Book Reviews 
Who Speaks for Islam? Part 3b: Jihad, Religion & Politics(9)
To most Muslims, jihad implies honor and sacrifice for others, even when interpreted military, it comes with many conditions, including the writ against targeting civilians. Using jihad and terrorism as synonyms is wrong and counterproductive, and the meaning of Jihad to Muslims is much more nuanced than what many Western commentators invoke.
Who Speaks for Islam? Part 3a- What Makes a Radical?
Against the backdrop of this bleak world situation, the West desires stable, secular democracies in the Muslim countries it deems as “supporting terrorism”, believing this to be the ultimate measure of victory in the “war against terrorism”. But a number of challenges exist in this battle of hearts and minds, and data is ever-important to understand the people we wish to move.
Who Speaks for Islam? Part 2- Democracy or Theocracy
The reality of the Muslim world is that most of the countries are not democracies, and a number of the ones that are have elections where the ruler somehow manages to win about 90% of the vote in every election. It is no surprise then, that George (lowest approval rating of all time) Bush made democratization a key goal of his foreign policy. While the surveys show that most people admire the West’s freedoms, they do not feel that the US is actually serious about promoting democracy in Muslim lands.
Who Speaks for Islam? Part 1
Most people are not aware of anything regarding Muslim demographics. For example, the percentage of African American Muslims in America, the population of Muslims in China, or even the ethnic makeup of Muslims across the globe spanning countries such as Indonesia and Nigeria (as opposed to just Saudi Arabia or Egypt). There are approximately 1.3 billion Muslims in the world, with about 57 countries having at least a substantial Muslim population. Each of these places also has its own unique culture, and is not restricted to the sky-blue burqa imagery so prevalent in Western media.
More in this category:
- Who Speaks for Islam? Introduction
- Islamophobia Part-1: It Exists
- Even if the Pain: Review of “Poems From Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak”
- Book Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini
- The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf - Book Review
- Does My Head Look Big In This?
- Tipping Point - How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
- A Blue Ocean Strategy for Islamic Organizations
- Sarkozy, Muslims, and the New France
- A Return to Modesty: Book Review
- Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die