John L. Esposito is one of America's leading authorities on Islam. Now, in this brilliant portrait of Islam today-- and tomorrow-- he draws on a lifetime of thought and research to provide an accurate, richly nuanced, and revelatory account of the fastest growing religion in the world.

Here, Esposito explores the major questions and issues that face Islam in the 21st century and that will deeply affect global politics: Is Islam compatible with modern notions of democracy, rule of law, gender equality, and human rights? How representative and widespread is Islamic fundamentalism and the threat of global terrorism? Can Muslim minority communities be loyal citizens in America and Europe? In the midst of these questions, Esposito places an important emphasis on the issue of Islamophobia, the threat it poses, and its vast impact on politics and society in the US and Europe. He also turns the mirror on the US and Europe and paints a revealing portrait of how we appear to Muslims.

Recent decades have brought extraordinary changes in the Muslim world, and in addressing these issues, Esposito paints a complex picture of Islam in all its diversity--a picture of urgent importance as we face the challenges of the coming century.

Reviews
"A Georgetown University professor and well-known scholar of Islam, Esposito analyzes the current and future practice of Islam in this short but insightful volume... Esposito's enthusiasm for his topic makes his book an easy and enlightening read."--Publishers Weekly
"Esposito's book is a calculated appeal to the moderate middle ground upon whom the success of Obama's policies depends. Esposito is the right man for the job: he is a leading scholar of modern Islam, with more than 35 books on the subject to his credit, and heads a centre for Christian-Muslim understanding at Georgetown University. Through his scholarship and engaging writing, Esposito proposes the way forward for a better future for both Islam and the west."--The Financial Times
"Esposito's newest book is a well-researched, richly nuanced portrait of Islam. Though manageable at 234 pages, the book is both comprehensive and in-depth. His choices are fascinating and provide a road map for the myriad ways in which Islam is changing and adapting to new challenges. The Future of Islam is a step in the right direction."--The Christian Science Monitor
"The Future of Islam will be welcomed by readers who want a solid overview of where Islam and Muslims are now... Esposito provides, in short, the kind of information that is all too often lacking in U.S. foreign policy approaches to Muslims and the Muslim world."--America Magazine

Critically examining the western, secular approach to formal education the author contests the value of an education system focusing solely on the intellectual and physical aspects of human development. The methodological aim and structure of this approach are compared to those of Islam which Dr. Al Zeera notes gives credence to the importance of spiritual and religious factors, as well as scholarly ones, with the overall objective of forming a whole and holy human being who, instead of resisting the paradoxes of life, uses their interrelatedness as a means of personal and societal development. One interesting factor examined within the broader framework of the study is the area of female spirituality, an element, which the author argues, is vastly under-represented in prevalent Islamic literature. This study is a holistic view of knowledge and a sociological discussion adopting an unconventional approach of using the author's own personal experiences as the basis for debate and analysis. We are invited to enter the world of understanding and observation to experience for ourselves an unusual approach to dialectical thinking.

About the Author
Dr. Zahra Al Zeera is Director of the Oriental Printing and Publishing Groups in Manama, Bahrain. She was former Visiting Professor.

ISLAM ITS MEANING AND MESSAGE provides a window on the world of Islam. It presents Islam as the Muslims believe it and covers the whole spectrum of its beliefs, values, social principles, cultural institutions and contemporary problems. A book of readings on Islam, it contains some of the best writings of contemporary Muslim scholars dealing with different aspects of Islamic ideology and culture. The authors come from all parts of the Muslim world and represent the global movement of Islamic resurgence.

The book Islam – Its Beauty & Wisdom is a novel presentation of Islam, interweaving traditional Islamic material with well-documented contemporary research from the physical and behavioral sciences. This book provides an understanding of the wisdom of Islamic teachings from a religious-scientific perspective. This is a refreshingly different approach to a classic subject of the wisdom behind Islamic acts of worship. It has meanings and relevance to both Muslim and non-Muslim readers.

Review:
"This book first explains what the five pillars of Islam are in such a way any person, Muslim and non-Muslim, can understand and appreciate. It then heads in a direction I have never personally seen before in any religious manuscript. By this, I mean it provides us with an effective scientific reasoning to explain health benefits associated with Islamic acts of worship... If one really wants to understand Islam, then I can think of no better place to start than this book by Dr. Mushtaq." -- Jeffrey Ira Bernstein (Molecular Biologist, U.S.A.)