The State We are in: Identity, Terror and the Law of Jihad - Softcover

A must read for anyone who wants to understand the struggle within Islam and of the British Muslim community ... the right book at the right time. --John L Esposito

Shedding needed light on Islamic traditions of jihad, just war and martyrdom, this book should be welcomed by students and scholars, politicians and theologians, Muslims and non-Muslims. --Eileen Eppig, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, College of Notre Dame of Maryland

... an unusually frank book produced from within the Muslim community ... a useful answer to those who argue that Muslims are not prepared to face up to, and debate the difficult issues of our times .. --Richard Bonney, author of Jihad: From Qur'an to Bin Laden

The London terror outrage of July 7 has brought it home to us that the threat from suicide bombers does not simply come from foreigners who slip into the country, but from people who live and have grown up amongst us. How and why British-born Muslims would want to blow themselves up is difficult to understand, though understand we must if we are to prevent these acts in the future. The chapters in this book are written by evolving and renowned Muslim scholars in the field of Islamic studies. Particularly focusing on the legal discussions on Jihad, these scholars differentiate between key Islamic concepts and rules pertaining to the conduct of war and its jurisprudence and the hate-inspired crime scourging the earth today. The contributors address crucial contemporary issues and challenges facing Muslims in the West. Drawing upon an intellectual framework from within a classical Islamic discourse, they provide a social, political and cultural observation of the world in which we all live in today.