Sam Harris is the author of The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, and Free Will, among other writings. Maajid Nawaz is the author of Radical and a cofounder and the chairman of Quilliam—a globally active think tank focusing on religious freedom, extremism, and citizenship.
How refreshing to read an honest yet affectionate exchange between
the Islamist-turned-liberal-Muslim Maajid Nawaz and the
neuroscientist who advocates mindful atheism, Sam Harris… Their
back-and-forth clarifies multiple confusions that plague the public
conversation about Islam.
*New York Times Book Review*
Provocative and profane… Islam and the Future of Tolerance
exemplifies the virtues of open dialogue… All Harris and Nawaz seek
is to give voice to the spirit of rebellion and reformation
smoldering in the lands of Islam. Forcing it into flame will
doubtless be a long time coming, but these two men should be lauded
for endeavoring to provide a spark.
*National Review*
It is sadly uncommon, in any era, to find dialogue based on facts
and reason—but even more rarely are Muslim and non-Muslim
intellectuals able to maintain critical distance on broad questions
about Islam. Which makes Islam and the Future of Tolerance
something of a unicorn. Nawaz and Harris discuss Islamism and
jihadism from a historical as well as a philosophical angle, with
no trace of sentiment or dogma. Most conversations about religion
are marked by the inability of either side to listen, but here, at
last, is a proper debate.
*New Statesman*
The ideas it leaves behind—about religion, politics, values and
interpretation—linger long after the book is finished. They seem a
vital contribution to the current conversation, so often defined by
the real or imagined divides that the authors encourage us to
cross… Islam and the Future of Tolerance deepens our understanding
of religion, ideology, politics and the possibility of common
ground. It could hardly come at a better time.
*Post and Courier*
[A] wise little volume.
*Booklist*
Readers with a knee-jerk opinion of Islam will learn a lot.
*Kirkus Reviews*
A worthwhile read on the state of Islam and religious tolerance in
the world today… Those interested in a deferential and detailed
dialogue about human rights, Islam, jihadism, and pluralism will
find this book both enlightening and engaging.
*Publishers Weekly*
In this conversation, Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz achieve what so
many who take part in the debate on Islam and the West fail to
accomplish: a civil but honest dialogue. The result is as
illuminating as it is fascinating. Courteous and at times even
chivalrous, the two men address every thorny issue on Islam, issues
that lead so many others into wild shouting matches, personal
attacks, and accusations of Islamophobia. In this gem of a book the
authors lay it all out and set the rest of us a great example: that
an incisive debate on Islam between a believer and a non-believer
is attainable. Given the importance and the urgency of the topic,
we must all read it and follow in their footsteps.
*Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of Infidel, Nomad, and
Heretic*
Free thought and rational inquiry once characterized the relative
liberalism and humanism of ancient Muslim societies and
civilizations: the leading Sunni Imam, Abu Hanifa, would debate
atheists inside the great mosques of Iraq; the Abbasid caliphs
hosted debates amongst the leaders of Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam at their courts in Baghdad; the Mughal emperors engaged in
debate with Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists. Sam Harris and
Maajid Nawaz should be commended for conducting a frank and
wide-ranging conversation about a number of key issues around
religion, reform, and Islam in the modern world. Nawaz’s approach
is based upon detailed familiarity with extremist worldviews, and
with the history and tradition of reform theology and renewal
within Islam that desperately needs to be amplified. I hope that
this debate will be a fruitful endeavor, and illustrate that, in
our increasingly-polarized world, it is possible and even normal
for people with different viewpoints to have a civilized
conversation and to learn from each other.
*Sheikh Dr. Usama Hasan, Islamic scholar*
Back in Islam’s formative centuries, the engagement of Muslims with
their ideological opponents helped them to forge the doctrines and
traditions of their nascent faith—and perhaps now, as Maajid Nawaz
locks horns with Sam Harris, we are at the start of another stage
in Islam’s evolution. It is certainly a privilege to read their
conversation, and to enjoy a flavor of those great debates between
rival scholars that were once staged for the entertainment of the
Caliph in Baghdad.
*Tom Holland, historian and author of In the Shadow of the
Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab
Empire*
The reform of Islam is shaping up to be the most important issue in
political ideology of the twenty-first century. This honest and
intelligent dialogue is a superb exploration of the intellectual
and moral issues involved.
*Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature*
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