Tensions and Transitions in the Muslim World provides an alternative reading of Middle Eastern politics and political culture by focusing on the dynamics of change, and examining the role of Islam in the emerging modern Middle East. Louay Safi contends that by focusing on radical and traditionalist Islam, Middle East specialists often overlook the liberal manifestations of Islam, which, though marginalized, constitute the driving force in the sociopolitical development of the Middle East.

This book examines the central aspects of modernity and the underlying factors at work in the process of modernization. It begins by examining Western modernity and then uses the insight gained from this examination to study the implications of Western modernity for non-Western societies. The author also attempts to demonstrate the inadequacy of the functional approach for understanding the process of modernization in non-Western regions.

Palestine: Prophetic Principles over Prophecies outlines the emerging patterns of the struggle for freedom and justice; of unfulfilled promises, dashed hopes, untold misery, and the long search for the elusive peace in Palestine. For 60 years modern Israel flourished as the Palestinian pain and suffering grew, and Palestinian anger gave birth to new generations of fighters who draw meaning from their life of suffering by challenging the Israeli occupation. As Israel, backed by western powers, pushes harder to assert its religious claims over Palestine, and as Palestinians, supported by Muslim...

The book examines the growing tension between social movements that embrace egalitarian and inclusivist views of national and global politics, most notably classical liberalism, and those that advance social hierarchy and national exclusivism.