The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists

This is a phenomenal book soaked in centuries of rich knowledge of Islamic tradition, jurisprudence, history of the past as well as current geopolitical circumstances, and a thorough psychological analysis.Dr Abou El Fadl is the most spectacular, honest, and just voice of modern Muslims. His intelligence and elegant ways of sharing it are one of the kind. After you’ve picked up this book, you will not be the same person when you complete reading it. It is informative and thus transformative.I first read it when it was used as a textbook for my Muslim World Studies class years ago. Unlike any other textbook, this one is the book to keep and return to over and over again. When confused and misunderstood - read it, when search for light - read it, when in doubt - read it. I’m a Muslim convert and there are many books I had to read (and aim to read) in order to understand theological nuances, ethical and moral principles, etc. This one definitely captures the essence of heart and soul of Islam. Yes, it explains the ugliness of misinterpreted and transgressors, but it offers beautiful solutions based on truth, reason, justice, compassion, moderation, and humanism.It is imperative for Muslims and non-Muslims alike to read it, to familiarize oneself with struggles of others as well as psychological processes that govern human behaviors that may be hard to understand, and to build empathy towards those who know the truth, but don’t either have the means or confidence to speak it. Thanks to Dr Abou El Fadl, there is an accurate and honest representation of such voices, of majority.Thank you, Dr Abou El Fadl, your family, and your team. Whoever reads this, pray for Dr’s wellbeing. He risks so much speaking truth and we must highly regard, respect, appreciate, and spread it.

Should be read by everyone, both Muslims and non-Muslims. Brilliant, wise and highly important. Read it and be sure to learn and to grow in knowledge and hope.

This book serves as an inspiration to every moderate Muslim. Fadl’s love of the faith, and hate of what he calls the heretical “puritans”, comes across clearly.On p. 286, “To save the soul and reputation of Islam, moderates have a dual obligation. First, they must become educated as much as possible about Islam and the Shari’a... Second, they must consider themselves in a state of defensive jihad… “Most importantly, he says, “To win this very real war that has done inestimable damage to so many Muslims and to the truth of the Islamic faith, it is absolutely imperative that moderates declare a counter-jihad against the puritan heresy.” (p. 286)Who are Fadl’s “puritans”? The term is used in varied ways. For Fadl, They are pretty much what BioIslam calls “Traditional Muslims” or “Traditionalists” going by his elaborate definition (below) of who they are.Fadl’s “puritan heresy” is a strong stuff. This book was written in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy, and his anger is palpable. But to slam someone as “heretic” is not in keeping with BioIslam’s view that we must accept “analytic ambiguity” since we live in an AHL AL FATRA, an era between Prophets, one without clear guidance. Due to the twin problems of canonization and complexity, much of what well-intentioned Traditionalist scholars tell us is questionable. Clarity will emerge only when the next Prophet arrives, which will be the second coming of Isa/Jesus, upon whom be peace. As discussed in “HOPING FOR ISA” on BioIslam.org, it could be weeks or centuries until he returns, we just don’t know. Until then, BioMuslims use pure intentions and “open” reason to interpret the Quran and other sources of knowledge, versus the “closed” or boxed-in reason of the ulema. Exemplars include the ulema at AlMaghrib, Yaqeen and Kalamullah – they are profoundly pious and highly learned, struggling to defend the faith from the excesses of hedonism, scientism, hyper-rationalism, and the dehumanizing downside of the materialist machine. However, they too are victims of the canonization and complexity problems, since they fail to rail against the Tragic Errors and Inconvenient Implications. This is illustrated in the attached figure, the TRAGIC HOUSE of Traditional Islam.PURITANS DEFINEDOn p. 163, “For puritans, it is considered a fundamental premise of the faith that Islam fulfilled its potential during a particular historical period, which they consider to be “the golden age of Islam.” According to puritans, the golden age of Islam consisted of the time that the Prophet ruled Medina and the ages of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs… While Sunni Muslims in general respect the first four caliphs and admire their achievements, puritans go much further – Puritans highly idealize this time period, which lasted roughly for the first fifty years of Islam, and believe that in the golden age, perfect justice and fairness were fully realized. For puritans it is simply not possible for any polity anywhere, at any time, to accomplish a greater degree of justice and fairness. After the first fifty years, they believe, the balance of Islamic history was one of unmitigated deterioration.”On p. 164, “Consequently, puritans believe that Muslims should reclaim the golden age by closely imitating and replicating the institutions and codes of conduct they believe existed at that time. It is as if history had peaked and fulfilled its complete potential during the golden age of Islam. As to what remains of history, puritans imagine that Muslims, and indeed the rest of humanity, must strive to replicate that earlier time when history reached its zenith.”How do Fadl’s “puritans” know what exactly occurred during this golden age? They rely on the transmitted-Sunnah and make an AUTHENTICITY ASSUMPTION and subscribe to a CULT OF CERTAINTY, as detailed in the COMPLEXITY PROBLEM page of BioIslam.org. If we replace Fadl’s “puritans” with “Traditionalists” it approximates BioIslam’s views.

I found this book very helpful, especially in these days of understandable Islamophobia (resulting from all the terrorist horrors, mid 2016): to see where the extreme mindset originates and finds its justifications and the underlying narrow, reactive and paranoid motivation of these misguided and fear-ridden people.The only thing I had some struggle to feel comfortable with was the definitions of puritan and moderate; for although i appreciate that they do explain those average genres, (probably better than any other term) it still seems a bit simplistic, with all due respect to the eminent author, to divide the entire Muslim into two types. Likewise, I do not love the need to divide humanity into two camps...Muslim and Non-Muslim! Surely, we are all people and to be defined by ones religion, lack of it or adherence to some other belief system, any more than colour or sex, could be seen as somewhat discriminatory. These terminological quibbles apart, I love the book and the noble intention of the author.I have already bought a hard-back copy as a gift -for a practising Muslim, devoted to the faith and tormented by how it seems to being put into practise, as well as (mis)understood in the Western world.

Thank you Sara Khan for introducing me to the work of Abou El Fadl. He is an American academic who knows how to write really well or both an educated-but-not-Islamic-specialist and lay readership. As a writer, I research and read a lot. I could not put down 'The Great Theft' - this is such a necessary and helpful work. If more people read this book, we would live in a more peaceful world...has to be five stars! Oh, and it was as described, despatched by return-upon-ordering - great customer service, too

A long needed book, well researched and clearly argued by a renowned Muslim scholar, to explain the true nature of Islam. Essential reading for every Muslim and non-Muslim with the desire to educate themself more deeply about Islam. It also explains in depth how the Saudis appropriated and perverted Islam for political reasons.

I converted to Islam about 2 yrs before this book came out and it really helped me differentiate between different kinds of Muslims. This book kept me Muslim when I needed it, also Islam and Jihad: Prejudice Versus Reality (Global Issues).. All I can say is its a MUST READ 4 Muslims and non-Muslims. Especially Muslims!!!

I didnt find the book easy to read just not my cup of tea.