Justice in Islam: The Quest for the Righteous Community From Abu Dharr to Muhammad Ali

Description

Islam is the fastest growing of the world's major religions. Yet the pervasive hostility to Islam in the West makes understanding its expanding global reach virtually impossible. Islam is all too often seen through a lens that focuses on the small minority of violent extremists rather than the overwhelming majority of Muslims who make up to the moderate mainstream. It is the centrist mind and heart of Islam that captures new adherents in such impressive numbers. For centuries, Abu Dharr al Ghifari, the seventh-century companion of the Prophet Muhammad, has provided a human face for Islamic justice as the core value of the faith. The influence of Abu Dharr has sometimes faded. Extremism may challenge the moderate and tolerant heart of the Islam of the Qur'an that Abu Dharr represents. Invariably, however, Islamic intellectuals have stepped forward to restore balance and moderation. Our time is such a period of renewal and the sweeping awakening of midstream Islam. In this study of justice in Islam, Raymond Baker focuses on the work of major intellectuals who have contributed to this Islamic Awakening. They include: the Egyptians Hassan al Banna, Sayyid Qutb, and Shaikh Muhammad al Ghazalli; the Turkish scholar Sa'id Nursi; the Lebanese Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Fadlallah; the Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Baqir al Sadra; the Iranian radical intellectual Ali Sheriati; and the American athlete and Muslim convert Muhammad Ali. Baker argues that appreciation for the work of these preeminent figures is indispensable to understanding how an awakened Islam with justice at its core has become a global phenomenon. Dedication Epigraph Contents Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: Anchored in Justice 2. Abu Dharr al Ghifari: Symbol of Justice, Lawyer of the Poor 3. Hassan al Banna and Sayyid Qutb: Founders, the School of the Muslim Brothers 4. Shaikh Muhammad al Ghazalli: The People’s Shaikh 5. Sa’id Nursi: Jihadist of the Word 6. Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah: Poet to Strategic Visionary 7. Grand Ayatollah Baqir al Sadr: Martyred Theorist of the Islamic Alternative 8. Ali Shariati: The Believing Revolutionary 9. Muhammad Ali: Global Caller to Islam 10. Conclusion: The Companion, the Prophets, and the Unseen Notes Bibliography Glossary of Non-English Terms Index