Why, As A Muslim, I Defend Liberty
With personal stories, historical anecdotes, theological insights, and a very accessible prose, this is the little big book on the intersection of Islam and liberty.
Islam, the second largest religion in the world, has several authoritarian interpretations today that defy human freedom―by executing “apostates” or “blasphemers,” imposing religious practices, or discriminating against women or minorities. In Why, As a Muslim, I Defend Liberty, Mustafa Akyol offers a bold critique of this trouble, by frankly acknowledging its roots in the religious tradition.
But Akyol also shows that Islam has “seeds of freedom” as well―in the Qur’an, the life of the Prophet Muhammad, and the complex history of the Islamic civilization. It is past time, he argues, to grow those seeds into maturity, and reinterpret Islamic law and politics under the Qur’anic maxim, “No compulsion in religion.”
