Book Review
Chasing A
Mirage – The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State.
- Author:
Tarek Fatah
-
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.,
Canada
-
Reviewed
By: Javed I.
Chaudry
Farzana Hassan to Javed
Chaudry.
This is by no means an
entreaty to those who wish to boycott the event
on Saturday. Please do not come if that is your
wish. It is nevertheless imperative that the
record be set straight regarding the following
statement: "I for one, won’t be interested in
promotion of any Islamophobic literature"
The characterization of
"Chasing a Mirage" as "Islamophobic literature"
is wholly unjustified. Any critique offered by
Tarek of Muslim institutions, society and
civilization has been done by way of repeatedly
acknowledging the disparity between Islamic
ideals and Muslim practice. No where has Tarek
criticized Islam as a religion. In fact he
painstakingly draws a clear line between the
cherished ideals of Islam on the one hand and
the practices of the Muslims as falling far
short of these ideals on the other. It is
unfortunate that this distinction is totally
lost on some Muslims who continue to be governed
by romantic notions of a "glorious" Islamic
past.
Even more unfortunate is
the lack of willingness on the part of these
Muslims to acknowledge many of the ills
pervading Muslim societies of the past and
present. The inability of a people to look
inward in order to rectify pathologies within is
a cause for further decay in the societies they
create. It is with nothing but sincerity that
Tarek exposes the shortcomings in the practices
of past eras so that we can all take a candid
look and proceed to remedy the situation. Any
one who has missed this point, hasn't quite read
the book carefully, and therefore done justice
to it.
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comments to
Family of the Heart