A fascinating journey into Islam's diverse history of ideas, making an argument for an "Islamic Enlightenment" todayIn Reopening Muslim Minds, Mustafa Akyol, senior fellow at the Cato Institute and opinion writer for The New York Times, both diagnoses "the crisis of Islam" in the modern world, and offers a way forward. Diving deeply into Islamic theology, and also sharing lessons from his own life story, he reveals how Muslims lost the universalism that made them a great civilization in their earlier centuries. He especially demonstrates how values often associated with Western Enlightenment - freedom, reason, tolerance, and an appreciation of science - had Islamic counterparts, which sadly were cast aside in favor of more dogmatic views, often for political ends. Elucidating complex ideas with engaging prose and storytelling, Reopening Muslim Minds borrows lost visions from medieval Muslim thinkers such as Ibn Rushd (aka Averroes), to offer a new Muslim worldview on a range of sensitive issues: human rights, equality for women, freedom of religion, or freedom from religion. While frankly acknowledging the problems in the world of Islam today, Akyol offers a clear and hopeful vision for its future.

CONTENTSA NIGHT WITH THE RELIGION POLICEA Visit to 'the Inquisition''No Compulsion' - and Its LimitsA Matter of EnlightenmentA SELF-MADE MAN: HAYY IBN YAQZANAn Individual Path to WisdomA Disappointment with the Religious'The Inward Light' in the WestWHY THEOLOGY MATTERSHow It All BeganAre Tyrants Predestined by God?A Theology of Justice, Freedom & ReasonThe Birth of Muslim PhilosophyThe Fideist Counter-AttackA Soldier-Like ObedienceISLAM'S EUTHYPHRO DILEMMADivine Command and Human ReasonThe Gap on Husn and QubhWhat Does the Qur'an Say?Making Sense of Abraham's KnifeThe Ash'arite Victory and Its AftermathHOW WE LOST MORALITYA Case of Immoral PietyTwo Measures of LegitimacyThe Over-Inclusive World of FatwasThe Shaky Grounds of ConscienceThe Need For a Moral RevivalHOW WE LOST UNIVERSALISMTwo Views of Human NatureLessons of Slavery and AbolitionHuman Rights vs Islamic Rights?Islamist Strategies: Rejection, Apology & InstrumentalismHOW THE SHARIA STAGNATEDInheritance, Women and JusticeThe Decline of R'ayThe Theory of Maqasid and Its LimitsA New EpistemologyHOW WE LOST THE SCIENCESThe First Cause and Other CausesThe Rise and Fall of Muslim ScienceWhat is Geometry Good for?Reason, Causality and Ottoman ReformA Leap of ReasonTHE LAST MAN STANDING: IBN RUSHDThe Religious Case for PhilosophyThe Incoherence of Ash'arismThe Philosopher's ShariaA Reasonable View on JihadA Progressive Take on WomenA Precursor to Free SpeechA Tragic LossThe Jewish SecretWHY WE LOST REASON, REALLYWho Established the Establishment?The 'Anarchy' of the Mu'tazila'Political Science' of the PhilosophersIbn Khaldun, States and TaxesThe Ash'ari Leniency to DespotismThe Divine Rights of Muslim RulersFrom Earthly Despots to Heavenly GodBACK TO MECCAA Contextual ScriptureDealing with Arab PatriarchyAn Interactive ScriptureWhat Islam Initially Asked forThe Shift in MedinaThe Statization of IslamThe Abrogation of MeccaThe Uses and Abuses of FitnaFREEDOM MATTERS I: HISBAHHow To Beat Slackers and Pour WineThe Evolution of the MuhtasibA Matter of 'Right and Wrong'The Costs of Imposed ReligionFREEDOM MATTERS II: APOSTASYTwo Suspicious HadithsThe Uses of Killing ApostatesAccepting the Golden RuleFREEDOM MATTERS III: BLASPHEMYHow the Qur'an Counters BlasphemyA Dead Poets Society?No Compulsion in Religion - SeriouslyTHE THEOLOGY OF TOLERANCEThe Wisdom in 'Doubting and 'Postponing''Preachers, Not Judges'The Myth of the 'Saved Sect'Non-Muslims in Muslim EyesWho the Kafir Really IsThe Rings of Nathan the WiseEPILOGUE