In the face of Islam's own internal struggles, it is not easy to see who we should support and how. This report provides detailed descriptions of subgroups, their stands on various issues, and what those stands may mean for the West. Since the outcomes can matter greatly to international community, that community might wish to influence them by providing support to appropriate actors. The author recommends a mixed approach of providing specific types of support to those who can influence the outcomes in desirable ways.

By all measures, the late twentieth century was a time of dramatic decline for the Islamic world, the Ummah, particularly its Arab heartland. Sober Muslim voices regularly describe their current state as the worst in the 1,400-year history of Islam. Yet, precisely at this time of unprecedented material vulnerability, Islam has emerged as a civilizational force strong enough to challenge the imposition of Western, particularly American, homogenizing power on Muslim peoples. This is the central paradox of Islam today: at a time of such unprecedented weakness in one sense, how has the Islamic Awakening, a broad and diverse movement of contemporary Islamic renewal, emerged as such a resilient and powerful transnational force and what implications does it have for the West? In One Islam, Many Muslims Worlds Raymond W. Baker addresses this question. Two things are clear, Baker argues: Islam's unexpected strength in recent decades does not originate from official political, economic, or religious institutions, nor can it be explained by focusing exclusively on the often-criminal assertions of violent, marginal groups. While extremists monopolize the international press and the scholarly journals, those who live and work in the Islamic world know that the vast majority of Muslims reject their reckless calls to violence and look elsewhere for guidance. Baker shows that extremists draw their energy and support not from contributions to the reinterpretation and revival of Islamic beliefs and practices, but from the hatreds engendered by misguided Western policies in Islamic lands. His persuasive analysis of the Islamic world identifies centrists as the revitalizing force of Islam, saying that they are responsible for constructing a modern, cohesive Islamic identity that is a force to be reckoned with.

As the topic of political Islam gains increased visibility in international politics and current affairs, it has become more difficult to navigate the vast literature that is devoted to explaining this phenomenon. This reader provides the student with an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the study of political Islam. Offering a clear route to the most influential literature in the field, the diverse range of viewpoints presented allows students to obtain a detailed, authoritative and critical perspective on the most pressing questions of the post-9/11 era. With detailed introductory chapters and clear presentation of existing literature, thematically-arranged sections cover: modern understandings and explanations of Islamism the emergence and development of Islamist groups political responses to the phenomenon democracy and democratization multiculturalism political violence and terrorism globalization the future of political Islam. This overview of political Islam will help students at all levels to appreciate its many manifestations and dimensions. A relevant text to introductory courses on history, international affairs, government and sociology, this reader is an essential tool for students of the Middle East, Muslim politics, religion in politics and Islamism.

In the aftermath of the cold war, political commentators spoke ebulliently of the triumph of liberal democracy over its ideological rivals. Shortly thereafter, however, a surge of ethnic and religious violence raised doubts about whether democracy could survive outside Western culture. Similar concerns were soon raised even in Western nations by widespread citizen disengagement from the political process. Voter apathy, ideological conflict, and debates about cultural diversity intensified doubts about the continuing viability of democratic institutions. Throughout the whole world, then, few questions have come to define more clearly the challenge of our age than this: how to facilitate civil, free, and democratic interaction among citizens of multicultural societies.Democratic Civilityexamines the core requirements necessary to make democracy work. Subtly interweaving case studies and theoretical reflection, Hefner and his contributors examine the ideals, culture, development, and organization of civil democracy. Against a historical background, they consider today's challenges to democracy, asking whether international politics is destined to lead to a clash of civilizations, or whether civil and democratic ideas are indeed realizable in a multicultural world. Essays by Adam B. Seligman, Robert Wuthnow, Brigitte Berger, and Anton C. Zijderveld address subjects germane to the 'culture wars' controversy in the United States and other Western countries. And Daniel Chirot, Jose Casanova, Robert P. Weller, and S. Gordon Redding examine the prospects for democracy in non-Western, post-communist societies, in particular Chinese society and the Muslim world.Hefner's highly readable volume reaches the core of the ongoing debate between Samuel Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations and Francis Fukuyama's The End of History - whether liberal democratic values are generalizable to non-Western societies, or realizable only in the West. Democratic Civility will be of interest to those in the fields of anthropology, sociology, history, political theory, and philosophy.

As with many newly democratic countries, Indonesia faces common problems such as crisis of leadership, ethnic and communal conflicts, and the clash of Islam and the West. Indonesia, Islam, and Democracy: Dynamics in a Global Context brings fresh insight to the growing influence of Islam which is often ignored by foreign observers. Azyumardi Azra, a noted historian, breaks away from the common analysis of the current political situation and uncovers the lineages of the influence of Islam in Indonesian politics since the collapse of the Suharto era. Azyumardi Azra is Professor of History and Rector of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) in Jakarta. An internationally recognized scholar, he has presented papers in numerous conferences at home and abroad and has lectured at various universities such as NYU, Harvard, Oxford, Columbia, Leiden, Melbourne, Kyoto, Hawaii, at Manoa and many others. He is an honorary professor at Melbourne University (2004-9) and a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan. In April 2005 he was awarded Doctor Honoris Causa in Humane Letters from Carroll College, Helena, Montana, USA. He has written eighteen books, the latest is The Origin of Islamic Reformism in Southeast Asia.

Essays on various facets of Nursi’s spirituality as portrayed in his Risale-i Nur.

Examines the impact of the Gulen movement on the contemporary Muslim world.

Virtually every trouble spot on the planet has some sort of religious component. One need only consider Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran, Israel and Palestine, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Russia, and China, to name but a few. Looming behind national issues, of course, is the problem of regional Islamist extremism and transnational Islamist terrorism. In all of these sectors, religious tensions, ideas and actors are of great geo-political importance to the United States. Yet, argues Thomas Farr, our foreign policy is gravely handicapped by an inability to understand the role of religion either nationally or globally. There is a strong disinclination in American diplomacy to consider religious factors at all, either as part of the problem or part of the solution. In this engaging and well-written insider account, Farr offers a closely reasoned argument that religious freedom, the freedom to practice one's own religion in private and in public, is an essential prerequisite for a stable, durable democratic society. If the U.S. wants to foster democracy that lasts, he says, it must focus on fostering religious liberty, especially in its public manifestations, properly limited in a way that advances the common good. Although we ourselves have developed a remarkably successful model of religious freedom, our foreign policy favors an aggressive secularism that is at odds with the American model. It is essential, says Farr, that we take an approach that recognizes the great importance of religion in people's lives.

How do Muslims who grew up after September 11 balance their love for hip-hop with their devotion to Islam? How do they live the piety and modesty called for by their faith while celebrating an art form defined, in part, by overt sexuality, violence, and profanity? In Representing Islam, Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir explores the tension between Islam and the global popularity of hip-hop, including attempts by the hip-hop ummah, or community, to draw from the struggles of African Americans in order to articulate the human rights abuses Muslims face. Nasir explores state management of hip-hop culture and how Muslim hip-hoppers are attempting to "Islamize" the genre's performance and jargon to bring the music more in line with religious requirements, which are perhaps even more fraught for female artists who struggle with who has the right to speak for Muslim women. Nasir also investigates the vibrant underground hip-hop culture that exists online. For fans living in conservative countries, social media offers an opportunity to explore and discuss hip-hop when more traditional avenues have been closed. Representing Islam considers the complex and multifaceted rise of hip-hop on a global stage and, in doing so, asks broader questions about how Islam is represented in this global community.

There is a growing consensus among experts and the educated public alike that democratization will reduce the many problems of the Muslim world. The question that remains is how Islam should be incorporated into the public sphere. Islamic Democratic Discourse is in itself a dialogue that explores the multi-faceted relationship between Islam and democracy. Each chapter, by a preeminent scholar of the Muslim tradition and its contemporary challenges, provides insight into Islamic political thought and its connection to Western democracy. Tamara Sonn and Tarek Ramdan consider the elements of government in classical Islam. Osman Bakar and Ali Paya provide regional studies of the search for compatibility between Islam and democracy. And finally, editor Muqtedar Khan and Marc Lynch are among those who offer a global perspective on the discourse on Islam and democracy. Unlike many recent efforts which seek to either underscore or dispute the compatibility of Islam and democracy, this eclectic collection begins a comprehensive conversation on Islam's role in the public sphere and charts a course toward an authentic Islamic theory of democracy. Islamic Democratic Discourse is a crucial addition to the libraries of scholars interested in the future of Islam in the modern world.