Liberal Islam

Abstract

Reviewing anthologies is not an easy task, for they typically include a large number of articles by different authors, and in this case also on six different themes. I shall therefore not even attempt to review or summarize the individual contributions, but focus on the author's rationale and his justification for considering this particular collection as representative of liberal Islam. The issues raised by the authors in this anthology, which seek to challenge many medieval and orthodox interpretations of Islam, will certainly be familiar to most of the readers of AJISS. In this interesting book, Kurzman presents a fascinating conundrum to Muslim and orientalist scholars of Islam who seek to impose a monolithic and ahistorical character on Islam, and choose to either ignore or marginalize the continuity of difference in understanding and interpretation in the still developing corpus of Islamic thought. Kurzman presents an anthology of writings by a diverse group of contemporary Muslims that clearly demonstrate a concern for democracy, rights of women, freedom of thought, rights of minorities ...