Humanism in Islam (Marcel A Boisard)

ISBN: 9839154532
Author: Marcel A Boisard
Publisher: Islamic Book Trust (2003)
Pages: 317 Binding: Paperback

Description from the publisher:

Freed from European colonial tutelage and representing almost a billion souls, grouped in approximately forty states, the Muslims have entered the international scene without really having any other choice but to imitate the existing institutions, or to accept provisions in which they, historically speaking, have had no participation.

Nevertheless, the process of modernization has not lured the Muslims away from the remembrance of a glorious heritage. On the contrary, wherever the movement of Westernization has been too brutal, it has run into a religious challenge. Islam thus reappeared as one of the grand moral and political forces of the contemporary world.

Humanism in Islam has not been drafted only out of sympathy for the Muslims but also on account of historical evidence: Islamic civilization was the first to outline clear and mandatory provisions for protecting the destiny of man and society, and for creating order in the ties between peoples.

As to its general character, this work attempts to encourage a certain Western public to abandon its ethnocentrism in order to better understand the legitimate aspirations - expressing themselves sometimes in chaos - of the present-day Muslims.

A Swiss university professor, Marcel Boisard has lived for more than 12 years in Muslim countries, notably as a delegate of the international Committee of the Red Cross in Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.