This book argues that ever since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, which established a Shia Islamic government in Iran, that country's religious and political leaders have used Shia Islam as a crucial way of expanding Iran's objectives in the Middle East and beyond. Since 1979, Iran's religious and political leaders have been concerned about Iran's security in the face of the hostility and expansionism of the United States and other western countries, and the threats from powerful neighboring Sunni leaders and countries. While Iran's government has attempted to align itself with Shia Muslims in various countries, such as Iraq and Lebanon, against American and Sunni expansionism, the Iranian government has attempted to religiously nourish and politically mobilize those Shias as a matter of principle, not only because of the Iranian government's desires to protect Iran from external threats. The book analyzes Shia Islam and politics in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon which have among the largest proportional Shia populations in the Middle East and are vibrant centers of Shia intellectual life. The book's clear and jargon-free approach make it especially accessible for students and general readers who would like an introduction to the book's topics.

Dynamic Islam analyzes the lives and works of four of the most influential liberal diaspora Muslim intellectuals of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries-Fatima Mernissi, Leila Ahmed, Fazlur Rahman, and Mohammed Arkoun. These prolific scholars are among the first generation of Muslims writing in Western languages who have intentionally directed their works toward audiences in the West, as well as the Muslim world. Jon Armajani examines the way these cutting-edge scholars have interpreted the Quran, Hadith, and Islamic history as they have constructed their visions for Islam in the modern world. Armajani vividly describes their perspectives on women and gender, veiling, Islamic revivalism, Islam and democracy, and Islamic mysticism. The volume also situates their ideas with respect to conservatively minded western Muslims and Islamic revivalists.