The Contemporary Arab Reader on Political Islam

Recent decades have witnessed the birth of a veritable ‘political Islam’ industry, with hundreds of books having been published on the subject in just the last decade and many millions of dollars being poured in, by governments and think-tanks, to research the phenomenon. Much of this writing has been by Western, non-Muslim researchers and analysts, many of whom continue to view the subject through an inherently biased and heavily distorted neo- Orientalist lens. The bulk of this literary output sees the phenomenon of what is controversially called ‘political Islam’ or Islamism from the point of view of its real, alleged, perceived or imaginary security threats and implications, and not as representing a potentially positive agenda as such. On the other hand, very little has been written by Islamist ideologues in English and geared particularly to the non-Muslim general or specialist reader.

This timely book makes a very valuable contribution to ongoing debates on ‘political Islam’/Islamism. It consists of translations of articles by almost three dozen leading contemporary Arab Islamic activists, ideologues and spokesmen, most of which have been published in English for the first time. The articles cover a wide range of themes of contemporary interest central to the subject of Islamism.