Why is it that aggression in the name of God shocks secular liberal sensibilities, whereas the act of killing in the name of the secular nation, or o…

- Talal Asad

The propensity to intellectualize is itself both essential and dangerous. I think in our modern world we are much more aware of its essential charact…

- Talal Asad

Agency has become a catch word. In a way, this intoxication with ‘agency’ is the product of liberal individualism. The ability of individuals to fash…

- Talal Asad

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…

- Talal Asad

To behave "humanely" it is perfectly possible to do without the notion of "humanity."

- Talal Asad

I do not think there is such a thing as a "clash of civilizations." When I say that Muslims as Muslims cannot be represented in the West, I was being…

- 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, w…

- 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 wo…

- Talal Asad

I'm not criticizing how people experience what they might call spirituality. I am interested in looking critically at something else - at how people …

- Talal Asad