Chasing a Mirage
The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State
Fatah, Tarek
Publisher: Wiley
Year Published: 2008
Pages: 410pp Resource Type: Book
Cx Number: CX7976
According to Tarek Fatah, "Morality is doing what is right, regardless what we are told; Religious dogma is doing what we are told, no matter what is right." Fatah argues that since Islam's advent, there have been two parallel strains of the religion that are in clash. The first "state of Islam" is a person's moral compass; the way Islam governs an individual's personal life. By contrast, the yearning for "an Islamic state" has been bloody and fruitless.
Abstract:
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Table of Contents
Preface
Part One: The Illusion
Chapter 1: Politics and Theology of Islamic States
Chapter 2: Pakistan - Failure of an Islamic State
Chapter 3: Saudi Arabia - Sponsor of Islamic States
Chapter 4: Iran - The Islamic State
Chapter 5: Palestine - Future Islamic State?
Part Two:The Genesis
Chapter 6: The Prophet is Dead
Chapter 7: Medina - The Politics of the Rightly Guided Caliphs
Chapter 8: Damascus - Islam's Arab Empire
Chapter 9: Cordoba - Islam's European Venture
Chapter 10: Baghdad - Islam Embraces the Persians
Part Three:The Consequences
Chapter 11: Sharia - God's Law or Man's Flaw?
Chapter 12: Jihad - Permanent War or Continuous Struggle?
Chapter 13: Hijab - Islamic Piety or Political Islam?
Chapter 14: The Islamist Agenda in the West
Conlusion
Afterword by Husain Haqqani
Acknowledgements
Manufacturer's Warranty
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Subject Headings
