Islam is now the second largest religion in the World. For several decades, the global community has struggled with issues of national independence, cultural identity, modernization and development the challenge of fundamentalism, democratization, and pluralism. The way in which there questions are resolved will have a incalculable effect on world politics in the coming century.
In this book, sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Abdulaziz Sachedina tackles the most significant issues facing Muslims today. As Islam and Muslim enter the twenty-first century, Sachedina argues, it is necessary to reopen the doors of religious interpretation – to reexamine and correct politically conditioned interpretations, replace outdated laws, and formulate new doctrines that respond to changing social contexts. Always using the Koran as his yardstick, Sachedina demonstrates how and why Islamic law came to reflect political and social influences, leading to regulations that violate the spirit and the letter of the Koran. He critically analyse Muslim teachings on issues of pluralism, civil society, war and peace, violence and self-sacrifice, the status and role of non-Muslims, and capital punishment. In every case he does not shrink, where warranted from speaking of the irrelevance of past judicial decisions. In their place, he provides alternative resolutions, grounded in Koranic interpretation and contemporary realities. Throughout, his balanced interpretation avoids both the alarmist warning of Western analysis about the “Islamic threat” and the apologist stance of Islamic purists and Islamic religious authorities. Offering a sophisticated new understanding of Islam’s intrinsic democratic tendencies, this remarkable work will be essential reading for all concerned with Islam’s role in the coming century.
 

This book tackles the most significant issues facing Muslims today. Sachedina argues that we must reopen the doors of religious interpretation--to correct false interpretations, replace outdated laws, and formulate new doctrines. His book critically analyzes Muslim teachings on such issues as pluralism, civil society, war and peace, and violence and self-sacrifice. - from Amzon 

Table of Contents

1. The Search for Democratic Pluralism in Islam ........................................P. 3
2. The People are one Community ...........................................................P. 22
3. Compete with One another in Good Works ............................................P. 63
4. Forgiveness Toward Human Kind .........................................................P. 102
5. Epiloge .............................................................................................P. 132