Quran and the Secular Mind

Shabbir Akhtar is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. He has taught in the International Islamic University in Malaysia and has published widely on Islam, Christianity and current affairs.

"For both secular humanists and the religiously inclined, this innovative, challenging work will come as a pleasant surprise. Akhtar brings to this work on Islam an impressive command of Western thought... not to mention an equally impressive command of Muslim thought... A well-written, powerful challenge to both Muslim and Western readers, whether of the religious or the secular variety, this work will benefit all readers interested in inter- and intra-religious dialogue. Summing up: Highly recommended." -- M. Swartz, Choice

• Introduction Part 1: Quranic Islam and the Secular Mind 1. Locating Islam in the Modern World 2. Human Reason and Divine Revelation 3. The Moral Challenge of Secular Humanism Part 2: An Arabic Quran: Assessing its Authority 4. The Book Sent Down 5. The Book as ‘The Frustrater’ 6. The Scope of the Book 7. The Authority of the Book Part 3: A Quranic Lebenswelt in a Secular Age 8. A Sign is Enough - For the Wise 9. Faith and the Varieties of Rejection 10. Human Nature and the Quran 11. ‘Greater is God!’ Part 4: Conclusions 12. Preface to a Philosophy of Islam