People Like Us (book)
Appearance
Author | Aly, Waleed |
---|---|
Language | English |
Subject | Islam and the West |
Genre | Religion |
Publisher | Pan Macmillan |
Publication date | 30th August, 2007 |
Publication place | Australia |
Media type | Paperback |
ISBN | 978 0 3304 2380 9 |
People Like Us, published in 2007, is a book authored by the Muslim Australian academic, musician and former commercial lawyer Waleed Aly.
Synopsis
The text highlights the egocentricism and the "endless misunderstanding and mutual, cross civilisational ignorance" that - according to the author - pervade contemporary Islam-related attitudes and discourse. In the process it discusses issues such as the hijab, jihad, fundamentalism, radicalism, and secularism.
Chapters
1. A Danish snapshot
- Discusses the issues and events surrounding the Jyllans-Posten cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad in order to illustrate the current state of affairs between Islam and the West.
2. How did we get here?
- Traces the history of Western attitudes to Islam, attitudes that - according to Aly - have often stemmed from ignorance and or misunderstanding.
3. Don't call me a moderate!
- Analyses the terms 'fundamentalism,' (for which a more useful and widely applicable definition is provided) and 'moderate' (which the author judges to be an "explicitly political" designation).
4. Save our secular souls
- Describes the many flavours of secularism, arguing that Western attitudes toward it have been shaped by Europe's personal experience of Church/State interaction. Aly contends that those who prescribe secularism as a cure for the Muslim world's ills fail to take into account Islam's unique history, and the fact that Islam lacks a 'Church' in the true sense.
5. Women as a battlefield
- Discusses the veil and Western perceptions of it, suggesting that these have been and continue to be influenced by the West's self-image.
6. The war on jihad
- Discusses in detail the concept of jihad, drawing a clear distinction between it and holy war.
7. What's so medieval about al-Qa'ida?
- Explains that radicalism and terrorism are modern phenomena, having much more in common with Bolshevism than medieval Islamic thought.
8. Reformists, Reformation and Renaissance
- Makes the claim that the 'Islamic Reformation' advocated by some Western commentators has already taken place, and has produced mixed results.
9. Seeking the human