Reforming Islamic thought

Critical historical analysis

Author's name: Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid

Fundamentalist and exclusionary trends have dominated most discussions of Islamic thought since the catastrophic events of September 11. In fact, these events have given extremists and fundamentalists a prominent position they could never have dreamed of. In this book, Egyptian thinker Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd explores the positive, liberal, and open-minded response contained in the writings of Muslim thinkers. He takes us on a critical journey across the Islamic world, meeting Muslim thinkers from numerous countries, most notably Egypt, Iran, and Indonesia, as they seek to liberate Islam from Salafist and Sharia-centric interpretations. These thinkers highlight the importance of a cultural and enlightened Islam and an individual faith. To what extent have these reformist thinkers contributed to a genuine renewal of Islamic thought?