ISLAM BETWEEN EAST AND WEST
Islam, which occupies a central position between East and West, has to become conscious of its own mission. Now, when it is more and more obvious that the opposed ideologies with their extreme forms cannot be imposed on mankind, and that they must go toward a synthesis and a new middle position, we want to prove that Islam corresponds to this natural way of thinking and is its most consistent expression. As Islam in the past was the intermediary between the ancient cultures and the West, it must again today, in a time of dramatic dilemmas and alternatives, shoulder its role of “intermediary nation” in the divided world. This is the meaning of the third way, the Islamic way. Islam between East and West attempts to present the third way by “translating” Islam into the language which the new generation speaks and understands.
It is not a book of theology. It deals with doctrines, institutions and teachings of Islam with the aim of establishing the place of Islam in the general spectrum of ideas. It is a look at Islam not from within but rather from without. In this sense the topic of the book is not primarily Islam as a teacher but Islam as an outlook on the world. The first part of the book, “Premises”, discusses the question of religion in general. The second part deals with Islam, or more precisely, with one of its aspects– bi-polarity. It is an inspiring and astonishingly integrated analysis of the human condition. The sweep of its power gives an invigorating sense of the beauty and universality of Islam.
