Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic lllusion of an Islamic State [Hardcover]

Tarek Fatah (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470841168 | ISBN-13: 978-0470841167 | Publication Date: May 9, 2008 | Edition: 1

In Chasing a Mirage, Tarek Fatah Writes: Islamists argue that the period following the passing away of Muhammad was Islam's golden era and that we Muslims need to re-create that caliphate to emulate that political system in today's world. I wish to demonstrate that when Muslims buried the Prophet, they also buried with him many of the universal values of Islam that he had preached. The history of Islam can be described essentially as the history of an unending power struggle, where men have killed each other to claim the mantle of Muhammad. This strife is a painful story that started within hours of the Prophet closing his eyes forever, and needs to be told. I firmly believe the message of the Quran is strong enough to withstand the facts of history. It is my conviction that Muslims are mature and secure in their identities to face the truth. This is that story.

Advance Praise for Chasing a Mirage

"Tarek Fatah has written a provocative and challenging book which is a must read for anyone who cares about these issues."
—Janice Gross Stein

"Chasing a Mirage is an extremely valuable contributing to the fight by progressive Muslims against Islamist fascism. This book should be required reading for the Left in the West who have mistakenly started believing that Islamists represent some sort of anti-imperialism."
—Farooq Tariq

"Fatah argues passionatley for universalism instead of exclusivism, integration instead of ghettoism, and makes a powerful appeal for the silent majority of Muslims to speak out before it is too late. This work of courage and daring needs to be read widely."
— Pervez Hoodbhoy

"This fascinating work by brave and bri8lliant tarek Fatah is simultaneously thought-provoking, instructive and enlightening for laymen and scholars, Muslims and non-Muslim...an invaluable and rare addition to the corpus of Islamic literature in the post-9/11 world, a bold step towards Islamic Reformation and Enlightenment."
—Taj Hashmi

"Tarek Fatah's is a voice that needs to be heard. Canada needs a healthy, reasoned debate about the issues he is raising, and indeed so does the world."
—Bob Rae

"This fascinating work by brae and brilliant Tarek Fatah is simultaneously thought-provoking, instructive and enlightening for laymen and scholars, Muslim and non-Muslim... an invaluable and rare addition to the corpus of Islamic literature in the post-9/11 world, a bold step towards Islamic Reformation and Enlightenment."
—Taj Hashmi

"Tarek Fatah's is a voice that needs to be heard. Canada needs a healthy, reasoned debate about the issues he is raising, and indeed so does the world."
—Bob Rae, Member of Parliament, Canada

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I think this book is a positive contribution to the discussion about contemporary Islam and certainly a valuable addition to the voices that are critically looking at Islam's right-wing. . . . I don't think there is any other public intellectual in the North American arena -- Muslim or other -- who could have written this book." (HuffingtonPost.com, April 15th, 2008)

"...a book worthy of attention...both for its contents and for the courage of its author." (Haaretz, October 2008)

Review

"Tarek Fatah has written a provocative and challenging book, which is a must-read for anyone who cares about these issues."--Janice Gross Stein, Director, Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto

"Chasing a Mirage is an extremely valuable contribution to the fight by progressive Muslims against Islamic fascism. This book should be required reading for the Left in the West who have mistakenly started believing that Islamists represent some sort of anti-imperialism."--Farooq Tariq, Secretary General, Pakistan Labour Party

"Fatah argues passionately for universalism instead of exclusivism, integration instead of ghettoism, and makes a powerful appeal for the silent majority of Muslims to speak out before it is too late. This work of courage and daring needs to be read widely."--Pervez Hoodboy, Professor, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

"This fascinating work by brave and brilliant Tarek Fatah is simultaneously thought-provoking, instructive and enlightening for laymen and scholars, Muslim and non-Muslim ... an invaluable and rare addition to the corpus of Islamic literature in the post 9/11 world, a bold step towards Islamic Reformation and Enlightenment."--Taj Hasmi, Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Honolulu

"Tarek Fatah's is a voice that needs to be heard. Canada needs a healthy, reasoned debate about the issues he is raising, and indeed, so does the world."--Bob Rae, Member of Parliament, Canada

 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (May 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470841168
• ISBN-13: 978-0470841167
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #905,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling rejoinder to extremists, May 27, 2008

By 

Ali Inayatullah - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic lllusion of an Islamic State (Hardcover)

This recently published book is a blunt assessment of the root causes of extremism that are experienced in muslim communities. The auther pulls no punches and his extensively researched book is a gripping read.

Tarek explodes the myth of a "Golden age" that has become the rallying cry of Islamists, who want to impose their political ideology of Caliphate on both muslims and non-muslims. He has thrown the gauntlet to fellow muslims to reflect and educate themselves. From Sudan to Saudi Arabia, the author painstakingly highlights the clash between muslims who aspire to the spiritual message of their faith and the Islamists who want to warp faith for gaining political power. He has also covered in significant detail, the struggles of moderate and secular muslim Canadians against radical and Saudi/Irani funded Islamist groups who want to drag the failed experiments of their patrons into Canada; experiments that are a leading cause of ghettoizing and separation of muslims from non-muslims.

In exposing the dishonesty and moral bankruptcy of the Islamist agenda, the author has done extensive research and highlights that the harsh, backward and intolerant injunctions that have been sanctified as law by extremists wither and collapse when placed under the microscope of objective scholarship. A significant section of his book examines the struggle for political power and the sectarian schism that immediately followed the Prophet's death. This is scholarship that few muslims can openly discuss and which has already resulted in the targetted killings of minority muslims in Pakistan. His analytical approach to this sensitive and seldom discussed chapter of muslim history is unlikely to solve the Sunni-Shia polemics. However, his analysis and research on this topic should be studied as they highlight the ultimate fallacy of the Islamist demand for an "Islamic" State.

In a frank assessment of history and culture of different muslim communities, Tarek untangles and delineates political compulsions from theology. From Abu Zar, the companion of the Holy Prophet and the first muslim social activist and a central Sufi personality to the courageous example of Sudan's Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, Tarek highlights the example of those who stood up against political opportunism and stood by their principles. He calls on fellow muslims to inculcate an introspective, dynamic and spiritual "State of Islam" within themselves instead of sinking further in the trap of extremists who want to drag them along in their theocratic nightmare.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Muslims better read this book before it is too late, May 12, 2008

By 

Intizar Zaidi (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic lllusion of an Islamic State (Hardcover)

In the words of the Toronto Star, "Fatah broaches the mother of all taboos" in discussing the issue of what happened the night Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) died. He cites medieval historians like al-Tabari and contemporary scholars like Prof. Liyakat Takim and Prof. Mahmoud Ayoub (among others) to construct the events which lead to Fatah writing this most compelling sentence:

"When Muslims buried the Prophet, they also buried with him many of the universal values of Islam that they preached."

Fatah's opus could very well have three separate books; one on history outlining the period of Islam after The Prophet died in 632 CE to the death of the Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad at the hands of the Mongols in 1258.

In other parts of the book, Fatah discusses the so-called contemporary Islamic states--Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia---suggesting with compelling arguments and detailed citations that all three use Islam to oppress their populations and to destroy the human spirit.

In the book, Fatah demolishes the justification given by Islamists for the creation of an "Islamic State" based on sharia law. He argues that all that God and the Prophet demand of Muslims is to follow the religions five principles; none of whom require such a theocracy.

He exposes the tactic of Islamists who while promoting armed Jihad based on the teachings of such 20th century Islamists as the late Syed Qutb and Hassan al-Banna of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Syed Maudoodi of the Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami, deceive western audiences by falsely claiming that "jihad" merely means an "inner struggle". Fatah cites from the works of both Maudoodi and Qutb--available in US and Canada--to prove his point. He claims that both these political parties have their tentacles in Canada and the US, especially in university campuses.

Fatah has thrown the Islamists a challenge which I doubt they will respond to. If they do, they are likely to slap the label of "apostate" on him, to which he might say, "So what else is new".

I particularly enjoyed the single page "Manufacturer's Warranty" at the end of the book, where the Divine supposedly warns "end-users" that plagiarised and unauthorized versions of Islam are being bootlegged by shady "retailers". In the Warranty notice, God warns Muslims that all calls to his "Help Desk" will go unanswered unless callers can demonstrate that they have uninstalled all unauthorized "plug-ins" over the basic "operating system" of Islam :-)

This fine and valuable piece of scholarship ends with an icon of a smiley face --something amiss in the Muslim world.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a read!, June 5, 2008

By 

Shabbir Ahmed - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic lllusion of an Islamic State (Hardcover)

CHASING A MIRAGE is a masterpiece from Tarek Fatah. I would call it the best book I have read in 2008 and I am quite a voracious reader, and an author of 46 books myself. An orthodox Muslim might find it offensive, but the truth is always bitter. For the open-minded, the work is an eye opener. It gives the reader plenty of material to look into the causes of the current global misery of Muslims. The great art of the author is that his criticism simultaneously points to the cure for the malaise of fundamentalism, extremism, and orthodoxy. I would advise the esteemed author to take possible verdicts of infidelity by Muslim clergy with a grain of salt.

The sensible among the Ummah will see Tarek as a sincere reformer. I wish him all the best.