ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the diversity that exists within Islam, and the sociocultural conditions of the Islamic world. The multiple-modernities project puts the emphasis on the inclusionary dynamic of modernity, on borrowing, blending, and cross-fertilization rather than on the logic of exclusionary divergence, binary oppositions, or the clash of civilizations in an Islamic context. Before the beginning of Islam, Mecca was already centripetal to many nomadic Arabs, who came to the city for its annual pilgrimage festivals and fairs. There are many different Islamic groups within and outside these three large families' of Islamic faith. As Tayob underlines when it comes to modern Islamic writings, believers agree on certain core beliefs, but they often disagree on worship practices, on how to understand the Koran and on the paths towards religious and social development. Tayob states: Secularisation in Muslim contexts cannot be dissociated from the political dimension of colonialism and the weakness of the Muslim state in relation to European states.
