Dynamic Islam: Liberal Muslim Perspectives in a Transnational Age

Dynamic Islam analyzes the lives and works of four of the most influential liberal diaspora Muslim intellectuals of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries-Fatima Mernissi, Leila Ahmed, Fazlur Rahman, and Mohammed Arkoun. These prolific scholars are among the first generation of Muslims writing in Western languages who have intentionally directed their works toward audiences in the West, as well as the Muslim world. Jon Armajani examines the way these cutting-edge scholars have interpreted the Quran, Hadith, and Islamic history as they have constructed their visions for Islam in the modern world. Armajani vividly describes their perspectives on women and gender, veiling, Islamic revivalism, Islam and democracy, and Islamic mysticism. The volume also situates their ideas with respect to conservatively minded western Muslims and Islamic revivalists.

Jon Armajani holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies with a focus in Islamic and Near Eastern Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theology at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University in Minnesota.