Beyond Mere Christianity (H/B)

Lena Winfrey Seder grew up with a loving Christian family in the Virginia countryside. As a shy young woman, she sought to expand her horizons and fly, like a butterfly. At first, her focus was on worldly success and fame, but when she found herself unable to obtain satisfactory answers to her doubts about her religious traditions, she began a spiritual quest for the truth. She emerged from her cocoon with Islam at her side, to guide her in her life and travels. In this autobiographical account, the author uses a series of flashbacks to weave back and forth among important events and places in her life, before and after she embraced Islam. She explains what attracted her to Islam and describes the effects of her choice on key relationships in her life. Her narration is laced with personal anecdotes and heart-felt advice about being patient in the face of adversity. Her experiences are woven together to create more than just a simple narrative; this is a unique account of the Metamorphosis of a Muslim.

This interesting, topical and sometimes heated, conversation among theologians, social scientists and policy experts on British secularism helps to shed vital light on the challenges of accommodating religious minorities and majorities within modern societies. The contributors question a number of received assumptions about the public role of religion, and also challenge traditional Muslim suspicions of secularism, thus succeeding in moving the debate on Islam in Britain, and secular polities in general, to new and very promising ground. This is a vital contribution to ongoing topical debates on secularism, pluralism, inclusion and the direction modern societies should take. Dr. Abdelwahab El-Affendi, University of Westminster Religious voices in favour of secularism are often absent from the debate on religion and politics. But as a political attitude that will guarantee freedom of belief for all, secularism is relevant to all. This volume – though non-religious secularists may find much to challenge within it – is a welcome contribution to this most important of modern debates. Andrew Copson Chief Executive, British Humanist Association –Commissioned

This volume on the role of Muslims in British society very helpfully addresses two concepts about which there is currently much confusion, namely secularism and secularity. The fact that it does this in conversation with some of the other interested parties, namely Jews and Christians, and that it seeks to combine specifically religious, or theological, and political, or social-scientific, approaches, means that it will be of interest to both theoreticians in the academy and practitioners in different areas of society, and it therefore deserves a wide readership. Professor Hugh Goddard, Director of the HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, University of Edinburgh –Commissioned

The question of the relationship between politics and religion tends to generate more heat than light, especially when the focus is on Islam. This book, with its careful analysis and respect for facts, helps dispel the smoke. It is an invaluable contribution to the public debate, especially in the British context, and will assist people of good will – of all faiths and none – to clarify their own thoughts about ‘the secular state’. Dr. Brian Klug Senior Research Fellow & Tutor in Philosophy, St. Benet’s Hall, Oxford –Commissioned

Jesus and Muhammad lived in different times and in different contexts. An absolute comparison of the careers of these two men is not a satisfactory method in understanding the similarities and differences between their teachings. This book approaches this topic from a different perspective. The time that Muhammad preached in Mecca is compared to the time Jesus spent preaching throughout Palestine. This improves the similarities in contexts between them and makes a comparison more valid. The number of similarities outweighs the number of differences when looking at the four books of the Gospel and the chapters of the Qur’an revealed in Mecca. On issues related to prayer, the Oneness of God, charity, the Hereafter and forgiveness the teachings in these two books are practically the same. A number of core theological issues surfaced in the Book of John do clash with Qur anic teachings about the person of Jesus. These differences and the possible reasons for them are explored in this book. The conclusion of this book is that Muslims and Christians have more shared values and even theological similarities than differences. It is recommended that Muslims and Christians should spend more time understanding these commonalities.”

PhD in Applied Linguistics (Michigan State University, USA)
Dr. Arfaj spent more than 20 years researching comparative religion. This book came about as a result of his extensive research and experience.

God is One. Human nature is one. Human destiny is one. And God�s message to humanity vis-a-vis that destiny is one. However, the rebellious element in man�s nature has led him to disobey God on the one hand, and on the other, he has pushed on to distort the very message of God. But the message is never fully lost. It would be ludicrous and indeed heretical to think that the situation could have gone out of God’s control.

With every distortion, therefore, He has renewed the message to salvage humanity from self-ruin. More interesting than that is the fact

that He has inserted in every message a Pointer to the Final Guide and the message he would be entrusted with; a Pointer which shows the true

seeker where the uncorrupted message could be found – the message that no one would be able to distort any more. While the main body of the message has been corrupted, the Pointer contained within has not been destroyed. Muhammad in the Hindu Scriptures brings out the truth of this phenomenon.

In addition to the Vedas and the Puranas, the book has unearthed this Pointer in the Buddhist, Christian, Jewish and other Hindu scriptures. Each of these scriptures uses its own unique Pointer relevant to its own theological scheme and the religious mentality of its own people. Separately and jointly these Pointers lit up the road to Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him) exclusively, without any iota of doubt.

By all accounts the Final Guru has been sent and the Last Testament is in our laps. Additionally, the existence of these Pointers in the earlier

scriptures is yet another dimension of God’s mechanism to guide mankind to the infallible Truth. Upon reading the book, the theist, the atheist and the agnostic will find a lot to think about.