Bassam Tibi offers a radical solution to the problems faced by Islam in a rapidly changing and globalizing world. He proposes a depoliticization of the faith and the introduction of reforms to embrace secular democracy, pluralism, civil society and individual human rights. The alternative to this is the impasse of fundamentalism. The pivotal argument is that Islam is being torn between the pressure for cultural innovation and a defensive move towards the politicization of its symbols for non-religious ends.

Review of the First Edition:

'Bassam Tibi has produced yet another impressive and thought-provoking book... an elaborate and sophisticated cultural analysis that painstakingly attempts to define concepts, elucidate relationships, and propose solutions for the dilemmas at hand.' - Emad Ei Din Shahin, American University in Cairo, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

Autorentext
BASSAM TIBI was born in Damascus and educated in Germany. He has been Professor of International Relations at the University of Goettingen since 1973 (between 1982-2004 in a variety of affiliations at Harvard, the latest 'The Harvard Bosch Fellow'). Professor Tibi lectured and taught at more than 30 universities in four continents including Khartum, Yaounde/Cameroun, Ankara and the Middle East, more recently at the Islamic State University of Jakarta, Indonesia. Since 2004 he has held the A.D. White Professorship-at-large at Cornell University. Professor Tibi is author of numerous books in English and German translated into 13 languages. Among these books are Arab Nationalism (3rd edition 1997), Conflict and War in the Middle East (2nd edition 1998) and The Challenge of Fundamentalism (updated edition 2002). He is also contributor to International Herald Tribune and Wall Street Journal and to leading German press. The President of Germany awarded him the highest decoration of the state/first class for his contribution for a better understanding of Islam in Germany.

Inhalt
Introduction: Islam Between Culture and Politics: The Scope and the Implications PART I: RELIGION, CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT: ISLAM BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT Religion, Culture and Social Reality: Islam as a Cultural System and its Diversity Cultural Patterns and the Perception of Change in Islam: A Religious Model for Reality: The Islamic Worldview Culture and Social Change: Tradition and Innovation in Cultural Analysis PART TWO: THE CONTEXT: THE POLITICIZATION OF ISLAM IN THE GLOBAL AGE The Dichotomy of Structural Globalization and Fragmenting Cultural Self-Assertion: The Case of Islamic Civilization The Politicization of Religion: Political Islam as a Defence-Cultural Response to Global Challenges From Religious Belief to Political Commitment: The Fundamentalist Revolt Against the Secular Order PART III: THE FRAMEWORK: THE MEANS OF POLITICIZATION: THE REVIVAL OF THE SHARI'S AND THE ISLAMIZATION OF EDUCATION Social Change and the Potential for Flexibility in Islamic Law: The Shari's Between Ethics and Politicisation Institutions of Learning and Education in Islam: Between the Cultural Accommodation of Change, Religious Orthodoxy and the Politics of Cultural Islamization PART IV: ISLAM AND THE WEST BETWEEN INTER-CIVILIZATIONAL DIALOGUE AND POLITICAL ANTAGONISM Islam Matters to the West! Islam and Europe, Islam in Europe: Islamic Migration between Cultural Assimilation, Political Integration and Communitarian Ghettoization Islam and the West in the Age of Conflict among Civilizations: The Alternative in Inter-Cultural Dialogue as a Means of Conflict Resolution PART V: ISLAM BETWEEN CULTURE AND POLITICS REVISITED AFTER SEPTEMBER 11 2001 AND MARCH 11 2004 September 11, the Global Cultural Turn and the Return of the Sacred in Islamic Civilization: Between Religious Revival and the New Totalitarianism of Political Islam