ABSTRACT
As has been pointed out in the previous chapter, over the past few decades, the world media have been focused on Islamic/Islamist “militancy,” occasionally to the point of obsession. One consequence of this overriding media focus on the “blood and gore” associated (rightly or wrongly) with so-called radical or jihadist movements in the modern Muslim world is that the less dramatic (and more thoughtful) manifestations of Islamic faith have received short shrift in Western media coverage and academic literature. In Chapter 23 of this book, we have attempted to rectify this misbalance by providing an overview of various reformist, self-reflective, and nonviolent trends in contemporary Islamic/Islamist thought. Whether or not one classifies them as “liberal” remains an open question, as has been shown.
