Genuine understanding of Islam, the religion, will reveal that Islam is a later moment of that very consciousness which produced Judaism and Christianity, that Islam, the culture, is as much a source of the Western civilization of the present millennium as classical Greece and Rome, that Islam’s anti-clericalism made it the first “Protestant” revolution, that its rationalism made it the first “Enlightenment”, that its pragmatism made it the first “technocracy”, and that its law of war and peace made it the first “United Nations”.

About the Author 

Professor Ismail Raji al Faruqi, Palestinian-American philosopher, visionary, and an authority in comparative religion, was one of the foremost Muslim scholars of the 20th century. In this study he presents the meaning and message of Islam to the wider world community. Key elements of the faith are summarized and explained in an overall theme of seven parts consisting of 21 chapters. Yet the chapters represent far more than a simple description of Muslim peoples and orthodox practice. Al Faruqi was a great thinker, formidable in logic, and relished intellectual engagement on every level, particularly when it came to Islam and other faiths. And it is this unique reasoning process that is reflected in this work, al Faruqi signature contribution, which not only expounds on Islam as spiritual faith and action, but also on Islam the great experience.