Although more than half of the world's Muslims live in Asia, most books on contemporary Islam focus on the Middle East, giving short shift to the dynamic and diverse presence of Asian Islam in regional and global politics. The Muslims of Asia constitute the largest Muslim communities in the world - Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Central Asia. In recent years, terrorist bombings in Bali, separatist conflicts in Thailand and the Philippines, and opposition politics in Central Asia, all point to the strategic importance of Asian Islam. In Asian Islam in the 21st Century, terrorism and its effects are placed within the broader context of Muslim politics and how Islamic ideals and movements, mainstream and extremist, have shaped Asian Muslim societies. Democratization experiments -- successful and unsuccessful -- are examined. The rise of radical militant movements is analyzed and placed in historical perspective. The result is an insightful portrait of the rich diversity of Muslim politics and discourse that continue to affect Asian Muslim majority and minority countries.Specialists and students of Islamic studies, religion and international affairs, and comparative politics as well as general readers will benefit from this sorely needed comprehensive analysis of a part of the world that has become increasingly important in the 21st century.

Although more than half of the world's Muslims live in Asia, most of the widely read books on contemporary Islam focus on developments in the Middle East, giving short shrift to experiences in some of the largest Muslim countries in the world. In recent years events like the terrorist bombings in Bali, intensifying separatist activities in Thailand, and developments in the Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union all point to the fact that Asian Islam is a subject of growing importance. Specialists as well as general readers interested in international relations need broadly conceived analyses of developments in the major Muslim societies of Asia. The beginning of the twenty-first century is witnessing profound transformations in the way that Islamic ideals and Islamic movements shape state and society. The studies collected in this book look at the changes happening both in Muslim majority countries and in societies where Muslims are a minority. Experiences of democratization - successful and unsuccessful - are examined. The rise of radical militant movements is analyzed, and placed in historical perspective and in the broader context of mainstream Islamic ideals. Among the contributors are such prominent scholars as Fred von der Mehden, Vali Nasr, Hakan Yavuz, and John Voll. This book will serve as the successor to Esposito's influential 1987 collection, Islam in Asia.

Makers of Contemporary Islam examines the biographies of nine major activist intellectuals whose work provides the core of what the Islamic resurgence became in the 1990's and is an important foundation for what it can become in the 21st century. The profiles of these internationally recognized figures provide a new understanding of the intellectual foundations of contemporary Islamic awareness and Muslim politics. Nine figures are covered: Ismail al-Faruqi, Khurshid Ahmad, Maryam Jameelah, Hasan Hanafi, Anwar Ibrahim, and Abdurrahman Wahid. These intellectual activists represent a distinctive phase in the evolution of Islamic thinking: the ongoing effort to create an effective synthesis of modernity and Islamic tradition. Makers of Contemporary Islam is essential reading for students and scholars of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies as well as general readers interested in the Islamic resurgence and international affairs.