Exploring Islam in a New Light - Softcover

Rab, Abdur

Softcover

ISBN 10: 098258671X ISBN 13: 9780982586716

Publisher: Brainbow Press, 2010

Synopsis

This is the second revised edition of the author's original book Exploring Islam in a New Light: An Understanding from the Quranic Perspective, iUniverse, 2008. It is a comprehensive and in-depth description of Islam in light of the Quran alone. Its main focus is the essence of the central message of the Quran, which is essentially a call for a moral, spiritual, and intellectual practice. The book shows that Islam, seen from the perspective of the Quran alone, is a tolerant, humane, and progressive religion that meets the social and economic challenges of modern time. It is a religion of peaceful co-existence, justice, equality, compassion, and service to humanity - far removed from a fanatic, misogynistic, and militant image in which it is most often portrayed in the West. The Hadith, though widely revered by Muslims as a second authoritative source of religious law and guidance in Islam, is found by this book to be untenable and unreliable on theological, historical, and objective grounds. The book lays out a bold yet well-argued case for a reform of Islam as it is practiced today, which is beset with numerous problematic features and misconceptions borrowed from the Hadith. Also, it provides more meaningful, deeper interpretations of various tenets of the Quran such as prayer (salat), fasting (siam), spending in God's way (zakat, sadaqa), pilgrimage (hajj), marriage (nikah), divorce (talaq) and remarriage of divorced wives, and so on than are generally being understood by Muslims.

About this title

About the Author

Abdur Rab is basically an economist. Except for a brief stint as a Lecturer in Dhaka University, he held research and consulting positions throughout his career with numerous organizations, including the Bangladesh and former undivided Pakistan governments. He served the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics as a Staff and Research Economist, the Pakistan Tariff Commission as a Member, and the Bangladesh Planning Commission as Section Chief and Senior Consultant. He was an Industrial Economist with UNIDO, Financial and Monetary Advisor for the Uganda government under a World Bank assignment, and a Senior Industrial Economist for the Qatar government under a UNIDO assignment. He also offered his consulting services to various development projects of Bangladesh supported by USAID, the World Bank, UNDP, and the Asian Development Bank. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Dhaka University and a PhD from Harvard.
 
Born and brought up in a traditional Bengali Muslim family, Abdur has been a devoted follower of the traditional teachings and rituals of Islam since his very childhood. However, when he went to college, he came into close contact with a versatile spiritual teacher Shah Aksaruddin Ahmad and underwent a paradigm change in his religious approach. Inspired by him, Abdur closely studied the Quran to learn about genuine Islam. Afterwards he studied also the Hadith and relevant literature of modern Islamic scholars. He came to the United States in December 1999. His original book on Islam has taken more than four years.

From the Back Cover

A bold, modern, and in-depth description of the message of Islam and an impassioned call for reform of the practiced faith in light of the Quran.

"This is a surprising, inspiring, and ultimately, refreshing book. It is simultaneously a solid introduction to Islam, an ecstatic spiritual journey, and an analytical call for reform. Abdur Rab is not only a reliable and authoritative voice on modern Islam but he is an original and thrilling thinker. This is one book that is definitely well-worth the time investment and indeed it should be read widely by Muslims and non-Muslims alike."
-Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, Chair of Islamic Studies, Alfi Distinguished Professor of Islamic Law, UCLA School of Law.

"At a time when misconceptions about Islam are on the rise, even among Muslims, Abdur Rab has provided a compelling argument for returning to the Qur'an for a deeper, more complete, more original understanding of the meaning and message of Islam. The result is a book that posits not a NEW interpretation of Islam, but a more authentic one."
-Reza Aslan, Professor of Creative Writing, University of California, Riverside; author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam.

"Abdur Rab offers a comprehensive vision of Islam using the Quran as his sole religious textual source. He intentionally avoids the hadith literature, which he believes, and argues, has done much damage to the message of the Quran. His work provides many very thought-provoking insights and should be a significant contribution to the 'Quran only' movement in modern Islam."
-Jeffrey Lang, Ph.D., Professor of Mathematics, University of Kansas; author of Losing My Religion: A Call for Help.

"Another valuable addition to a list of books that question the sectarian teachings [...] A scholarly contribution to the message of Quran alone or rational monotheism movement." [Part of his review of the book]
-Edip Yuksel, Author; Professor of Philosophy, Pima Community College; an ardent advocate of Islamic Reform; co-founder of Muslims for Peace, Justice and Progress (MPJP).

"Dr. Rab has [...] produced a thoughtful, wonderful book that is constructively revolutionary." [Part of his review of the book]
-Khaleel Mohammed, Ph.D. (McGill), Professor/Undergraduate Advisor, Department of Religious Studies, San Diego State University.

"[This] book brings Islam nearer to modernity, more particularly challenging [...] aspects of practiced Islam so far thought unchallengeable. In that respect [the author's] contribution can be called revolutionary."
-Dr. Rezaul Haq Khandker (late), a former senior official of UNDP, New York, USA.

Edition details

• Publisher: Brainbow Press
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 098258671X
• ISBN 13: 9780982586716
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 458