Islam is the fastest growing of the world's major religions. Yet the pervasive hostility to Islam in the West makes understanding its expanding global reach virtually impossible. Islam is all too often seen through a lens that focuses on the small minority of violent extremists rather than the overwhelming majority of Muslims who make up to the moderate mainstream. It is the centrist mind and heart of Islam that captures new adherents in such impressive numbers. For centuries, Abu Dharr al Ghifari, the seventh-century companion of the Prophet Muhammad, has provided a human face for Islamic justice as the core value of the faith. The influence of Abu Dharr has sometimes faded. Extremism may challenge the moderate and tolerant heart of the Islam of the Qur'an that Abu Dharr represents. Invariably, however, Islamic intellectuals have stepped forward to restore balance and moderation. Our time is such a period of renewal and the sweeping awakening of midstream Islam. In this study of justice in Islam, Raymond Baker focuses on the work of major intellectuals who have contributed to this Islamic Awakening. They include: the Egyptians Hassan al Banna, Sayyid Qutb, and Shaikh Muhammad al Ghazalli; the Turkish scholar Sa'id Nursi; the Lebanese Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Fadlallah; the Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Baqir al Sadra; the Iranian radical intellectual Ali Sheriati; and the American athlete and Muslim convert Muhammad Ali. Baker argues that appreciation for the work of these preeminent figures is indispensable to understanding how an awakened Islam with justice at its core has become a global phenomenon.

About the Author
Raymond William Baker is Professor Emeritus of International Politics, Trinity College, Hartford, CT and Board Director, International Council for Middle East Studies, Washington, D.C. He is the author of many books and scholarly articles, including Islam Without Fear (2004) and One Islam, Many Muslim Worlds (2015).

Reviews
Baker masterfully weaves together several critical threads in Islam -- the story of Abu Dhar, Islam's Jesus, and the works of some of the most important figures behind Islam's Awakening, ranging from the scholar Muhammad al Ghazalli to the athlete Muhammad Ali -- to demonstrate Islam's persistent emphasis on justice. This is a book of impressive scope and depth, its focus all the more necessary in the world that today's Islam finds itself. * Mehran Kamrava, Professor of Government, Georgetown University Qatar *
In a captivating reading of the contemporary Islamic Awakening, Baker takes us on a journey to discover the normative strength of Islam. A series of vignettes show the enduring influence of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari on an array of contemporary Islamic intellectuals. Baker boldly treads on ground that few are capable of venturing while drawing on decades of personal exchanges in the Muslim world, interdisciplinary erudition, and a sensitive study of texts. Baker is on a scholarly quest for the 'Muslim Jesus' likely to resonate with diverse readers that have been inquisitive about Islamic renewal's reshaping of thought and society in the Muslim world. Baker does a fine job, succeeding to imbue his oeuvre's pages with much food for thought and comparative content for student and critic. * Larbi Sadiki, Author of The Search for Arab Democracy Rethinking Arab Democratization *
Baker correctly observes that the literature on political Islam has favored analysis of radical groups and radical Islamic ideas. To the extent that there has been discussion of more moderate forces, it has focused on organizations and their political activity (for example, on the Muslim Brotherhood's rise and development) rather than on the ideas that produced these movements and shaped their development. Baker's book helps to fill this gap in the literature. It provides a rich, careful, and serious consideration of the intellectual project of reformist Islam as embodied by six prominent figures in this effort. * Bruce Rutherford, Associate Professor of Political Science, Colgate University *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197624975
Author Raymond William Baker
Format Hardback
Page Count 296
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 550g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 163mm * 27mm