Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty by Mustafa Akyol

Copyright © 2011 by Mustafa Akyol
     
    All rights reserved
    Printed in the United States of America
    First Edition
     
    Epigraphs for part I and chapter 5 reprinted with permission of Cambridge University Press from The Cambridge History of Islam , vol. 2B. Copyright © 1970 by Cambridge University Press. Epigraph for chapter 1 reprinted with permission of the Acton Institute, from Toward a Free and Virtuous Society by Robert A. Sirico. Copyright © 1997 by the Acton Institute. Epigraph for chapter 2 reprinted with permission of Oxford University Press, from What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response by Bernard Lewis. Copyright © 1992 by Bernard Lewis. Epigraphs for chapters 3 and 8 reprinted with permission of the University of Chicago Press, from Islamic Liberalism: A Critique of Development Ideologies by Leonard Binder. Copyright © 1988 by the University of Chicago Press. All rights reserved. Epigraph for chapter 7 reprinted with permission of Benjamin R. Barber, from a paper presented at the Istanbul Seminars, organized by Reset Dialogues on Civilization . Copyright © 2008 by Benjamin R. Barber. Epigraph for part III reprinted with permission of Michael Novak, from The Universal Hunger for Liberty: Why the Clash of Civilizations Is Not Inevitable by Michael Novak. Copyright © 1994 by Michael Novak. Epigraph for chapter 9 reprinted with permission of Vincent Cornell, from his paper entitled “Islam: Theological Hostility and the Problem of Difference.” Copyright © 1993 by Vincent Cornell.
     
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    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
     
    Akyol, Mustafa, 1972–
    Islam without extremes : a Muslim case for liberty / Mustafa Akyol. — 1st ed.
    p. cm.
    Includes bibliographical references and index.
    ISBN 978-0-393-07086-6 (hardcover)
    1. Islam and state. 2. Secularism—Islamic countries. 3. Liberty—Relgious aspects—Islam. 4. Liberalism—Islamic countries. I. Title.
    BP173.6.A4297 2011
    297.2’72—dc22
    2011014936
     
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To my beloved parents, Tülin and Taha Akyol,
to whom I owe more than I could ever say

Being created free by God, man is naturally obliged to benefit from this divine gift.
[Thus] state authority should be realized in the way which will least limit the freedom of the individual. . . .
The right of the sultan in our country is to govern on the basis of the will of the people and the principles of freedom.
His title is “one charged with kingship” [after all], not “owner of kingship.”
—Ottoman Muslim intellectual Namık Kemal,in his journal Hürriyet
(Liberty), July 20, 1868



Glossary
     
    Abbasid . Islamic dynasty that held the seat of the caliphate from 750 to 1258; its capital was Baghdad.
    Abode of Islam ( dar al-Islam ) . Lands ruled by Muslims according to the Shariah (Islamic law).
    Abode of Treaty ( dar al-ahd or dar al-sulh ) . Lands ruled by non-Muslims who negotiated treaties with a Muslim state.
    Abode of Trial ( dar al-ibtila ) . A term used by medieval Muslim scholars to define the world as a testing ground for humans to use their free will.
    Abode of War ( dar al-harb ) . Lands ruled by non-Muslims that are considered enemy territory.
    Allah . The Arabic word for God, used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians.
    al-Maturidi . The tenth-century founder of a school of