Argues that Islam's cultural stasis is not due to the Muslim faith itself, but to the nature of the sacred it is infused with and that penetrates every aspect of life - spiritual and material. This book shows how the sacred in Islam suspends the acceleration of social time, hinders change, and circumvents secularization and modernity.

Preface ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1: KNOWLEDGE AND DEVELOPMENT The State of the Arab World 11 "Orientalism" and Its Adversaries Rifa'ah at-Tahtawi and the Arab Human Development Report Language and Social Lifeworlds Knowledge and Technology Freedom and Prosperity Power and Benefit Military and Politics Mehmed Ali and Gamal Abdel Nasser Ground Rent and Productivity Oil Wealth and Stasis Chapter 2: GEOPOLITICS AND RELIGIOUS ZEAL Radicalization in the Muslim East 38 Between Palestine and Kashmir Cold War and Decolonization England and Russia Gladstone and Disraeli Caliphate and Pan-Islam Kemal Pasha and Enver Pasha Hindus and Muslims Colonialism and Alienation Arabism and Islamism Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb Political Th eology and Civil War Chapter 3: TEXT AND SPEECH The Rejection of the Printing Press 69 One God, One Book Mechanical Reproduction and Profanation Consonants and Vowels Arabic and Hebrew Baruch Spinoza and Walter Benjamin Romanization and Secularization Recitation and Reading Literacy and Diglossia Fusha and Ammiya Chapter 4: RISE AND DECLINE Ottoman Perplexities in the Early Modern Period 96 Europe and Asia Ottomans and the New World Gold and Silver Piri Reis and Selim I Mamluks and Venetians ThePrice Revolution and Mercantilism Janissaries and Bureaucrats Merchants and Craftsmen Inflation and Rebellion Stasis or Crisis Mustafa Ali and Katip Celebi Chapter 5: POLITICAL POWER AND ECONOMIC BENEFIT Muslim Social Environment in the Classical Age 126 Desert and Steppe Tribute and Tax Central Power and Urban Culture Umayyads and Abbasids Mercenaries and Traders Polis and Medina "Public" and "Private" Benefices and Capital Labor and Property Time and Liturgy Ethics and Morals Sacred and Profane Chapter 6: HISTORICAL THOUGHT AND DIVINE LAW Converting Sacred into Profane Time 153 Acceleration or Deceleration Law and History Cyclical versus Linear Time Ibn Khaldun and Giambattista Vico Past Utopias and Future Worlds Islam and Judaism Leo Strauss and Moses Maimonides Dual Law and Dual Time Muhammad Asad and Moses Mendelssohn Law of the Land and Secularization Notes 181 Index of Proper Names 211

"Dan Diner's breadth of knowledge, capacity for clear and broad interpretation, and stylistic sovereignty will no doubt make this a classic in the field."—Anson Rabinbach, Princeton University"A controversial but refreshingly un-Anglo-Saxon search for answers to some outsized questions."—Michael Cook, Princeton University"Lost in the Sacred offers a broad synthesis on a key problem of the contemporary Middle East, hence of the world at large. It sets out to describe and account for a strange historical phenomenon: how is it that the Arab world so slowly changes—nay, came to some sort of a standstill? Diner handles the best sources and secondary literature with great skill and literary talent."—Rémi Brague, author of The Law of God

Dan Diner's breadth of knowledge, capacity for clear and broad interpretation, and stylistic sovereignty will no doubt make this a classic in the field. -- Anson Rabinbach, Princeton University A controversial but refreshingly un-Anglo-Saxon search for answers to some outsized questions. -- Michael Cook, Princeton University Lost in the Sacred offers a broad synthesis on a key problem of the contemporary Middle East, hence of the world at large. It sets out to describe and account for a strange historical phenomenon: how is it that the Arab world so slowly changes--nay, came to some sort of a standstill? Diner handles the best sources and secondary literature with great skill and literary talent. -- Remi Brague, author of "The Law of God"