of willed (outward) action; whereas scholarship (despite the fact that analysis is not only a right semicircle attribute but an O[uter] C[ircle] process) is essentially I[nner] C[ircle], a matter of inward action and harmony.

There are, of course, immense overlaps: for example, ** that the use of reason requires faith in the ultimate assumptions to which it is applied.

*– [The] Ind[ependent] 19900915:15. ‘Holding the liberal tradition in contempt{’}, Andrew King, (writing on Dr. Shabbir Akhtar’s earlier ‘Faith & Reason’ piece).

**(ref [] earlier [Vols])

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