The liberal Islam.. a reference book

The editor in this book aimed to present selected excerpts from the texts of major Islamic liberal thinkers and added to what has been written about the liberal current in Islam by focusing on the Islamic context of liberalism. It is common among analysts of the liberal current in Islam to compare it with Western liberalism according to Western liberal standards. Such comparisons are subject to criticism. However, to the extent that the study of the liberal current in Islam focuses on the Islamic dimension it involves, such criticisms are alleviated. The similarity between the liberal current in Islam and Western liberalism does not imply that Muslim liberals are nothing but a group of trivial fools following the policy of blind imitation of Western thought, as many of their works and writings are based on interpretations of the Quran, the life of the Prophet (), and the lives of the early Muslims. In addition to these works and writings, there is a clear influence of traditional Islamic debate forms.