CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
The term literature has been widely known by many people in the world. The term
literature is derived from Latin ‘littera’ which means letter. It refers to the written or printed
words, but literary also can be oral. According to Rhicard Taylor (1981:1), literature like the
other arts, is essentially an imaginative act, that is an act of writer’s imagination in selecting,
ordering and interpreting life experience. Literature can be treated as a document in the history of
ideas and philosophy, for literary history parallels and reflect intelectual history.
Novel is a part of fiction, which appeared in the 18th century as the further development
of Medieval romances. It is kind of prose writing which is very popular in the society. Its
complicated intrique but easy to be read is the main point for its readers to choose a reading in
their leisure time. According to Richard Taylor (1981:46), a novel is normally a prose work of
quite some length and complecity which attempts to reflect and express something of the
equality value of human experience or conduct. A novel is considered as literary work. In
Dictionary of Etimology, the Origins of American English Words by Robert K. Barnhart (1995), the word ‘novel’ itself comes from Latin ‘novella’ which means something new. Ian Watt in his
book The Rise of the Novel (1995) describes the background of the rise of the novel. In the 18th
century some English writers tried to create literary works that did not follow the traditional
The Taqwacores is a novel written by Michael Muhammad Knight in 2003. In this thesis, the writer is going to analyze this novel, which presents story of a Muslim punk house in
Buffalo, New York, inhabited by burqa-wearing riot girls, mohawked Sufis, straightedge Sunnis,
Shi’a skinheads, Indonesian skaters, Sudanese rude boys, gay Muslims, drunk Muslims, and
feminists. Their living room is often used to hold parties and prays, with a hole smashed in the
wall to indicate the direction of Mecca (kiblah). Their life together mixes sex, dope, and religion
in roughly equal amounts, expressed in devotion to an Islamic-punk subculture, ‘taqwacore,’
named for taqwa, an Arabic term for consciousness of the divine.
The taqwacores is story about Yusef, a first-generation Pakistani engineering student who moves to campus with a group of Muslim punks in Buffalo, New York. His new "un-orthodox"
house mates introduce him to Taqwacore. As the seasons change, Taqwacore influences the
house more and more. The living room used as a place to pray during the day, and a place to hold
a party at night. Ultimately, Yusef is influenced by Taqwacore too, as he begins to challenge his
own faith and ideologies. The Taqwacores deals with the complexities of being young and
Muslim in modern-day America.
The central conflict of the novel is the clash between these differences take on Islam. One
side of this is represented by Jehangir, Rabeya, Fasiq, Muzammil, their friends, and later the
taqwacore bands, who know that in many different ways they are outsiders to Islam, but have
developed their own philosophies on the subject. The contrasting perspective is provided by
Umar, Yusef’s own doubts about his religion, the occasional appearance or mention of parents
and traditional imams (leaders of the prayer; possibly the closest Islam has to religious leaders),
The conflict and philosophies of the novel are more simply defined as inclusiveness
versus exclusiveness. Umar, Bilal’s Boulder, and the more traditional values they espouse, reject
what they see as characteristic of kufr (an unbeliever or atheist), homosexuality, drink, drugs,
sex, failure to observe certain traditions, and so on. They demand a specific adherence to Islamic
teachings.
Michael Muhammad Knight born in 1977 is an American novelist, essayist, and
journalist. His writings mostly talk about elements of islamic liberalism. Islamic liberalism is
reflected in the characters of his last novel The Taqwacores. Specialist in Islamic studies at
University of North Carolina, called The Taqwacores as "Catcher in the Rye for young
Muslims”. The novel has been taught in courses at Kenyon College, Vassar College, University
of Arkansas-Fayetteville, Trinity College, Sarah Lawrence College, Canisius College, Indiana
University, and the Ohio State University.
In Charles Kurzman’s book Liberal Islam (1998:1), Liberal Islam may sound like a
contradiction in terms. For centuries, the west has identified islam with its most exotic elements.
But, Kurzman also does not explain in detail what is meant by a liberal Islam. Adian Husaini and
Nuim Hidayat in their book, Islam Liberal : Sejarah, Konsepsi, Penyimpangan, dan Jawabannya
(2002:3) state :
“....islam liberal sebenarnya "tidak beda" dengan gagasan islam yang dikembangkan Nurcholish Madjid dan kelompoknya. Yaitu, kelompok islam yang tidak setuju dengan pemberlakuan syariat islam (secara formal oleh negara), kelompok getol yang memperjuangkan sekularisasi, emansipasi wanita, menyamakan agama islam dengan agama lain (pluralisme teologis), dan memperjuangkan demokrasi Barat”
state), the industrious group who fight for secularization, emancipation of women, theological pluralism, and fighting for the Western democracies.”
In this research, some terminologies which are related to the title, are explained by giving
precise definition and interpretation. It helps to avoid misunderstandings and ambiguities. It is
also expected to assist the writer in analyzing of the problems that have been determined in this
thesis. This analysis is related to the current times, especially in the fields of philosophy, science,
art and culture. Humans are not satisfied with the progress of science and the way of modern
thinking. Modernism is considered obsolete and should be replaced with a new paradigm called
postmodernism. Postmodernism allows humans to live more freely. Postmodernism is closely
related to the sociology of literature, sociological approach greatly considered in the era of
postmodernism. Basic of philosophical sociological approach is the intrinsic relationship
between literature and society.
In the final decades of the twentieth century and even into the new millennium, the term
"postmodern" has appeared to be more casually bandied about than carefully defined. For some it
is a mere 'moment', while for others it is a more general 'condition'. Some denigrates it to just a
'style'; still others elevates it to a historical 'period'. Literature, the visual arts (especially
photography), dance, film, theatre and music (classical and popular) all define their own
postmodernism, as do philosophy, sociology, historiography, psycoanalysis and theology. This
moves from the realm of the arts into what the French call the "human sciences" is inevitable,
given the very close connections between theory and practice in the postmodern. As we shall see,
the impulse of postmodern art both to exploit and then to undermine the conventions upon which
it is depended from formalism (or a concern for artistic form) to mimesis (with a focus on the
imitation of nature or life) is matched by the urge of poststructuralist theory to call attention to
or even human identity. Art and theory clearly have overlapping concerns an at least one
common method of operation: that is, looking for and then exposing contradictions in what
appeared at first to be totally unproblematic, coherent and unified whole. In a sense, the
conflation of theory and practice came about because of shared responses to common
provocations.
The way of Michael Muhammad Knight applies the islamic liberalism in this novel
through the characters fascinated the writer to do a research. In this thesis, the writer wants to
conduct an analysis of how the islamic liberalism is reflected in the characters of the novel The
Taqwacores. This topic is important to be discussed, because it is a new issue in literary work that contained religious teaching, especially about islamic liberalism. The community in this
novel, practise islamic teaching but not the real ones. The deviation of religious teachings
contained in this novel interests the writer want to analyze the characteristics of islamic
liberalism. The writer uses the Hermeneutical Interpretation theory in doing the analysis. One of
the most popular proposers of this theory is Gadamer. Reveal, explain, and translate is the system
of analysis in hermeneutics. Therefore literary criticism also applies this theory as a guide to
analyze literary works.
1.2. Problem of the Study
It is important to make the specification of problems which are going to be analyzed. It
helps to avoid the ambiguity of the analysis and get the clear description about the object of the
analysis itself. So in this thesis the writer decides some problems that will be analyzed.
1. What are the characteristics of islamic liberalism which reflected in Michael Muhammad
Knight’s The Taqwacores ?
2. How is the life of the community with the ideology in Michael Muhammad Knight’s The
Taqwacores ?
1.3. Objective of the Study
The objectives of the study are to answer the questions or the problems of the study.
Therefore, the objectives of this thesis are:
1. To describe the characteristics of islamic liberalism which reflected in Michael
Muhammad Knight’s The Taqwacores.
2. To describe the lives of the community with the ideology in Michael Muhammad
Knight’s The Taqwacores.
1.4. Scope of the Study
Generally, Islamic Liberalism can also be found in many fields of knowledge as
philosophy, literary works, religion, and science. In order to avoid wider analysis, the writer will
focus on Islamic Liberalism in literary works, especially in characters of a novel. In this thesis,
the writer would like to analyze the characteristics of islamic liberalism which reflected in The
Taqwacores by Michael Muhammad Knight. The writer will only focus the analysis on two characteristics of Islamic Liberalism, they are : Believing that truth is relative, open for
1.5. Significance of the Study
This study is expected to provide some significances for the reader as it hopefully can be
used :
1. To contribute reading material or information about islamic liberalism particularly for
students who are interested with the same subject.
2. To enrich the knowledge in literary study especially about Michael Muhammad
Knight’s work.
1.6. Method of the Study
The writer uses the library research and the descriptive method. Library research means
the data analysis are based on books or references that are related to the study of literary works in
terms of novel and the characteristics of Islamic Liberalism. Descriptive method is a method of
analysis by describing and analyzing the data and then giving interpretation and explanation.
However, to support the analysis, the writer has to collect some other sources as the
references. There are some steps in preparing this thesis. First, the writer reads the novel over
and over. Then the writer gets down some relevant lines which are related to the problems and
present them in a form of quotation as the data.
1.7. Review of Literature
In supporting the idea of this analysis, some relevant books and thesis have been
collected. All these books have given contribution in writing this thesis. Some definitions,
opinions, and findings from relevant books and thesis are quoted as follows:
to the book, there are two approaches in analyzing literary works; they are intrinsic and
extrinsic approach. Intrinsic approach emphasizes its analysis on texts of literary works,
while on the other hand, extrinsic approach related to the literary works and the other
subjects such as biography, philosophy, sociology, etc. This book also explains about
idea that related to the topic.
2. Literature: An Introducing to Reading and Writing (1955, Fourth Edition) by Edgar Roberts and Henry E. Jacob. This book is about kinds of literature. The book also helps
the writer how to read and write this thesis well.
3. Liberal Islam : A Sourcebook (1998) by Charles Kurzman. This book discusses about the islamic liberalism. From the book the writer knows more about islamic liberalism.
4. Islam Liberal : Sejarah, Konsepsi, Penyimpangan, dan Jawabannya (2002) by Adian Husaini M.A. and Nuim Hidayat. This book contains all about Islamic liberalism. It helps
the writer how to understand more about islamic liberalism.
5. Islam Liberal 101 (2010) by Akmal Sjafril. This book is about kinds of Islamic liberalism and its development. It helps the writer to understand about islamic liberalism and its
characteristics.
6. The Routledge Companion To Critical Theory (2006) by Simon Malpas and Paul Wake. This book is about critical theory. It helps me to understand about postmodernism.
7. The Taqwacores (2004) by Michael Muhammad Knight. This novel is the main object of this thesis. Toward this novel Knight portray the Liberalism in Islam. This novel is the
main source of data.
the author explains how to analyze plot, character, setting, point of view, style and theme
