The Other Muslims Moderate and Secular [Paperback]

This book is a unique collection of alternative Muslim voices, predominantly from Europe, who come from a variety of backgrounds - academia, theology, acting, activism - and who make a transformational contribution to the debate of the future of Islam and Muslims in the West.Introduction; Z.Baran PART I: ISLAM VERSUS ISLAMISM Navigating Islam in America; H.Mirahmadi European Islamists and the Struggle for Domination and Representation of Islam in the West; Y.Qandil The History of Islam in Italy; A.Vincenzo Democracy and Islam in the Maghreb: and what it means for Europe; F.Laroui PART II: PERSONAL STORIES AND LESSONS LEARNED Rebel with a Cause: A Personal Journey from Sufism to Islamism and Beyond; C.Omar Faces of Janus: The Arab-Muslim Community in France and the Battle for its Future; S.Labidi The Lamp and the Candle; M.Hilali PART III: LOOKING FORWARD: CONCEPTS/SUGGESTIONS Reading the Quran in Paris: The Case for a Secular Democracy; G.Bencheikh

With another French Muslim, Ghaleb Bencheikh, and a host of Europeans, Samia Labidi tells her story in an edited volume that has just been published in the U.S. These Other Muslims, Moderate and Secular speak out under the auspices of Zeyno Baran, a scholar of Turkish origin who lives in the U.S. and directs [a program] at the [Hudson] Institute. They are the solution in the face of the growing role of Islamism, the authors proclaim.The French propose the creation of a federation that would regroup all the Muslim associations and could, in this way, represent the Islam of France, not the Islamism of France as the UOIF only does today. - Marianne

Political freedom, religious tolerance, and economic prosperity are universal values open to all races and creeds. To fight extremism, as this timely book reveals, we must promote Muslims who call for openness. Reform is possible if we heed and help them. This invaluable work of Zeyno Baran is worth reading. - Jose Maria Aznar, Former Prime Minister ol)