Ed Husain The House of Islam
‘In essence, Muslims are expected to be people of shukr, or gratitude. The Quranic opposite to shukr is kufr or disbelief. As a community of gratitude, it is among the greatest acts of ingratitude to burn the bridges of pluralism and secularism that allow for Muslims to observe their faith in the West’. That bridge burning is addressed head on in this topical book by a former Muslim extremist now passionate for the recovery of Islam’s mainstream. ‘The House of Islam is on fire – and the arsonist still lives there. Neighbours can bring water to put out the fire, but Muslims must also expel the fire bombers in their midst’. Londoner Ed Husain helped found Quilliam, the world’s first counter-extremism think tank, in Britain. His latest book is a highly readable history of Islam giving insight into how things have come to be as they are and inviting strategies like the founding of a Middle East Union to improve a dangerous scenario. That scenario is traced back to the attempt by Saudi