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“A delightfully original take on…the prospects for liberal democracy in the broader Islamic Middle East.”―Matthew Kaminski, Wall Street Journal
As the Arab Spring threatens to give way to authoritarianism in Egypt and reports from Afghanistan detail widespread violence against U.S. troops and women, news from the Muslim world raises the question: Is Islam incompatible with freedom? In Islam without Extremes, Turkish columnist Mustafa Akyol answers this question by revealing the little-understood roots of political Islam, which originally included both rationalist, flexible strains and more dogmatic, rigid ones. Though the rigid traditionalists won out, Akyol points to a flourishing of liberalism in the nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire and the unique “Islamo-liberal synthesis” in present-day Turkey. As he powerfully asserts, only by accepting a secular state can Islamic societies thrive. Islam without Extremes offers a desperately needed intellectual basis for the reconcilability of Islam and liberty.
- Sales Rank: #617661 in Books
- Published on: 2013-11-04
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.30" h x .90" w x 5.50" l, .66 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 368 pages
Review
“Akyol is doing important work that should have an impact well beyond his native Turkey.” (Doug Bandow - American Spectator)
“Starred Review. Informative at every turn.” (Kirkus Reviews)
From the Author
Beyond the two extremes that haunted the Muslim world,
secular authoritarianism versus Islamic authoritarianism,
there is a third, and promising, way: Islamic liberalism.
From the Inside Flap
Early on a cold January morning in 1981, Mustafa Akyol, then eight-years-old, accompanied his mother to the suburbs of Ankara, Turkey. Together they were visiting Akyol's father, an outspoken journalist held prisoner in the country's military barracks. The Turkish military had seized power, and those, like Akyol's father, who respected Islam were jailed. It was a period of crushing authoritarianism in the name of a secular state.
This experience stayed with Akyol as he finished his studies and became a well-respected journalist and political commentator in Turkey. He continued to wonder: Could the authoritarian regimes in Muslim countries derive not from Islam but from the deep-seated political cultures and social structures endemic to that part of the world? How else to explain the presence of authoritarianism in a secular state, like Turkey, as well as in "Islamic" states such as Iran or Saudi Arabia?
To answer these questions, Akyol, a devout Muslim, turned to both the Qur'an and a diverse array of historical and contemporary scholarship to trace the roots of liberty and tyranny in the world of Islam. In accessible and searching prose, Akyol begins at the very genesis of the religion. According to Akyol's interpretation, the death of Prophet Muhammed in the seventh century ushered in a "medieval war of ideas". Some Islamic schools of thought defended reason, freewill, and pluralism. Others promoted a more rigid and dogmatic interpretation of the faith. As the latter camp triumphed, because of the powerful classes of the Orient, a less rational and more static mindset began to shape the region. The more trade declined, Akyol argues, the more the Muslim mind stagnated.
After the 18th century, the ruling elites of the Ottoman Empire, eager to modernize, imported liberal ideas along with institutions from the West, gradually leading to a dawn of "Islamic liberalism." But Akyol's historical survey demonstrates that even these valuable efforts to effect change continued as a top-down process in which the majority of the society remained uninvolved. The way to liberal reform was also tragically blocked by the stasis inherent in the socialist and statist models toward which the Muslim world was mistakenly driven in the 20th century.
Yet Akyol finds an important exception in contemporary Turkey. There, a nascent Muslim middle class is reinterpreting religion with a more modern mindset. Slowly, the Turkish people are embracing liberal thought and speaking out for all freedoms. The stage is set for "an experiment unprecedented in the history of Islamdom."
ISLAM WITHOUT EXTREMES makes the complex story of liberty in the Muslim world accessible and intriguing, while also putting forth provocative, religious arguments for a secular state, "freedom to sin," and freedom from Islam. With passion and clarity, Akyol synthesizes liberal ideas and Muslim faith as he powerfully points the way towards an Islam that can make peace with open society. Islam need not "secularize" itself, but rather, can coexist with religious, political, economic, and social freedoms.
Persuasive and inspiring, ISLAM WITHOUT EXTREMES is a desperately needed intellectual basis for the reconcilability of Islam and liberty
Most helpful customer reviews
56 of 58 people found the following review helpful.
A unique and important work
By David Miller
Among the central questions of our time is whether or not democracy -- or, in the larger sense, free societies -- are possible for non-Western cultures. Here in America, many ask if our understanding of "liberty" will translate to other, non-western cultures that do not share our Judeo-Christian legacy.
This question is all the more important now, as we observe the fallout from the Arab Spring of 2011. It is not rare to hear someone ask if there is something inherently authoritarian in Islam. Is democracy even worth trying? Should we be concerned, for example, that an Islamist regime will be elected in Egypt, replacing one kind of authoritarianism with another?
This excellent book by Mustafa Akyol, apparently written before the Arab Spring, speaks to these questions. It is an useful aide to those of us trying to understand these exciting and challenging times.
Akyol first traces the history of Islam, a survey which alone is incredibly helpful to this American reader.
Next Akyol points to a problem that should not surprise western Christians or western readers at large: the confusion of tradition/culture with scripture. By separating these two things, he argues, we can see seeds of liberalism within the scripture. Sharia -- which many fear and some for good reason -- is not scripture, and, Akyol reminds us, is written by men. Therefore it can be amended by men.
With such bold statements, one wonders if Akyol is nailing theses to doors. Only he is, apparently, not the first to do so. Others have come before him and, he says, it is worth taking a look at their work... as well as at the historical events that crushed it.
Finally looking to his home country, Akyol reports exciting news from Turkey. Thriving new economies, new (and old) means of public and private expression, discussions of freedom of religion. All these Turkish experiences, and others, give us means for optimism for the people of the so-called Middle East.
Key to it, Akyol argues, is not to throw away a "backward" religion but instead to embrace it. In fact, Akyol argues, stripping away the religion in Turkey -- just as others have imposed it elsewhere -- has been tried and resulted in disaster. Instead, a marriage of a secular (not "secularist") state and a free people is the recipe for not just the success of the state, the economy, and the nation but also for the faithful and free hearts of the people.
I have recommended this book, already, to many. The subject matter is interesting, as I have said, but in addition, Akyol somehow makes this rather intimidating topic into an enjoyable read. This makes Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty a unique and important work.
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful.
Best Islamic history book to understand the roots of extremism
By Riaz Syed
I am in the middle of the book right now - but I had to share this.
This is way better than 'Destiny Disrupted'.
Must read for all Muslims !
Promise to come back and update this review after I complete the book....
OK, finished the book and as promised have come back to update my review.
Although 'Destiny Disrupted' is a much detailed account of Islamic history, Akyol's account provides a historical perspective on what led to Islam's decline, stagnation and ultimately extremism and despotism.
I strongly suggest all Muslims to read this to better understand themselves, their roots and traditions they take for granted.
And for someone curious about where extremism took its ugly roots in Islam, this book provides a detailed explanation.
Further, it dares to provide a solution to the problem of extremism.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful.
A convincing case for Liberty within Islam
By NervanaM
It is challenging to write a book based on religion and history with a convincing case relevant to modern time. I think the Turkish Journalist Mustafa Akyol has successfully met this challenge and present an exceedingly compelling and convincing case for Liberal Islam.
I loved the way he described Abu Hanifa the pioneer of the juristic side of the rationalist school, the Mutazilite philosophy and the war of ideas between the Traditionalists and Rationalists throughout the history of Islam.
Akyol highlighted the link between economic prosperity and freedom of religious ideas, illustrating how the School of Tradition cut off the young Islamic community from the economic mainstream. By isolating Muslims from doing trade with nonbelievers, it severly affects every aspect of life from economy to art, language, science and many resources.
He also addresses a particularly tricky issue; "the rise of hadith" and the theory of abrogation in what is described as the "Post Quar'anic ideology". In fact, if anyone wants a medical diagnosis of what went wrong in Islam, then look within some aspects of this ideology, for example, the distaste of some toward "innovation".
Throughout the book, Akyol incorporates lessons from Turkey (Both Ottomans & kemalist). Akyol described the Ottoman Empire as a pluralist state (a description that I struggle to agree with). Yes, the state was tolerant to non-Muslims, but reforms and modernization only took place in the later period of the Ottoman rule. During the early period, the empire was strong and powerful but many of its subject particularly non-Turks were oppressed and lost their national identity without gaining equal rights. Sadly, the process of modernization came a bit late; the seeds of hatred and separatism were already planted in the heart and mind of many Ottomans subjects.
Akyol rightly rejects authoritarian regimes, even in its mild form. The attempt to push religion out of Muslim minds was proven counterproductive, and it failed drastically both in Turkey and Iran. However, Akyol clearly illustrate how the various rulers throughout Islamic history (as early as Umayyads & Abbasids) manipulated religion for their political needs. This basic historical fact should justify a degree of secularism provide it "allows freedom of religion not freedom from religion".
The book also illustrates how kemalism nationalism has helped to destroy the religious identity in Turkey. However, a complete lack of national identity can also be counter-productive. Arab states lost their national identity under Ottomans rule, and they paid a hefty price following the collapse of the empire. The Arabs painfully had to watch colonial powers carving their lands to create new nations (even artificial ones), which had an immense knock on effect that still valid in modern days. It opened the door for nationalist, socialist dictatorship and religious extremism to fell the gap. Nationalism, as well as, secularism (in small doses) are not incompatible with Islam and can be accepted in a free liberal Islamic democratic society.
The last two chapters "freedom to sin" and "freedom from Islam" are simply delightful. Akyol clearly highlighted the clear distinction in Sharia between the rights of God and the right of people. Also, how the earthly punishment for apostasy is not Qur'anic but post Qur'anic.
His statement " Replacing the fear of God with the fear of state or community could only be an obstacle to heart felt piety" reflect the style and the message of the whole book.
I guess the question is, how to convinces the masses to embrace liberal Islam? How to protect the rationalist school of thoughts from the overzealous of some? How to prevent past mistakes and secure a better future for Muslims? Muslims need to reflect on their past and present and come with answers to these questions. The Arab-spring provides a golden opportunity for Muslims to move on from the shadow of extremism and embark on the road of rationalism as the way for a better future.
Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty
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