Author Description

Review"A useful source of ideas by Muslims on current developments in the Muslim world. The book brings together many important issues that lie at the heart of Islam's encounter with modernism."--Lamin Sanneh, Yale University"This book provides a range of voices on modern Islam by presenting the views of leading Muslim thinkers of this century. The selection is quite wide and representative and therefore enables the reader to have a glimpse of the evolution of Islamic thought."--Abdin Chande, St. Mary's State Collegeof Maryland"A very useful and important work. It provides very valuable and significant information by Muslim thinkers. I commend it highly for scholars and students of Islam."--Anees Zaka, Biblical Institute for Islamic StudiesProduct DescriptionThis book contends that "Liberal Islam" is not a contradiciton in terms, but rather a thriving tradition more than a century old and undergoing a revival within the last generation. This anthology presents the translated work of 32 Muslims who are concerned with the separation of church andstate, democracy, the condiditon of women, the rights of minorities, freedom of thought, and the future of human progress. The collection will be an important resource for scholars and students of Islam, the Middle East, and international affairs, and will serve the larger purpose of redressing theimbalance in our perceptions of the Islamic world.About the AuthorCharles Kurzman, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.