Politics of the Islamic Tradition

The book under review consists of six chapters. Chapter One discusses in detail the life of al-Ghazali and how it was shaped by colonial Egypt. It describes how Egypt was experiencing a new sense of religious reform. The author asserts that it was this yearning for religious reform that shaped much of al-Ghazali’s thought and had a profound impact on him alongside the socio-political milieu of post-colonial Egypt. Chapter Two is a survey of the books and article written on al-Ghazali since the 1950s. There are three parts to this. What is interesting is the third part in which the author shows how in the last two decades, in particular after the 9/11 attacks, Arab and Muslim academics have begun investigating al-Ghazali’s role in expounding a rational and tolerant interpretation of Islam. Chapter Three describes the development of the Islamic tradition and the existence within it of a renewal trend until the period preceding the appearance of Muhammad al-Ghazali. Reform and revival were also key components in unlocking this tradition. Elements of renewal of the religion of Islam can be detected in the writings of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Imam al-Shatibi and Shah Waliullah al-Dihlawi who tried to redefine orthodoxy and the ethical imperatives of Islam....