In a Western world suddenly acutely interested in Islam, one question
has been repeatedly heard above the din: Where are the Muslim reformers?
With this ambitious volume, Tariq Ramadan firmly establishes himself as
one of Europe's leading thinkers and one of Islam's most innovative and
important voices. As the number of Muslims living in the West grows, the
question of what it means to be a Western Muslim becomes increasingly
important to the futures of both Islam and the West. While the media are
focused on radical Islam, Ramadan claims, a silent revolution is
sweeping Islamic communities in the West, as Muslims actively seek ways
to live in harmony with their faith within a Western context. French,
English, German, and American Muslims--women as well as men--are
reshaping their religion into one that is faithful to the principles of
Islam, dressed in European and American cultures, and definitively
rooted in Western societies. Ramadan's goal is to create an independent
Western Islam, anchored not in the traditions of Islamic countries but
in the cultural reality of the West. He begins by offering a fresh
reading of Islamic sources, interpreting them for a Western context and
demonstrating how a new understanding of universal Islamic principles
can open the door to integration into Western societies. He then shows
how these principles can be put to practical use. Ramadan contends that
Muslims can-indeed must-be faithful to their principles while
participating fully in the civic life of Western secular societies.
Grounded in scholarship and bold in its aims, Western Muslims and the
Future of Islam offers a striking vision of a new Muslim Identity, one
which rejects once and for all the idea that Islam must be defined in
opposition to the West.
