Reason, Freedom, and Democracy in Islam: Essential Writings of Abdolkarim Soroush

By Abdolkarim Soroush

Book Overview

Abdolkarim Soroush has emerged as one of the leading moderate revisionist thinkers of the Muslim world. He and his contemporaries in other Muslim countries are shaping what may become Islam's equivalent of the Christian Reformation: a period of questioning traditional practices and beliefs and, ultimately, of upheaval. Presenting eleven of his essays, this volume makes Soroush's thought readily available in English for the first time. The essays set forth his views on such matters as the freedom of Muslims to interpret the Qur'an, the inevitability of change in religion, the necessity of freedom of belief, and the compatibility of Islam and democracy. Throughout, Soroush emphasizes the rights of individuals in their relationship with both government and God, explaining that the ideal Islamic state can only be defined by the beliefs and will of the majority.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195128125
• ISBN13: 9780195128123
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Cogent and eloquent

Never mind the reviewer from Qom who attempted to write a critical review... He evidently never read the book. I found Mr. Soroush's book to be well researched, cogently argued, eloquently written, and... touching comprehensively on the topics in the title. The author has spent a considerable part of his life researching not only Islamic philosophy, but also philosophy of science, and it shows. He brings rationality and science back to discussions of Islam (although he is not alone). If you are not open to an honest discussion on these topics - particularly Islam - don't bother.

Erasmus of Islam

This selection of Soroush's writings reveals a genuinely liberal intellect rooted in his Iranian and Islamic culture but at home with Western thought, toward which he is neither aggressive nor apologetically defensive. Soroush, who has gained a following among Iranian students and even a few of the mullahs, cites the likes of Jalal al-Din Rumi, Muhammad Iqbal, J?rgen Habermas, and Alexis de Tocqueville as often as the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad(SAW). That might seem a recipe for a rambling, rootless philosophy, but his statements are thoughtful, penetrating and coherent. Although some observers have dubbed him the Luther of Islam, he is perhaps better seen as Islam's Erasmus, since he is carefully working within the system.

The Need for a Theoretical Context

Undoubtedly, this text constitutes an essential contribution to the discourse of ideological resistance within contemporary Iranian society. Soroush, as a phenomenally visible public intellectual, has commanded an unrivaled status among those more conservative participants in the revolutionary cause, although the extent to which his writings can potentially incite a tangible political movement remains to be seen. With respect to this particular compilation, the exercise of translation is certainly exceptional and the readability with which the inherent complexity of Soroush's fusion of Islamic theology and modern philosophy is conveyed throughout the course of the book proves admirable. Nevertheless, this text warrants one primary criticism in that it fails to provide a theoretical contextualization of Soroush's thoughts amidst the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. More precisely, there is a definite need for further elaboration on the relationship of Soroush's intellectual contributions to the socioeconomic and cultural state of Iran as we now confront it, the nation's stace vis a vis the project of modernity, and the global marginalization which the country has been compelled to endure at the hands of an authoritarian theocratic apparatus.