Rex
Founder
Are Islam and the West on a collision course, or headed toward a new era of
understanding and cooperation? The brilliant young scholar Reza Aslan is
one of a handful of thinkers developing a compelling-and profoundly
hopeful-alternative to the widely accepted "clash of civilization" theory
that pits East against West in an apocalyptic struggle. He makes the
powerful and persuasive argument that the violence and extremism currently
seizing the Middle East are the last gasps of small, doomed religious
factions, not the beginning of a horr ificfuture,asmanyhavepredicted.
In NO GOD BUT GOD: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam (Random
House; Publication Date: March 22, 2005; $25.95; 1-4000-6213-6), Aslan
explains Islam in all its complexity, beauty, and compassion. He
re-emphasizes, irrefutably, that Islam has as much in common with
Christianity and Judaism and bears seeds of egalitarianism and social reform
at its core.
This is a book both timely and timeless. In it the author explains the
faith of Islam, presenting its battles and schisms as part of an ongoing
evolution as it responds to the social, cultural, political, and temporal
circumstances of those who are telling it. Aslan writes that what is taking
place now in the Muslim world is an internal conflict between Muslims, not
an external battle between Islam and the West. The West is merely a
bystander-an unwary yet complicit casualty of a rivalry that is raging in
Islam over who will write the next chapter in its story.
More than one billion Muslims in the world readily accept the fundamental
principles of democracy - constitutionalism, government accountability,
pluralism, human rights. What is not necessarily accepted is the distinctly
Western notion that religion and the state should be entirely separate, that
secularism must be the foundation of a democratic society. "It may be too
early to know who will write the next chapter of Islam's story, but it is
not too early to recognize who will ultimately win the war between reform
and counterreform." NO GOD BUT GOD is an argument for the Islamic
Reformation that is already taking place.
Reza Aslan, was born in Tehran, Iran in 1972 and left in 1979 during the
revolution to come to the United States. Aslan has degrees from Santa Clara
University, Harvard University, and is currently a Doctoral candidate in
Religious Studies at The University of California at Santa Barbara. Until
recently, he was both Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at the
University of Iowa and Truman Capote Fellow at the Iowa Writer's Workshop,
where he received a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction. He has lectured
extensively on the Middle East, and has published numerous articles on the
religion and politics of the Middle East.
In 1998 Reza Aslan was elected president of Harvard's chapter of the World
Conference on Religion and Peace, a United Nations organization committed to
the cause of global understanding. In that capacity, Aslan brought U.N.
Deputy Secretary Denis Halliday to Harvard for his first public appearance
since resigning his post as the Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq in protest
of sanctions. His speech received national attention and sparked a worldwide
speaking tour. In 1999 after the consecutive nuclear tests by India and
Pakistan, the W.C.R.P. under Aslan's leadership brought the ambassadors of
the two countries to Harvard in order to discuss for the first time their
shared nuclear future. His work with W.C.R.P. led to a position as
legislative assistant for the Friend's Committee on National Legislation in
D.C., where Aslan worked as a liaison to Congress on issues of arms control
and the Middle East.
In August of 2000, Aslan was named Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at
the University of Iowa, becoming the first full-time professor of Islam in
the history of the state. In that capacity, he taught courses in
Introduction to Islam, Gender and Human Rights, and Religion and Politics in
the Middle East, as well as supervising theses in the Israeli/Palestinian
conflict, the Women's Movement in Iran, and Gender Violence Laws in
Pakistan.
When the Pentagon and World Trade Center was attacked in September of 2001,
Aslan put his expertise of the Middle East to work for both the University
and the greater Iowa community by traveling throughout the state speaking to
public and private organizations, businesses, churches, mosques, and
universities. His efforts in Iowa received national attention in such
periodicals as U.S.A. Today, U.S. News and World Report, and The Chronicle
of Higher Education.
In 2003, Aslan left his post at the University of Iowa to concentrate
full-time on writing. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the
New York Times, Slate Magazine, and the Nation. No god but God is his first
book.
understanding and cooperation? The brilliant young scholar Reza Aslan is
one of a handful of thinkers developing a compelling-and profoundly
hopeful-alternative to the widely accepted "clash of civilization" theory
that pits East against West in an apocalyptic struggle. He makes the
powerful and persuasive argument that the violence and extremism currently
seizing the Middle East are the last gasps of small, doomed religious
factions, not the beginning of a horr ificfuture,asmanyhavepredicted.
In NO GOD BUT GOD: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam (Random
House; Publication Date: March 22, 2005; $25.95; 1-4000-6213-6), Aslan
explains Islam in all its complexity, beauty, and compassion. He
re-emphasizes, irrefutably, that Islam has as much in common with
Christianity and Judaism and bears seeds of egalitarianism and social reform
at its core.
This is a book both timely and timeless. In it the author explains the
faith of Islam, presenting its battles and schisms as part of an ongoing
evolution as it responds to the social, cultural, political, and temporal
circumstances of those who are telling it. Aslan writes that what is taking
place now in the Muslim world is an internal conflict between Muslims, not
an external battle between Islam and the West. The West is merely a
bystander-an unwary yet complicit casualty of a rivalry that is raging in
Islam over who will write the next chapter in its story.
More than one billion Muslims in the world readily accept the fundamental
principles of democracy - constitutionalism, government accountability,
pluralism, human rights. What is not necessarily accepted is the distinctly
Western notion that religion and the state should be entirely separate, that
secularism must be the foundation of a democratic society. "It may be too
early to know who will write the next chapter of Islam's story, but it is
not too early to recognize who will ultimately win the war between reform
and counterreform." NO GOD BUT GOD is an argument for the Islamic
Reformation that is already taking place.
Reza Aslan, was born in Tehran, Iran in 1972 and left in 1979 during the
revolution to come to the United States. Aslan has degrees from Santa Clara
University, Harvard University, and is currently a Doctoral candidate in
Religious Studies at The University of California at Santa Barbara. Until
recently, he was both Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at the
University of Iowa and Truman Capote Fellow at the Iowa Writer's Workshop,
where he received a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction. He has lectured
extensively on the Middle East, and has published numerous articles on the
religion and politics of the Middle East.
In 1998 Reza Aslan was elected president of Harvard's chapter of the World
Conference on Religion and Peace, a United Nations organization committed to
the cause of global understanding. In that capacity, Aslan brought U.N.
Deputy Secretary Denis Halliday to Harvard for his first public appearance
since resigning his post as the Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq in protest
of sanctions. His speech received national attention and sparked a worldwide
speaking tour. In 1999 after the consecutive nuclear tests by India and
Pakistan, the W.C.R.P. under Aslan's leadership brought the ambassadors of
the two countries to Harvard in order to discuss for the first time their
shared nuclear future. His work with W.C.R.P. led to a position as
legislative assistant for the Friend's Committee on National Legislation in
D.C., where Aslan worked as a liaison to Congress on issues of arms control
and the Middle East.
In August of 2000, Aslan was named Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at
the University of Iowa, becoming the first full-time professor of Islam in
the history of the state. In that capacity, he taught courses in
Introduction to Islam, Gender and Human Rights, and Religion and Politics in
the Middle East, as well as supervising theses in the Israeli/Palestinian
conflict, the Women's Movement in Iran, and Gender Violence Laws in
Pakistan.
When the Pentagon and World Trade Center was attacked in September of 2001,
Aslan put his expertise of the Middle East to work for both the University
and the greater Iowa community by traveling throughout the state speaking to
public and private organizations, businesses, churches, mosques, and
universities. His efforts in Iowa received national attention in such
periodicals as U.S.A. Today, U.S. News and World Report, and The Chronicle
of Higher Education.
In 2003, Aslan left his post at the University of Iowa to concentrate
full-time on writing. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the
New York Times, Slate Magazine, and the Nation. No god but God is his first
book.
