Islam: a Search for Meaning

by Feisal Abdul Rauf

The aim of this book is to explore the philosophical process of becoming a Muslim from within the traditional context of Islam. Starting with a search for the meaning of oneself and the purpose of human existence, the author describes the Divine response as depicted in the Qur'an. This raises the question of human freedom and responsibility towards the Creator as a response to the Divine Will providing this choice, which the author addresses by resolving the common misunderstandings on the relationship between the Divine and human wills. Accepting that the human is created in a Divine image, the author extends this analogy, asserting that the human spiritual path is itself a reflected image of a Divine path of action, and posits that the Islamic rituals themselves constitute such a reflected image which thereby universalizes faith by its embrace of all previous religious paths. Lastly, the author links knowledge to love as poles that, although exoterically appearing as opposites, esoterically define the global human reality vis-a-vis the Divine mandate.Throughout this book the author is concerned not only with the philosophical and logical basis of Islam in isolation, but with the nature of this basis as it establishes the intellectual, religious and spiritual foundations of the modern Muslim, enabling him, at a personal level, to shed the mysteries and paradoxes of the human condition.

115 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Imam Feisal is Chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, an organization that brings together leaders across the Muslim-West divide to speak out for innovative, proactive, and positive solutions to shared challenges. In this capacity, Cordoba Initiative can provide novel solutions to those areas where conflict between Islamic and Western communities undermine local and global security.

In 1997, Imam Feisal also co- founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA); the first Muslim organization committed to building bridges between Muslims and the American public by elevating the discourse on Islam through educational outreach, interfaith collaboration, culture and arts.

Background: Born of Egyptian parentage and educated in England, Egypt, and Malaysia, Imam Feisal holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Columbia University in New York and a Master of Science in Plasma Physics from Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.

Published Work: What’s Right with Islam Is What’s Right with America (HarperCollins, 2005); Islam: A Sacred Law (Threshold Books, 2000); Islam: A Search for Meaning (Mazda Publishers,1996); “What is Islamic Law?” Mercer Law Review (2006); “Justification & Theory of Sharia Law: How the American Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Constitution are Consistent with Islamic Jurisprudence” University of St. Thomas Law (2010); and Moving the Mountain: Beyond Ground Zero to a New Vision of Islam in America (Free Press, 2012).