Whose Quran?: A Concise Guide to Progressive Islam

by Farid Esack

In his work to build a post-apartheid South Africa, noted scholar, writer, and activist Farid Esack found grounding in his Muslim faith. While trained in a Pakistani madrassah where he became acquainted with deeply orthodox forms of Islam, he also came to realize that his religion’s teachings of justice and peace could guide the struggle against apartheid and gender injustice. Offering perceptive, groundbreaking insights, Esack describes how progressive Islam can speak to social change on six burning issues war, poverty, race, gender, sexuality, and the environment. He shows how it is not only possible but necessary for Islam to promote sexual equality. He advocates for women’s rights and reproductive freedom. He demonstrates how Islam fosters racial and economic justice and supports practices of nonviolence, and he develops its understandings of protection of the environment. Esack provides a clear rebuttal of the hysterical stereotypes of Islam and a compelling vision of liberation for those seeking to reconcile politics and faith.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published February 12, 2009