“The crucial need for our day is to find ways to accelerate the process whereby American Muslims will be able to establish their Islamic identity not apart from or in spite of their American identity, but precisely in and through it.” (p. 221)
Abdul Rauf, Feisal. What’s Right with Islam: A New Vision for Muslims and the West. 1st ed. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004.
I struggled with the idea of putting this book on the sidebar. I opted against it. While it is a worthwhile read, it doesn’t offer anything unique compared to what I already have up on the site. It is well-written, and draws on a variety of inter-faith resources, so if you’ve got time, do check it out for yourself.
I have the book, but haven’t read it yet. More books than I have the time to read. Imam Feisal had an interesting article on economic development in Muslim countries that appeared in the Oct 4 Fortune. He takes up the issue of riba, described by some as any interest and others as excessive interest (in line with the idea of usury the definition of which follows teh same distinction). I wrote Imam Feisal concerning his conclusion, and he responded that he offers no conclusion which is left up to the reader.
I find some sections of the book are like that. There is information on a topic, some of it thought provoking, but the conclusions are somewhat soft. His hardest push is for the Cordoba Initiative, an inter-faith project he’s started. I still it’s a good book, but not one I’d push as a regular read.