Islam

January 1, 2007
This book offers something rare: a critical examination of the development of Islamic thought by a believer. Rejecting certain Western analyses of Islam, such as that issued by Bernard Lewis in "What Went Wrong?", Arkoun (emeritus, the Sorbonne, France; "Rethinking Islam") argues for the importance of studying the political and social contexts in which Islam has developed. Following philosopher Immanuel Kant's lead, he seeks to develop a "historical epistemology" relative to Islam. Arkoun tries to take into account older interpretations of Islam that are not so imbued with the fundamentalist aspects we see today. He is calling for nothing less than a rewriting of the history of Islamic thought, taking into account the written as well as the ethnological cultures. Because of his writing style and the heavily academic nature of his argument, this book is suitable only for academic libraries, but for these it can be highly recommended as a critical examination of Islam from within. Readers seeking a more popular work should consider John Esposito's "Islam: The Straight Path".Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, NJ

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.