“Alternative Secularism” in the Islamic World: A Study of Charles Taylor’s View of the Secularization of Islamic Societies

Alternative secularism is a version of secularism that does not seek to eliminate religion but rather embraces it as one among many alternatives. The diversity and plurality of religious, pseudo-religious, and non-religious options, both in theory and in individual and social life, give rise to a new form of secularism in today’s world and within the Islamic world. This version of secularism differs from the traditional concept, which aims to exclude religion from the social and political domains. Alternative secularism emerges through psychological and cultural processes, while classical secularism is rooted in philosophical and sometimes political processes. The question arises whether Charles Taylor’s analysis in A Secular Age can be applied to secularization developments within the Islamic world. In this article, I undertake a textual analysis of A Secular Age to explore the potential for alternative secularization in the cultural developments of the Islamic world. I highlight the distinctions between Islamic and Western approaches to secularization and enumerate the challenges facing secularization in the Islamic context. From this perspective, religion and religiosity in Islamic societies are not straightforward processes but rather complex, deeply rooted, and highly convoluted, making their secularization in individual and social dimensions exceedingly difficult and sometimes impossible.