The Battle for the Soul of Islam

Reviewed by: Zeeshan Mahmood, Nottingham, UK

Published by: Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024, 203pp. ISBN: 978-9819728060

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There is no denying that multiple conflicts are raging hard in contemporary times across the Muslim World. In The Battle for the Soul of Islam: Defining the Muslim Faith in the 21st Century (2024), James M. Dorsey, an award-winning American journalist and currently based as a scholar at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, explores how Islamicate actors – nation-states and non-states – are pursuing soft power (achieving political goals through persuasion and negotiation) in their foreign policies and international posturing. This book is a descriptive account of an ongoing, intensifying contestation by Muslim groups over the semantics of Islam in the twenty-first century.

The seasoned analyst who has spent over seven years studying this phenomenon considerately has opted to emphasise three significant actors who are looking to shape present and future generation of Muslims, not only inside their designated territorial boundaries but across the globe: Nahdlatul Ulama in Indonesia (the largest Muslim-populated country in the world), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (which rules over the Two Holy Cities) under Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, and the oil-rich United Arab Emirates under President Muhammad Bin Zayed. This trio converges in having a vested interest in promoting “moderate Islam”, a concept that has gained increased currency usage since 2001, not only to other Muslims but to non-Muslims globally, albeit with different motivations and ambitions.