Rational Approach to Islam

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About the Book There are gross misunderstandings about Islam among Muslims and as well as non-Muslims. There are stereotypes about Islam which have got wide currency. Some orthodox Muslims refuse to change while standing rigidly by theology, developed by the Ulema of the early period. Many extremist organizations among Muslims are giving currency to rude ideas about Islam which are not in keeping with the real teachings of Islam. The media also misrepresents Islam and projects it as if it stands for violence and suppression of human rights.

Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, an internationally known scholar of Islam approaches Islam rationally and projects Islamic teachings in its right spirit. He has taken up several issues in his essays on Islam, some of which have been collected in this volume. He rationally and objectively deals with various issues, which are of contemporary significance. Whatever he writes, he writes with force of his scholarship. In this volume he deals with issues like interfaith approach of Islam, Islam and gender justice, Islamic ethics, meaning of prayer in Islam, core teaching of Islam, Islam and concept of jihad, etc., which are all highly relevant issues.

This book will help scholars as well as lay readers to capture the real spirit of Islam and its teachings. It will help dispel misconceptions about Islam. The author has also argued forcefully that Islam is far from being an anti- diluvion religion and is as modern as any system of thought could be.

About the Author Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer is a renowned scholar and Islamic theologian. He has written more than 40 books on Islam and on communal and ethnic problems in India. He is a champion of inter-faith and communal harmony and has received several awards for his work in these fields. He was awarded Honorary D. Litt by Calcutta University for his work on communal harmony and was recipient of the first award on communal harmony. given by Foundation for Communal Harmony. set up by Government of India. Recently, he was also awarded Hakim Khan Sur National Integration Award. given by Maharana of Udaipur.

Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer is an ardent champion of reforms in his own Bohra Muslim community for which he has suffered a lot. Dr. Engineer is a rare combination of intellectual achieve ments and activism, academic excellence and commitment to action with conviction.

Preface Islam is a world religion and there are Muslims today practically in every country be they in majority or minority. There are Muslims belonging to practically every race, linguistic and ethnic group. Thus it will be seen that Islam belongs to various civilization groups and its followers actively participate in shaping the world event. Also, it is the religion of overwhelming majority of people in oil rich areas of the world, particularly in the Middle East. Thus this area becomes highly strategic for the West. This part of the world, like other parts of Asia and Africa was part of the western colonies during the nineteenth and twentieth century’s. Still the Western powers consider it highly important area to be controlled for their own interests.

Thus Islam is both respected and feared by the Western rulers. They I want to politically cultivate these Islamic countries and also fear the explosive situation there for number of reasons not to be analyzed here There are different trends among the Western scholars as far as Islam is concerned. Some view it sympathetically like Prof. John L. Esposito and others fear it like Prof Huntington Prof. Huntington developed the theory of "clash of civilizations" and says that Western Civilization and Islamic civilizations clash with each other. It is highly dubious theory based on complete misunderstanding both of Islam and of civilization.

Similarly in India too there are different trends both among scholars as well as political propagandists and theorists. Some view Islam positively and approve of its rich contribution to Indian culture and civilization. Many others, on the other hand, view it with great suspicion and think that it brought nothing but violence and conflict. These propagandists believe that Islam teaches demolition of others' religious places and the Muslim rulers demolished the temples of Hindus and converted them to Islam forcibly.

The Muslim fundamentalists too add to this by their writings and actions be they in Afghanistan, Pakistan or in India. It sends wrong message to both Muslims and non-Muslims.

**Contents and Sample Pages**