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theology of liberation and social justice.

There was also Indian Muslim conservatives in South Africa who sanctioned the apartheid system by quoting verses from the Qur'an at the time when a group of other disadvantaged and marginalized Muslim scholars presented the Qur'an as a book of liberation and justice. It was almost as though there was a God for the oppressed and another god for the oppressed and one was just waiting to see which of the two gods would emerge the victor. Such examples from our contemporary 20^th century history clearly show that no religious community is innocent from some form of injustice, violence, and oppression done in the name of God.

The message of Harun Yahya's book is simple and clear: Islam is a religion of peace, Muslims and non-Muslims must live in peace and harmony, oppression and violence in the same of God must be condemned and eradicated. However, the author chooses not to define "terrorism".  The reason for such an important discussion may be the controversial and philosophical nature of the debate.  The world is still not agreed on a single definition of terrorism. Let us not forget that Nelson Mandela, Robert Mugabe, Patrice Lumumba, Che Guevara, to name just a few of 20^th century great figures, were considered heroes and champions of social justice and liberation by the whole of the so-called "Third World" and the oppressed people while the Western capitalist and so-called "First World" nations considered them terrorists and criminals. The Western world and the Middle East are now embroiled in a semantic debate regarding the use of the word terrorism. The current Syrian President pulled no punches in his attack on the Western attempt to impose their meaning and language on the discourse. He mentioned that Hamas, Hizbollah, Islamic Jihad were liberation movements and not terrorist organisations, at least that is the feeling in the Arab streets and universities. The question, as always, as to who defines "terrorism" will not be settled very easily. Prominent philosophers of language and linguistics in America and other parts of the world have already written papers dealing with the issue. Naom Chomsky and Edward Said, are the leading scholars in this debate. Although labelled as left-wing intellectuals and philosophers of language, these two have had the greatest impact on 20^th century thought. It would have been useful showing how these language discussions affect our understanding of "terrorism".  Perhaps the omission of such important discussions is because the book is directed at the general public and not intended as work of academic and intellectual discussion. This is what makes the book accessible to all readers interested in understanding Islam's concept of other, religion and violence, and the universal Islamic message of peace. The English is very easy to understand and accessible.