As Iraqis and the people of other Muslim nations find themselves in the international spotlight, Lenn Goodman, professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt and a scholar on Middle Eastern thought, says Muslims throughout the world have a choice to make about what Islam will mean for them and their communities. Both within and outside Islam there are those who believe Islam must mean militancy, conquest, and repression.
However, "Students of Islam know the rich achievements of Islamic civilization in philosophy, literature, astronomy, medicine, history and the arts were nourished by openness to new ideas and readiness to respond creatively to what seemed new or even startling, " says Goodman, author of Islamic Humanism, released this week by Oxford University Press.
"Circling the wagons has never led to a flourishing for any culture or religion. Forward looking Muslims will build new and better lives for themselves and their communities by drawing upon the achievements of the past and learning from the open spirits of their great predecessors, " says Goodman, who can offer his perspective on the future of Islamic peoples from a cultural and historical context.
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