What's Right with Islam [A New Vision for Muslims and the West]

An American imam offers answers for today's toughest questions about Islam, and a vision for a reconciliation between Islam and the West.One of the pressing questions of our time is what went wrong in the relationship between Muslims and the West. Continuing global violence in the name of Islam reflects the deepest fears by certain Muslim factions of Western political, cultural, and economic encroachment. The solution to the current antagonism requires finding common ground upon which to build mutual respect and understanding. Who better to offer such an analysis than an American imam, someone with a foot in each world and the tools to examine the common roots of both Western and Muslim cultures; someone to explain to the non–Islamic West not just what went wrong with Islam, but what's right with Islam.Focused on finding solutions, not on determining fault, this is ultimately a hopeful, inspiring book. What's Right with Islam systematically lays out the reasons for the current dissonance between these cultures and offers a foundation and plan for improved relations. Wide–ranging in scope, What's Right with Islam elaborates in satisfying detail a vision for a Muslim world that can eventually embrace its own distinctive forms of democracy and capitalism, aspiring to a new Cordoba – a time when Jews, Christians, Muslims, and all other faith traditions will live together in peace and prosperity. Traces common philosophical roots and religious values, acknowledges the contributions of American democracy and Western capitalism, and shows what Islamic culture can bring to a new reunion with the West, systematically laying out the reasons for the current dissonance between these cultures. Offers a basis for rebuilding the relationship between Islam and the West by arguing that Islamic principles actually support the fundamental values of a pluralistic, free society, uncovering the promise of a Muslim form of democratic capitalism within the Qur'an, the stories and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, and Islamic Law. [publisher web site] An American imam and founder of the ASMA Society discusses his work for religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue in the American Muslim community, arguing that Islamic principles support the fundamental values of a pluralistic and democratic society. 25,000 first printing. After two wars, the first to end the authoritarian Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the second to end the authoritarian secular Baathist regime in Iraq, the United States finds itself more estranged than ever from the Muslim world. Feisal Abdul Rauf. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.