Counter Extremist

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri

This historic 512-page fatwa is one of the most comprehensive condemnations of terrorism to date and deals a devastating blow to terrorist groups and its affiliates by removing decisively any remnant of theological justifications for terrorism. No longer can the terrorists and similar organisations employ Muslim scripture with impunity to advance the onslaught of civilians, be they non-Muslim or Muslim.

Noam Chomsky & Ilan Pappe
The winter 2008/09 assault claimed the lives of 1,400 Palestinians and thrust the crisis in Gaza into the centre of the debate about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The crippling siege continues to block access to construction materials desperately needed to rebuild in the wake of the Israeli attack and prevents people from leaving the Strip even for treatment of life-threatening illnesses. With the constant humiliation of liking a life punctuated by regular military incursions and ubiquitous checkpoints, the people of Gaza live in an area that has come to be known as the world’s largest open-air prison.

Following Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla – a group of vessels carrying relief supplies and aiming to break the unbearable siege – international observers are increasingly questioning the logic of Israeli military aggression, and worldwide support for Palestine is growing.

In late 2007 Muslim leaders from around the world together issued in the pages of The New York Times an open letter to Christian leaders inviting cooperation as a step toward peace. That letter, “A Common Word between Us and You,” acknowledged real differences between the two faiths but nonetheless contended that “righteousness and good works” should be the only areas in which they compete. The 138 signatories included over a dozen grand muftis, an ayatollah, and a Jordanian prince, and the document was widely considered a groundbreaking step toward reconciliation between Islam and Christianity — two major religions with a great deal in common.

That original letter and a collaborative Christian response — “Loving God and Neighbor Together” — both appear in this remarkable volume. Building on those original momentous documents, A Common Word further includes subsequent commentary and dialogue between Muslim and Christian scholars addressing critical and frequently asked questions.

With essays by Prince Ghazi of Jordan, Miroslav Volf, Habib Ali al-Jifri, Reza Shah-Kazemi, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Judge Bola Abdul Jabbar Ajibola, Joseph Cumming, David Burrel, Martin Accad, Senator John Kerry.

Andy Worthington

The first book to tell the story of every man trapped in Guantánamo, based on the Pentagon’s own files.

Reza Aslan

Confronting Religious Extremism In the Age of Globalisation

Khaled Abou El Fadl

Wrestling Islam From the Extremists

Reza Shah-Kazemi

As a result of world events over the past few years, Islam has entered our consciousness in an unprecedented way. The Qur’an, guiding text for over one billion Muslims, is being looked to for answers to questions like: does the Qur’an promote peace and harmony or discord and conflict, does it contribute to pluralism or exclusivism, is its message spiritual or fanatical?

In The Other in the Light of the One, Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi illustrates how, throughout the centuries, Sufism has traditionally been a bastion against two tendencies: worldliness and literalism. Based on a profound study of the Sufi perspectives of the like of Ibn Arabi, Kashani, Rumi and Ghazali, The Other in the Light of the One is an attempt to answer the above questions and is an invitation to study the universality that is undoubtedly present in the Qur’an. Its aim is to relate some of the most profound interpretations of the Qur’an to philosophical and spiritual questions concerning interfaith dialogue. However, the purpose is not to just reproduce the ideas of the Sufis, but to build upon principles, to take advantage of insights, and to apply them creatively to contemporary conditions. Shah-Kazemi illustrates how a universalist perspective based on Sufi hermeneutics provides a third way between secular pluralism and religious exclusivism.

The Other in the Light of the One provides the faithful of all the different religious communities with the basis for dialogue and mutual enrichment within dimensions of religious life and thought that go beyond the outward forms of belief, yielding fruit not only in the practical domain of peaceful coexistence, but also and above all, in the fertile fields of metaphysical insight, immutable values, contemplative inspiration and spiritual realisation. For Muslims, The Other in the Light of the One offers a pioneering view of da‘wa, in that it proposes effective ways of putting into practice the many Qur’anic verses that commend discourse with others in a manner that is ahsan ‘finest, most beautiful’.

M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen

Jihad is not something that can be fought on the outside; our real enemies have been within us since birth. Our own evil qualities are killing us. They are the enemies that must be conquered. That is the way of Islam. That is what this book urges us to.

Shaykh Muhammad Afifi Al-Akiti

Defending the Transgressed By Censuring the Reckless Against the Killing of Civilians

A Fatwa According to the Madhhab of Imam Shafi’e by the Oxford-based Malaysian jurist, Shaykh Muhammad Afifi Al-Akiti

This fatwa was written in response to the strife and troubles afflicting the Community of Muslims, and humanity at large, in our age, day in and day out. Stress and confusion have been created by Muslims who, intentionally or not, have misinterpreted the legal discussions on warfare in Islamic Law. They set them outside their proper contexts and abuse them, turning them into justifications for their hate-inspired crimes.

The key Islamic concepts and rules pertaining to the conduct of war and its jurisprudence, its arena and boundaries, and the subject of suicide bombings and the reckless targeting of civilians have probably never been presented in English with such depth, clarity of thought, and breadth of scholarship in Muslim Law.

Ed Husain

Why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left

This is the first time an ex-member openly discusses life within radical Islamic organizations.

Contents:
Made in England
Teenage Rebellion
The Ultimatum
Islam Is the Solution
We Will Rule the World
Inside Hizb ut-Tahrir
Targeting Communities
Inferior Others
Farewell Fanaticism
Entering the World: Which Life?
Metamorphosis
9/11
The Road to Damascus
Saudi Arabia: Where Is Islam?
Return to England