Irshad Manji is a Canadian journalist and the author of bestselling The Trouble with Islam Today (2005), a provocative critique that sparked both outrage and solidarity around the world. Allah, Liberty and Love is built on the foundation of that book. If Trouble was the critique, Allah is the roadmap to reform, as Manji lays down seven lessons in "moral courage" that will guide us--Muslim or not--to peace and freedom.
A devout Muslim, open lesbian and passionate advocate of democratic ideals, Manji is perhaps an ideal voice for progressive reform. Writing in an engaging, open style, she combines the strength of her own faith with a clear-eyed, relentless insight into the troubling politics, fears, and narratives that govern contemporary Islam.
With an unwavering commitment to integrity and conscience, Manji argues that culture is not sacred, clinging to group identity is a trap, and that offending people is the price of asking tough, vital questions: "My questions re-imagine the public discussion so that Muslims and non-Muslims can find shared purpose in human values."
Manji's writing has been criticized for being too personal, but matters of faith, conscience and individual liberty are personal--profoundly and urgently so. Manji's project is not to provide a removed, scholarly study of her religion; it is to motivate people around the world, of any faith or none at all, to listen to their consciences, ask questions and challenge dogma for the benefit of the greater good. --Hannah Caulkins, blogger at Unpunished Vice