ABSTRACT
This chapter presents author's engagement with three bodies of experience and the knowledge derived from them. They are: a traditional Islamic education in Andalucia and North Africa and formative experience, as a convert to Islam, of the national British and international Muslim communities; an engagement with academic theological-philosophy and, in particular, an engagement with the philosophy of Critical Realism and its cognate, which the author originated, called Islamic Critical Realism. It also includes the author's experience as an expert witness in Islamic theology in 27 contemporary counter-terrorism trials, 15 of which have been in connection with the ongoing Syrian Civil War. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book. The book explores the historical roots of contemporary Islamic and Islamist phenomena by explaining how the 'presence of the past' resonates strongly in the Muslim community through theological legal fault lines.
