And God Knows the Soldiers: The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses: The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses Paperback – August 28, 2001

Great book which helped me to open and widen my horizons and also break off limiting bonds imposed on me.

Dr. Khaled Abu El Fadl is brilliant, Mashallah. I read everything of his that I can get my hands on. He possesses an amazing clarity of thought and the ability to explain his ideas to readers in a straight forward and logical way. He supports his arguments with conscise explanations, and gives copious citations and footnotes which show that he really knows where he is coming from and what he is talking about. "And God Knows the Soldiers" is a much needed look at how the modern puritanical movement in Islam (Wahhabism and it's offshoots)has usurped authority and has blatantly ignored much of the rich discourse from the history of Islamic thought, especially in terms of jurisprudence. Dr. Abu El Fadl intelligently and respectfully attacks the methods used by the contemporary self-appointed authorities, and shows how they are used deviously to homogenize Islam and Muslims, mostly to the detriment of women, but also at the expense of basic moral values. After reading Dr. Abu El Fadl's works, especially this one, I feel that I have a revived love for the Islamic tradition and a deeper understanding of the message of the Quran and of the actions and behavior of our Beloved Prophet (saw).If you care about the state of Islam and Muslims in the world today, you must read this book.

Dr. Abou El Fadl's books are all great. This one is a bit like " The Great Theft". He talks about moderate Islam as being true Islam, and takes on the extremists with much knowledge. Alhamdulillah!!!!