Islamic renewal and reformism is an ongoing process which is commonly thought to have started only in the twentieth century. Professor Azra's meticulous study, using sources from the Middle East itself, shows how scholars in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were reconstructing the intellectual and socio-moral foundation of Muslim societies.
A World Without Islam takes us on an illuminating journey through history, geopolitics, and religion to investigate whether there is something unique in Islam that breeds violence and conflict. Spanning the rise of Muhammad to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire to the present day, the book analyzes the roots of terrorism, the conflicts in Israel and Chechnya, and the role of Islam in support- i…