Mustafa Akyol – författare

ISLAM ÄR IDAG en religion som ofta förknippas med tvång. Över hela den muslimska världen är grund läggande mänskliga rättigheter åsidosatta. Men det går att förena islam och frihet. Koranen rymmer frön till rättsstat, tolerans och ekonomisk frihet. Det är hög tid att muslimer gör upp med de traditionella och förtryckande tolkningarna och börjar återupptäcka islams frihetliga rötter, skriver Mustafa Akyol. Med personliga berättelser, historiska anekdoter och teologiska insikter belyser han skärnings punkten mellan islam och frihet.

»Kan islam och liberalism samexistera? Tja, de gör faktiskt det inom en av vår tids viktigaste intellektuella, Mustafa Akyol. Detta är nödvändig läsning för muslimer som vill förstå liberalismen och för liberaler som vill förstå islam.«JOHAN NORBERG

MUSTAFA AKYOL (1972) är en turkisk journalist och författare. Han har skrivit en rad uppmärksammade böcker om islam och frihet. Detta är första gången han ges ut på svenska.

“A welcome expansion of the fragile territory known as common ground.” —The New York TimesWhen Reza Aslan’s bestseller Zealot came out in 2013, there was criticism that he hadn’t addressed his Muslim faith while writing the origin story of Christianity. In fact, Ross Douthat of The New York Times wrote that “if Aslan had actually written in defense of the Islamic view of Jesus, that would have been something provocative and new.”Mustafa Akyol’s The Islamic Jesus is that book.The Islamic Jesus reveals startling new truths about Islam in the context of the first Muslims and the early origins of Christianity. Muslims and the first Christians—the Jewish followers of Jesus—saw Jesus as not divine but rather as a prophet and human Messiah and that salvation comes from faith and good works, not merely as faith, as Christians would later emphasize. What Akyol seeks to reveal are how these core beliefs of Jewish Christianity, which got lost in history as a heresy, emerged in a new religion born in 7th Arabia: Islam.Akyol exposes this extraordinary historical connection between Judaism, Jewish Christianity and Islam—a major mystery unexplored by academia. From Jesus’ Jewish followers to the Nazarenes and Ebionites to the Qu’ran’s stories of Mary and Jesus, The Islamic Jesus will reveal links between religions that seem so contrary today. It will also call on Muslims to discover their own Jesus, at a time when they are troubled by their own Pharisees and Zealots.

A theological and historical exploration of the connection between Islam and Judaism through the single most-mentioned character in the Quran: Moses.There is one human mentioned in the Quran more than any other: Moses. Why is it that the Jewish prophet dominates the Islamic scripture? Because he is the role model for Muhammad, Islam’s own prophet. Because Islam, just like Christianity, is deeply intertwined with Judaism — although surprisingly little attention has been given to this fascinating connection between the two religions.Author and journalist Mustafa Akyol takes readers on a theological and historical walk through that much-neglected side of the Abrahamic triangle: the Judeo-Islamic tradition. Using Moses’ presence in the Quran as a jumping-off point, Akyol explores the first historical encounter between Muslims and Jews, the creative symbiosis and mutual enrichment that occurred between the two belief systems in medieval times, and the modern emergence, development, and perception of the two religions.At a time of bitter conflict in the Middle East, The Islamic Moses dives into the older, deeper, and often unexpectedly brighter story of Jews and Muslims. Readers of any background will be surprised by the common historical and theological ground that exists between the two religions, and will come away with a better understanding of both.