Contemporary Islamic response to the West is a valuable book written by Dr. Abdul Majid Khan. He has very painstakingly, and with competence, investigated the problem—a tricky one, indeed—and evaluated the contributions of many leading Muslim thinkers to it. He begins, naturally enough, with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Iqbal and goes on through Maulana Maudoodi, Syed Qutb and Shariati to Dr. Kalim Siddiqui. The views of all these thinkers are worth pondering because of the complexity of the problems involved in their political and ideological ramifications. If we believe in the perennial wisdom and practicality of the Islamic world-view and tenets of faith we should apply ourselves with firmness of conviction and lucidity of logic to see how best we can come to terms with the challenges of the modern western thought and also be on our guard against the hidden political motivations of the admirers and detractors of Islam both, in the West. We should, moreover, try to build our case not only persuasively but in the light of seamless logic and consistency. The lure of impatient partisanship should in any case be held in check and give place to reason and moderation. The present book is a very fine endeavour in the process of the rehabilitation of Islam started decades ago by Sir Syed. If we persist to look on things in the right perspective and with scholarly zeal and fair mindedness there is every possibility that we shall succeed in presenting Islam as an eminently rational and clear-eyed vision and system of values.
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