Islam The West And The Challenges Of Modernity by Tariq Ramadan Publisher: The Islamic Foundation Islam, the West and the challenges of Modernity attempts to demonstrate, using sources which draw upon Islamic thought and civilization, that Muslims have the mean to respond to contemporary challenges without betraying their identity. The book argues that Muslims, nourished by their own points of reference, can approach the modern epoch by proposing a specific social, political and economic management that is linked to ethical values, a sense of finalities and spirituality. This still requires, however, that the western interlocutors make a distinction between modernity and the ideology of modernism which tends to impose westernisation. The latter, in its substance and other than in its well-intentioned discourse, does not admit the reality of the pluralism of civilization, religions or cultures. Topics discussed include political orientations, the notion of Shura, democracy, contemporary problems and pitfalls, economic directives, individual spending, community life, general economic principles in Islam, profound reform, Islamic banks, human rights, freedom, fears and hopes, the problems of the modern age for Muslim nations, and more.