About the Book

The terrorist attacks of September 11 have focused the world‘s attention on Islamic fundamentalism. We are told that we are witnessing a ‘clash of civilizations‘ between a secular, modern ‘West‘ and a backward-looking ‘Islam‘.

This short, accessible book does two things:

· It rebuts the misconceptions about Islam articulated by many European intellectuals down the centuries, which for non-Muslims still obstruct a clear understanding of both the nature of Islam and the history of Christian-Muslim interactions.

· It shows the politically motivated and theologically dubious nature of recent assertions by so-called Islamic fundamentalist movements, and contrasts them with those socially progressive Muslim thinkers who have addressed the inescapable questions thrown up for believers by the modern world.

A G Noorani provides us with an understanding of certain basic concepts needed to counteract the recent upsurge of ill-informed prejudice against Muslims, and to see through any tendency to romanticize the crude and un-Islamic brutalities of fundamentalists whom he argues are impostors misusing the faith as a political weapon.

Commendations

"A graceful and compelling attempt to show how Islam can be modern and true to its traditions. Through gentle, probing questions, Noorani offers a frank assessment of ossified traditionalism and suggests a rationally satisfying way of being Muslim in the contemporary world. His analysis echoes the disquiet many Muslims feel about fanatical fundamentalism." - Professor Ziauddin Sardar, author of ‘The Future of Muslim Civilisation and Introducing Islam‘

"A work of formidable scholarship, driven by a sincere desire to set the record straight, which he does with remarkable elan." - The Hindu

Contents

Preface
1. Introduction - ‘The Spectre of Islam‘
2. The Long March of Prejudice
3. The Meanings of Jihad and Fatwa
4. The Very Modern Roots of Islamic Fundamentalism
5. Human Rights in the Islamic Tradition
6. Ijtihad (Reason) and the Challenge of Modernity
7. Epilogue: Time for the Greater Jihad
Appendices
1: Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights
2. The Protection of Human Rights in Islamic Criminal Justice

About the Author

A.G. Noorani is a well-known Indian lawyer and political commentator. His columns appear in The Hindustan Times, Frontline, Economic and Political Weekly and Dainik Bhaskar. He is the author of a number of books including:

The Kashmir Question
Badruddin Tyabji
Ministers' Misconduct
Brezhnev's Plan for Asian Security
The Presidential System
The Trial of Bhagat Singh
Constitutional Questions in India.

His most recent book is The RSS and the BJP: A Division of Labour (LeftWord 2000). He is currently working on another book, The Kashmir Question Revisited.