"Dr. Abou El Fadl's essay is lucid, nuanced, and remarkably thorough given its brevity. The responses that accompany it are intellectually challenging, honest, and lively."--Sohail Hashmi, Mount Holyoke College""Islam and the Challenge of Democracy" not only educates readers about the central issues involved in the quest to develop Islamic democracies, it provides its own substantive contributions to that discourse and debate. The voices of Dr. Abou El Fadl and the other contributors are engaging and supremely relevant."--R. Scott Appleby, University of Notre Dame"For more than a century, Muslim intellectuals have made various attempts to offer a convincing reinterpretation of the Islamic tradition that is faithful both to Islamic religious belief and to the rationality inherent in the present age - the age of democratic modernity. This well-argued book is the latest contribution to this important project. Students and scholars alike will benefit from the fair and balanced treatment accorded to the debate over the compatibility of democratic values and Quranic teachings."--Abdolkarim Soroush, author of "Reason, Freedom, and Democracy in Islam."
