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jedwardsusc's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up in a used bookstore--knowing nothing about the author--and I'm really glad I did.
Esack draws on the liberation theology of Gutierrez and others, but he skillfully integrates that work into a progressive Muslim hermeneutics set in the immediate aftermath of the end of apartheid in South Africa. This book challenges traditional Qur'anic interpretations without idolizing simplistic pluralism. Esack dives into textual criticism while never losing sight of the centrality of justice and the call to orthopraxy in the struggle against oppression.
Esack draws on the liberation theology of Gutierrez and others, but he skillfully integrates that work into a progressive Muslim hermeneutics set in the immediate aftermath of the end of apartheid in South Africa. This book challenges traditional Qur'anic interpretations without idolizing simplistic pluralism. Esack dives into textual criticism while never losing sight of the centrality of justice and the call to orthopraxy in the struggle against oppression.
nhusain14's review
5.0
Wealth is immoral if, within it, there is no intrinsic share for the empowerment of the dispossessed.
"Muhammad abolished ground rent, usury and all speculative and exploitative economic practices. Usurious transactions were prohibited with a warning of 'war from God and His Prophet' against those who continued such practices (Qur’an 2:279). Creditors were exhorted to recover only their capital sums, 'but if you dispense even of that then it would be more virtuous for you' (2:280). The abolition of the leasing of lands negated landlordism and these ordinances or legal injunctions were backed up by chronic exhortations to the wealthy to spend whatever was beyond necessity (2:219). To facilitate the empowerment of the poor and dispossessed, the Qur’an announces that in the wealth of the rich there is an intrinsic share for them (70:25; 51:19). The principle of distributive justice was unambiguously affirmed so that the wealth should not only circulate amongst the rich."
"Muhammad abolished ground rent, usury and all speculative and exploitative economic practices. Usurious transactions were prohibited with a warning of 'war from God and His Prophet' against those who continued such practices (Qur’an 2:279). Creditors were exhorted to recover only their capital sums, 'but if you dispense even of that then it would be more virtuous for you' (2:280). The abolition of the leasing of lands negated landlordism and these ordinances or legal injunctions were backed up by chronic exhortations to the wealthy to spend whatever was beyond necessity (2:219). To facilitate the empowerment of the poor and dispossessed, the Qur’an announces that in the wealth of the rich there is an intrinsic share for them (70:25; 51:19). The principle of distributive justice was unambiguously affirmed so that the wealth should not only circulate amongst the rich."
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