This book tells the stories of eleven remarkable people in the Islamic world, from a religious musician in Pakistan who sings the sufferings of the saints and hopes to bring reconciliation to his country, to the son of one of the greatest Shi'ite scholars of Iraq who was murdered trying to restore peace in his city.

This book tells the stories of eleven remarkable people in the Islamic world, from a religious musician in Pakistan who sings the sufferings of the saints and hopes to bring reconciliation to his country, to the son of one of the greatest Shi'ite scholars of Iraq who was murdered trying to restore peace in his city.

Raising awareness of what Islam is, as well as deepening understanding about the lived realities of Muslim people, this book explores the contemporary Muslim experience through first-hand interviews with over a hundred Muslims. Exploring key issues such as women and Islam, extremism and radicalisation, Sharia Law, homosexuality and Islamophobia, the book looks deep into what it means to be Muslim today. The 'voices' of Muslims are showcased throughout the book to highlight the diversity and evolution of Islam, and to show its inherent complexities and contradictions. This is an easy and accessible introduction to Islam combined with discussion surrounding several contentious issues associated with the religion.

This book provides a detailed analysis of the political arguments about the place of Muslims in contemporary France, and also discusses the ideas put forward by a range of Muslim thinkers. France has become the setting for one of the most important conflicts in the modern world. On the one hand, it possesses a rigidly organized, centralized state, whose bureaucrats and civil servants are animated by a code of secular activism. On the other hand, France is also the home for Europe's largest Muslim minority, variously estimated at numbering between four and six million people. This means that in terms of simple numbers, France can be counted as the world's fifteenth Islamic power. Previous conflicts with religion have left a deep impression on French political culture: from the sixteenth and seventeenth-century conflicts between Catholics and Protestants played to the formation of the collaborationist Vichy government in 1940. In recent decades, Muslims have been stigmatized as an irreconcilable minority unable to adapt to the secular culture of the majority of French citizens. This work draws out the political implications of the current conflict. It is based on events and publications produced in a single five year period, beginning with the shock of the 2002 Presidential elections, in which Le Pen was the second most successful candidate, ranging through the legislation of March 2004 which banned the Islamic headscarf from French state schools, and which sparked off a series of bad-tempered exchanges between left and right-wing French nationalists, anti-racism campaigners, secularists, anti-clericals and a variety of Muslim authors.

"Mehran Kamrava has compiled a selection from some of the leading Muslim reformist thinkers whose voices have often been muted and marginalized. These essays introduce the reader to the nuances of the unfolding drama surrounding the issues of religion, politics and the public space across the Muslim World, revealing the richness as well as the limitations of these new attempts to synthesize Islam and modernity. This is a must-read for all those interested in hearing the new voices and seeing the other face of Islam."--Manochehr Dorraj, Professor of Political Science, Texas Christian University "The New Voices of Islam is a fine collection that effectively answers the question: where are the reformist voices in Islam? Mehran Kamrava has done an excellent job of presenting the global diversity of Muslim thinking from North Africa to Southeast Asia, Europe to America."--John L. Esposito, University Professor and Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University "Western public concern about Islamic extremism is almost wholly uninformed by the views of the reforming intellectuals gathered together in Mehran Kamrava's very important book The New Voices of Islam. These men and women, living both within the Islamic world and in Europe and America, have been struggling for a modern, pluralist, tolerant and democratic transformation of the Muslim world years before the crises of 9/11 and 7/7. Their collective message deserves the widest exposure, particularly within western political circles where it has, sadly, gone unheeded."--David Waines, Emeritus Professor of Islamic Studies, Lancaster University "This volume contains not the voices of Muslim governments and Islamist oppositions but the work of Muslim mavericks--refreshing in their originality, searing in their critiques, reassuring in their rationality. These voices deserve a wider audience in the West, and this book responds to that need. But also, and most especially, they deserve the attention of Muslims everywhere. Government repression and Islamist pressures unfortunately obstruct general access to such unconventional ideas in many Muslim states."--Robert D Lee, Professor of Political Science, Colorado College

In an era when Islam ostensibly lies at the heart of a volatile nexus of a global campaign of war on terrorism, simplistic notions and dangerous misunderstandings about the cultures and nature of Southeast Asian Islam, in all its variants, are used to inform and justify policies.

During the last six years, a team of scholars, researchers and religious leaders in Europe and the USA worked tirelessly, organising over seventy discussion groups that included members of the local Muslim communities. The present volume presents for the first time the result of their work, developed in collaboration with the Anglican Observer to the United Nations. All discussions were designed to explore different views, rather than to reach a common position. The overall aim of the project is to provide a window on the rich and diverse world of Western Islam, by connecting directly with the everyday life of Muslim citizens in Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the United States and Canada.

This comprehensive introduction explores the landscape of contemporary Islam. Written by a distinguished team of scholars, it: provides broad overviews of the developments, events, people and movements that have defined Islam in the three majority-Muslim regions traces the connections between traditional Islamic institutions and concerns, and their modern manifestations and transformations. How are medieval ideas, policies and practices refashioned to address modern circumstances investigates new themes and trends that are shaping the modern Muslim experience such as gender, fundamentalism, the media and secularisation offers case studies of Muslims and Islam in dynamic interaction with different societies. Islam in the Modern World includes illustrations, summaries, discussion points and suggestions for further reading that will aid understanding and revision. Additional resources are provided via a companion website.

In contemporary Britain, young British Muslims are often spoken about but very rarely invited to speak. What do they think about the social, cultural and political concerns that surround them today and how are they responding to them? This book attempts to find out by asking them to explore their experiences, attitudes and opinions, presenting a picture of ordinary young Muslim lives. The young Muslim voices that are heard in this book come from many walks of life, reflecting the diversity of Muslim communities in Britain. They come from different parts of Britain, from a range of ethnicities, have different class backgrounds and situate themselves within different Islamic traditions. They share the common experience of growing up in Britain at a time when British Muslims have been thrust into the spotlight of public scrutiny. What appeal does Islam have for them? What does being a Muslim mean to them? What do they think of life in Britain? Do they feel British? How do they feel about non-Muslims? What are their political views? What sort of relationship do they have with their families? The young Muslims in this book speak to the author about these and other issues candidly and with insight. They articulate the hopes and frustrations of a generation at the crossroads of an important historical moment.