Religion and Mythology
Book Details

Islam and the Question of Reform

Critical Voices from Muslim Communities

Academic Monograph

Ben MacQueen, Kylie Baxter, Rebecca Barlow

Foreword by Shirin Ebadi

Islam and the Question of Reform is an engaging book about the evolving and dynamic discourse that surrounds the question of Islamic reform

Opinion

‘This book is an invaluable resource. The clear and concise explanations of Islamic history, philosophy, principles and practices that are so essential to understanding the workings of Muslim politics make this a highly accessible text suitable to new scholars and policy makers. At the same time the authors maintain a high degree of intellectual rigour. All of this combined makes the text suitable to a wide-ranging audience.’

--Kate Riddell, Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol.4 No.4 (2010)

Click link for full review: www.mup.com.au

About this Title

Reform, by definition, is not a complete break with tradition, but a determination by scholars, activists, politicians and critical thinkers to re-claim the tenets of their faith.

Muslim communities have historically displayed a tendency to preserve the status quo. By contrast, the individuals and movements in Islam and the Question of Reform are determined-often at great personal risk-to push aside existing political and social elites and the historically accepted interpretations of Islam and its place in society. The perspectives examined in this volume avoid superficial or apologetic examinations of Islam's political and social role. Instead, they meticulously scrutinise the religion's public role, often questioning the validity of dogmas that have acted as tools of empowerment for existing elites for centuries.

Islam and the Question of Reform is an engaging book about the evolving and dynamic discourse that surrounds the question of Islamic reform.

Table of Contents

Foreword Shirin Ebadi
Introduction Benjamin MacQueen

Abdullahi Ahmed an-Na`im and the Hermeneutics of Reform in Islam Benjamin MacQueen
Shirin Ebadi and the Question of Women's Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Reform or Reconstruction? Rebecca Barlow
Iran for all Iranians: Seyed Mohammad Khatami and Iranian Nationalism Hamish Mcgregor
Muslim Democrats: The Changing Face of Political Islam in Malaysia Sven Alexander Schottman
Defending Religious Freedom in Indonesia: Muslims, Non-Muslims and Legislation on Houses of Worship Ismatu Ropi
Contemporary Islamic Discourse in Europe: The Emergence of a 'Euro-Islam'?
Kylie Baxter

Index

About the Author

Benjamin MacQueen is an ARC Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He has published widely on issues dealing with Middle Eastern politics, conflict resolution in the Middle East, US democracy promotion in the Middle East, and relations between Australia and the Middle East.

Kylie Baxter received her PhD from Monash University in 2008, and has published widely on Western Muslim communities and the utilisation of Islamist theory by organisations based in the West. Currently, her research focuses on Middle Eastern politics and international Islamism. She is the author of US Foreign Policy in the Middle East: The Rise of Anti-Americanism.

Rebecca Barlow is a PhD candidate in the School of Political and Social Inquiry at Monash University, researching on the Iranian women's movement and the implementation of international human rights law in the Islamic Republic of Iran. She has published on issues of human rights, feminism and Islamic politics in Human Rights Quarterly and Third World Quarterly.

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978-0-522-85610-1