The Tragedy of Islam: Admissions of a Muslim Imam
The book The Tragedy of Islam: Admissions of a Muslim Imam is about Islam, but it is not an Islamic book. It sheds light on sensitive aspects of Islam’s history and historical figures, and highlights its problems and difficulties.
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| Author | Imam Mohammad Tawhidi |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Islam’s history |
| Published | 2018 |
| Publisher | Reason Books |
| Pages | 362 |
About the author[edit | edit source]
Imam Mohammad Tawhidi is a third-generation Iranian-born Australian Muslim Imam and a publicly ordained Islamic authority who comes from a prominent Islamic lineage. His ancestors were the companions of Prophet Mohammad and played a significant role in the early Islamic conquests. He ended his relationship with the Iranian regime and continued his studies in the Holy Cities in Iraq. In 2014, ISIS conquered large parts of Iraq’s territory and murdered members of Tawhidi’s family. In 2015, Imam Tawhidi began to gradually call for reform within Muslim societies. His views have been broadcast on international media and have been met with both criticism and praise.
Celebrated as the Imam of Peace, Tawhidi’s international activism against Islamic extremism has earned him a nomination for the 2019 Australian of the Year Awards.
About the book[edit | edit source]
This book published in Reason Books (December 7, 2018), has 362 pages and best sellers rank of 643,546 in Books.
The aim of this book is to provide a different side to present-day arguments as to what Islam is and the current popular narrative. The writer tries to speak out against the extremists and fundamentalist ideologies that have infested his religion. He takes the readers to a unique journey detailing the highlights of his life that prompted his transition from an extremist into a reformist. He then emphasizes the theological, jurisprudential and historical difficulties of Islamic thought and Islamic governance, including insights that have never been published before.
Abstract of chapters[edit | edit source]
At the beginning of the book, the writer says:
It is highly likely that you will one day hear that I have been murdered.
It shows that he is a tremendously courageous person who intends to reveal a series of shocking facts and he has provided many references to back up his claims.
As the author says, the content of the book is divided into two parts:
The first part[edit | edit source]
This part is a necessary review of the last two decades of author’s life, his personal development and educational journey within Islam and the Islamic seminaries throughout the Middle East. He has shared a number of episodes from his life that will allow the readers to recognize what he has gone through in the past, how he became the person he is today, and why he has chosen to make these dangerous admissions.
The second part[edit | edit source]
This part begins to shed light on the tragedy of Islam. The author identifies the main theological and doctrinal problems within his religion, simply because identifying the problems is the first step to offering possible solutions. His main focus is the problems and complications which form the foundations of Islamic scripture, history, theology, and jurisprudence.
I strongly oppose sectarianism, and as a reformist Muslim scholar, my difficulty is with fundamentalist elements which have led to the current situation of the religion as a whole. I have no regard for minor disputes between sects, and I criticize and expose the wrong within all Islamic denominations based on facts and solid historical evidence.
As the book progresses, the author covers the following:
- Difficulties in the Foundation of Islam: Allah, Mohammad, and his Wives in Islamic Scripture
- Islamic Leadership: Murder, Invasions and Terrorism
- The Murder of Mohammad’s Daughter and Her Unborn Child: The Worst Crime of our Caliphs
- The Great Crime: The Killing of Hussain
- A Religion of War
- Difficulties of Shia Islam and Shia Islamic Governance
- The Governing Muslim Body in Iran
- Twenty-First-Century Islamic Terrorism
- The Fatwa Disaster
- Sharia Law and the Laws of Sex
- Our Reform Delusion
The book concludes by shedding light on the reform movement within Islam and the prospects of genuine reform.
Some parts of his beliefs about reform are selected from the book[edit | edit source]
- Islam, as a whole, shall not undergo reformation in the foreseeable future. However, I sincerely believe that Muslim individuals may be reformed, or that we may see a reformation within the Muslim communities throughout the West.
- Any “reformer” who does not call for a total rejection of extremist Islamic teachings is either ignorant of this problem and is therefore irrelevant, or they are the knowing covert supporters, or unwitting dupes, of radicals.
- Islamic reform will be achieved through the efforts of actual Islamic scholars, and not politicians. Politicians come and go; ideologies however remain forever. A genuine reformist scholar who manages to influence a handful of Muslims could in fact be paving the way for many lives to be changed, and many others to be saved from terrorism.
- I believe that a movement to reform Islam should be totally independent – or funded by moderate Muslims themselves.