Unconventionally fusing the the history of faith and reason in Islam, this book traces the Qur'an-inspired intellectual revolution that took off in the Islamic world of the seventh century, revealing its highlights and following it through to its sixteenth-century demise.
Sari Nusseibeh is Professor of Philosophy at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. His most recent book is What's a Palestinian State Worth? (2011) .
"Written with the uninitiated in mind....Nusseibeh's sensitive, elliptical handling of dense metaphysical material echoes one of the book's central points: that the philosophical tradition in Arabic grew out of a world in which poetry was the preeminent means of expression....Through skillful weaving of events and ideas, Nusseibeh shows how politics determined the themes-justice, free will, the legitimacy of resisting an unjust leader-that became central to early Islamic thought."
