NEW RELEASES Bridging the Gap: Islam’s Challenge for America Ashraf W. Nubani 2022. Pp. 264. PB: $17.99. Kindle: $0.99 New Degree Press, Potomac, Md. ubani argues that building a bridge between Islam and Western principles leads to a bigger, muchneeded discussion. Islam, as more of an ideology than an idea that resolves the oft-misunderstood paradox of freedom through submission, offers a powerful message in the marketplace of ideas. Citing its tenets, Nubani sets out to reframe Western values in a way that can accentuate and foster human dignity. Delving deep into the philosophy behind Islam’s rulings and codes of ethics, he argues that a firm grasp of Islam’s core beliefs could provide a deeper and more realized appreciation of the U.S. In the U.S., where religion is declining, this is an eye-opening and inviting assessment.
N
Rebellious Wives, Neglectful Husbands: Controversies in Modern Qur’anic Commentaries Hadia Mubarak 2022 Pp. 368. HB: $29.95. Kindle: $19.99 Oxford University Press USA ubarak explores significant shifts in modern Quranic commentaries on the subject of women by placing three of the 20th century’s most influential Sunni Quranic commentaries — “Tafsir al-Manar,” “Fi Zilal al-Qur’an” and “al-Tahrir wa’l-Tanwir” — against the backdrop of modern North Africa’s broader historical, intellectual and political developments. She shows how colonialism, nationalism and modernization set into motion new ways of engaging with this topic. Focusing on commentaries as a scholarly genre, Mubarak offers a critical and comparative analysis of these three commentaries along with seven medieval commentaries, spanning from the ninth to 14th centuries, on neglectful husbands (4:128), rebellious wives (4:34), polygyny (4:3) and divorce (2:228).
M
Jihad: What Everyone Needs to Know Asma Afsaruddin 2022. Pp. 224. HB: $74.00. PB: $18.95 Oxford University Press USA onsidering the over-abundance of misinformation, Afsaruddin has written this book for a general audience. The word “jihad” generally appears in the context of violence waged against the West by “militants” in or from Muslim-majority societies. This usage, which she argues overwhelmingly colors popular discourse about Islam and Muslims, has resulted in highly simplistic, distorted and ahistorical understandings. She addresses the great need for a discussion that explores jihad’s dimensions by examining it from scriptural, theological, moral and ethical, legal and socio-political perspectives. This historically grounded scholarly and yet accessible treatment stretches from Islam’s formative period until the contemporary period.
C
A Caliph for Our Time: How Abu Bakr’s Inaugural Address Can Transform Leadership Today Iqbal J. Unus 2022. Pp. 100. HB: $11.90. PB: $5.50. Kindle: $0.00. Jonah Publishing, Herndon, Va. eadership is complex. The common threads running through its fabric may be around us as well as bound up in the folds of history. The inaugural addresses of exceptional political leaders give us an idea of how they envisioned leadership in different times and circumstances. Unus pries loose such leadership
L
60
ISLAMIC HORIZONS MAY/JUNE 2022
lessons in Abu Bakr as-Siddiq’s (‘alayhi rahmat) extraordinary inaugural sermon, in which he finds meanings that illuminate the context of our own time and space. Islam and the Arab Revolutions: The Ulama Between Democracy and Autocracy Usaama Al-Azami 2022. Pp. 392. HB: $70.00 Oxford University Press, USA he 2011 Arab “Spring” was a transformative moment, as people revolted against long-standing autocrats — most of them installed and propped up by Western democracies — to call for “bread, freedom and dignity.” The results have been mixed: tentative success stories like Tunisia and even more repressive dictatorships in places like Egypt, with the backing of several Western and Gulf states. Focusing primarily on Egypt, al-Azami considers a relatively understudied dimension: the role of prominent religious scholars, including Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Ali Gomaa and Abdullah bin Bayyah. Pro-revolutionary ulama have justified activism against authoritarian regimes, whereas counterrevolutionary scholars have provided religious backing for repression and, in some cases, the mass murder of unarmed protestors. He finds that while a minority of noted scholars have enthusiastically endorsed the counterrevolutions, their approach is attributable less to premodern theology than to their distinctly modern commitment to the authoritarian state.
T
Mantle of Mercy: Islamic Chaplaincy in North America Muhammad A. Ali, Omer Bajwa, Sondos Kholaki, Jaye Starr (eds.) 2022. Pp. 320. HB: $24.95. Kindle: $11.49 Templeton Press West Conshohocken, Penn. his collection of 30 Muslim chaplains’ essays reveals how they skillfully apply the mercy and compassion exemplified by Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) to the people in their care, how their faith guides their service, how they navigate the obstacles of a predominantly Christian profession and how they minister to the spiritual needs of non-Muslims. Working in hospitals, prisons, universities, the armed forces and elsewhere, Muslim chaplains encounter unique challenges that require them to call upon their faith’s resources with wisdom and tenderness. The contributors explore these circumstances and offer personal stories showing how Islamic principles can be joined with spiritual insight to strengthen and comfort the sick and suffering.
T
We Uyghurs Have No Say: An Imprisoned Writer Speaks Ilham Tohti 2022. Pp. 192. PB: $24.95. Kindle: $9.99 Verso Books, Brooklyn, N.Y. lham Tohti, an intellectual and economist, prolific writer and former host of Uyghur Online (Uyghurbiz), has been called “a Uyghur Mandela.” He was arrested in 2014 and accused of advocating separatism, violence and the overthrow of the Chinese government. After a two-day trial, this winner of the PEN/Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was sentenced to life imprisonment. Nothing has been heard from him since. This volume are Tohti’s own words — his plain-spoken calls for justice, scholarly explanations of Xinjiang’s history and poignant personal reflections. While his courage and outspokenness about the plight of the Muslim minority is extraordinary, these essays sound a measured insistence on peace and just treatment for the Uyghurs.
I
