Religion, Orientalism and Modernity

Reviewed by: Amir Dastmalchian – Leeds, UK

Published by: Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022, x+334pp. ISBN: 978-1474451680 (hardback); ISBN: 978-1474451710 (webready PDF); ISBN: 978-1474451703 (epub).

The Ahmadiyyah (originating in South Asia) and the Babi and Baha’i faiths (originating in Iran) are three religious movements with nineteenth century origins that present an obvious opportunity for scholarly comparison. All three movements arise out of the Islamic tradition and all three movements depart from the tradition insofar as their founders have claimed a messiah-like or, more appropriately given the Islamic context, mahdi-like status. In his Religion, Orientalism and Modernity, Geoffrey Nash capitalises upon the opportunity for comparison (as have only a few before) to present a compelling study of not only the similarities and dissimilarities between these three movements but also the way that they relate themselves to modernity and the way in which they have, somewhat absurdly, adopted orientalist narratives in the expression of their own self-understandings.