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Islam Without Extremes

A Muslim Case for Liberty

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Islam Without Extremes

By: Mustafa Akyol
Narrated by: Bill Hensel
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About this listen

A provocative manifesto for an interpretation of Islam that synthesizes liberal ideas and respect for the Islamic tradition.

From furious reactions to the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad to the suppression of women, news from the Muslim world begs the question: is Islam incompatible with freedom? With an eye sympathetic to Western liberalism and Islamic theology, Mustafa Akyol traces the ideological and historical roots of political Islam.

The years following Muhammad's passing in 632 AD saw an intellectual "war of ideas" rage between rationalist, flexible schools of Islam and the more dogmatic, rigid ones. The traditionalist school won out, fostering perceptions of Islam as antithetical to modernity. However, through his careful reexamination of the currents of Muslim thought, Akyol discovers a flourishing of liberalism in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire and the unique "Islamo-liberal synthesis" of present-day Turkey. Only by accepting a secular state, he powerfully asserts, can Islamic societies thrive.

Persuasive and inspiring, Islam Without Extremes offers a desperately needed intellectual basis for the reconcilability of Islam and religious, political, economic, and social freedoms.

©2011 Mustafa Akyol (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
Islam Political Science Politics & Government Ottoman Empire Imperialism War Refugee Crusade

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fantastic and eye opening read

with so much islamophobia going on around the world it's easy to be swept up in it. in this book Mustafa, highlights how the core teachings of Islam (from within the Quranic text) has often been misinterpreted and changed to include the cultural, political and social norms and trends over time. Some things, even the most conservative Muslims will be surprised to find, are based on surviving cultural and tribal standards rather than Quranic guidance.

for non followers of Islam, this book offers an insight into why many modern muslims are actually in opposition to the strict and extremist approaches taken by 'Islamic leaders' and how it hinders the liberties that were once synonymous with the religion. it also encourages further research into the topic of Islam in an attempt to better establish the difference between Islam and Islamism/radical islam.

a fantastic read!

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