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Taking Back Islam: American Muslims Reclaim Their Faith
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Product Description
Leading authorities discuss the past, present and future of Islam.
Islam, the least understood of the world's great religions, is balanced on a precipice between the past and the future, between fanatical fundamentalists and progressives advocating peace. Noted Islamic authority Michael Wolfe moderates 35 expert speakers, writers and leaders, including Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) and Karen Armstrong, the best-selling author of A History of God and Islam. They discuss the future of Islam, tear down false stereotypes, review the historical realities that have shaped the religion, and examine paradoxes and schisms within the faith.
At a time when every Muslim is forced to defend his faith and Americans are curious about Islam's basic tenets, this book answers many questions at the same time that it ponders both the danger and promise of the future.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1756950 in Books
- Published on: 2004-08-16
- Original language: English
- Binding: Paperback
- 256 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This intelligent, thoughtful collection of writings from dozens of contributors is the thinking person's guide to Islam in a post-9/11 America. It is only fitting that a major world religion be represented by multiple voices. Wolfe (One Thousand Roads to Mecca) gathers excerpts from postings to the Beliefnet Web site, as well as brief essays from established authorities such as Karen Armstrong, practitioners like Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) and new voices such as Asma Hasan and Aasma Khan. Some writers describe specific organizations they have founded to foster interfaith communication and human rights. With only a few exceptions, they do not write as apologists, but willingly grapple with the complexities and paradoxes of Islam. The book works well for both Muslim and non-Muslim readers. It is both an exploration of contemporary Islam (Has it been hijacked by extremists? Is it violent? Can Islamic states be democratic?) and a call for Muslims to reclaim their faith by mobilizing the moderate, seemingly silent, majority. There are also short personal essays about various aspects of Muslim life (art, humor, conversion, pilgrimage and more) that stand as small windows into daily practice. These American Muslims and Islamic scholars are devoted to the faith, but passionate about finding ways for Islam to divest itself of its associations with violent terrorism and sexism. It is an eye-opening survey of the minds and passions of progressive Muslims in the United States and offers hope for greater interfaith understanding.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Inside Flap
Islam is not the only world religion to undergo a period of reexamination in its history, but now seems to be Islam's time. Why now? September 11 is the obvious reason, but even before that tragic event, Islam--one of the world's fastest growing religions--was approaching a crisis. Much of the Islamic leadership in the Arab world had become set on two destructive dichotomies: 1) either with or against the Palestinians on the eradication of a Jewish state, and 2) either a holy warrior or an infidel in the worldwide jihad.
With these extreme positions driving large segments of the faith, and questioning them becoming risky, the true beauty of Islam was becoming overshadowed by radicals more interested in power politics than in faith, practice, and tradition. Though most Muslims continued to focus on the five pillars--testimony of their faith, prayer, support for the needy, fasting, and pilgrimage--many others became set on destruction.
Taking Back Islam is a bold collection of voices in the vanguard of the faith, voices of men and women who remain devout and utterly convinced of Islam's power to help create a just, ordered, and beautiful world but who are also unafraid to be critical of those who would distort Islam for violent or political ends. Many of these writers are American Muslims who benefit from a commitment to democratic pluralism as well as a commitment to Islam.
"I believe in Allah and America," writes Arsalan Tariq Iftikhar. "The Qur'an has a radical message of tolerance," says Kabir Helminski. "American Muslims have a special obligation," according to Ingrid Mattson. "American Muslims suspect that Islam's 'traditional lands' have less to teach us than they claim," writes Michael Wolfe.
The unique nature and strength of these voices, fueled by a strong desire to tap the best traditions within Islam, offer hope for rescuing a faith that has been injured from within by extremists and demonized from without by Western culture.
From the Back Cover
"September 11 forced a reckoning of sorts, and it has led us to be more self-reliant. When any religion is new to a place, as Islam is new to America, the tendency to take one's cues from the Motherland is strong, wherever that Motherland is perceived to be. And then there comes a moment to grow up. For many American Muslims, that moment arrived in the weeks following September 11.
"This is a book by forward-looking Muslims-- in love with Islam, proud of Islam, and confident enough in its strength to believe that it can stand up to honest introspection. 'Speak the truth,' Muhammad said, 'even if it hurts you.' A sometimes painful struggle, nothing less than a faith in search of its soul, informs this book."--Michael Wolfe
Is it possible that the seeds of Islamic renewal are being sown in the West? Are there ways that American Muslims, combining a commitment to democratic pluralism with their faith, have the opportunity to energize Islam globally? What does this Islam look like?
In Taking Back Islam, notable figures such as Karen Armstrong, Hakeem Olajuwon, Ingrid Mattson, Kabir Helminski, and Arsalan Tariq Iftikhar take on the big questions, such as Islam's views on violence, women, democracy, and other faiths. It gathers the voices of Muslims who are faithfully practicing a brand of Islam in defiance of extremists within the faith and critics outside of it. Here are the voices of the future of Islam.
People of all faiths, and those of none, must hear these voices and understand them in order to truly comprehend the state of the world today.
