Choosing Faith (P/B)

In his objective study of the texts, Maurice Bucaille clears away many preconceived ideas about the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Qur’an. He tries, in this collection of Writings, to separate what belongs to Revelation from what is the product of error or human interpretation. His study sheds new light on the Holy Scriptures. At the end of a gripping account, he places the Believer before a point of cardinal importance: the continuity of a Revelation emanating from the same God, with modes of expression that differ in the course of time. It leads us to meditate upon those factors which, in our day, should spiritually unite rather than divide-Jews, Christians and Muslims.

As a surgeon, Maurice Bucaille has often been in a situation where he was able to examine not only people’s bodies, but their souls. This is how he was struck by the existence of Muslim piety and by aspects of Islam which remain unknown to the vast majority of non-Muslims. In his search for explanations which are otherwise difficult to obtain, he learnt Arabic and studied the Qur’an. In it, he was surprised to find statements on natural phenomena whose meaning can only be understood through modern scientific knowledge.

He then turned to the question of the authenticity of the writings that constitute the Holy Scriptures of the monotheistic religions. Finally, in the case of the Bible, he proceeded to a confrontation between these writings and scientific data.

The results of his research into the Judeo-Christian Revelation and the Qur’an are set out in this book.

1996 expanded and revised edition. This book examines Jesus as a prophet teaching the Unity of God, and the historical collapse of Christianity as it abandoned his teaching. The author sketches the dramatic picture of the original followers of Jesus who affirmed Unity. What emerges is that “Christianity” is the fiction that replaced their truth. A work that covers the Gospel of Barnabas, the Gospel of Hermes, the Shephard, early and later Unitarian Christians, Jesus in the Gospels and in the Qur’an and Hadith. The author clearly shows the idea of Jesus as part of a Trinity was a Greek Pagan idea adopted by early Christian mission-aries to gain converts among the Greek, and did not become a widely accepted Christian doctrine until after the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D.

This interesting, topical and sometimes heated, conversation among theologians, social scientists and policy experts on British secularism helps to shed vital light on the challenges of accommodating religious minorities and majorities within modern societies. The contributors question a number of received assumptions about the public role of religion, and also challenge traditional Muslim suspicions of secularism, thus succeeding in moving the debate on Islam in Britain, and secular polities in general, to new and very promising ground. This is a vital contribution to ongoing topical debates on secularism, pluralism, inclusion and the direction modern societies should take. Dr. Abdelwahab El-Affendi, University of Westminster Religious voices in favour of secularism are often absent from the debate on religion and politics. But as a political attitude that will guarantee freedom of belief for all, secularism is relevant to all. This volume – though non-religious secularists may find much to challenge within it – is a welcome contribution to this most important of modern debates. Andrew Copson Chief Executive, British Humanist Association –Commissioned

This volume on the role of Muslims in British society very helpfully addresses two concepts about which there is currently much confusion, namely secularism and secularity. The fact that it does this in conversation with some of the other interested parties, namely Jews and Christians, and that it seeks to combine specifically religious, or theological, and political, or social-scientific, approaches, means that it will be of interest to both theoreticians in the academy and practitioners in different areas of society, and it therefore deserves a wide readership. Professor Hugh Goddard, Director of the HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, University of Edinburgh –Commissioned

The question of the relationship between politics and religion tends to generate more heat than light, especially when the focus is on Islam. This book, with its careful analysis and respect for facts, helps dispel the smoke. It is an invaluable contribution to the public debate, especially in the British context, and will assist people of good will – of all faiths and none – to clarify their own thoughts about ‘the secular state’. Dr. Brian Klug Senior Research Fellow & Tutor in Philosophy, St. Benet’s Hall, Oxford –Commissioned

Of the many books explaining Islam, few specifically address the concerns and questions of those from a Christian background. Moreover, the commonalities between the Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—are too often ignored. Set out in an easy and informative question-and-answer format, the book addresses the specific theological points of agreement and difference between Christianity and Islam, explains the core religious beliefs and practices of Islam, and answers today’s most common questions of Islam and Muslims in an age when there is much conflict and misunderstanding. Islam is best judged not by the limitations and transgressions of its most extreme, ignorant, and outlandish followers, but by the example of its moderate majority, and Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood presents this introduction to the theology and practice of Islam in an attempt to explore some of the false impressions that surround it.