Preface, 1-ROOTS With Humility and Gratitude; 2-ALLAHABAD AND ALIGARH Early Education; 3-CAMBRIDGE Free Enquiry; 4-FROM AMU TO LOK SABHA Wider Horizons; 5-ALIGARH ONCE AGAIN Slow Maturity Part 1; 6-ALIGARH ONCE AGAIN Part 2; 7-HIMALAYAN RETREAT Discovery Of Self; 8-THE INNER CALL Contented Self; 9-India in Medieval Times; 10-British Rule in Modern India and the Transfer of Power in 1947; 11-Candid Reflections on the Indian Political Scene 1947-1992; 12-The Dream of an Indian Muslim; Appendix 1 Facsimiles of Three Letters Addressed to the Author, Appendix 2 Some Random Personal Memories of Abdul Majeed Khwaja, Appendix 3 About the Author, Index
In this book I have recounted important facets of the story of my inner intellectual and spiritual growth. It is the story of how, a relatively, dogmatic model of Islam developed into the paradigm that I now accept. In one sentence my journey has taken me from an honest acceptance that Muslims alone will win salvation to an equally honest acceptance of the beauty and validity of inter-faith spirituality. More importantly, my reasons for accepting so are derived not merely from my study of philosophy, but also, and very much so, from the study of the Quran in the perspective of history. My paradigm of Quranic Islam may be termed as ‘Spirit-centered Humanism’ to distinguish it from ‘Neutral or Scientific Humanism’. And I submit that this interpretation of Islam, which I have come to accept after years of thought and reflection, fully satisfies the most rigorous intellectual criteria. In Part A, I give a brief account of my mental and spiritual growth at different stages of my life. In Part B, I briefly describe my image of India based on critical history.
Born in 1926, Jamal Khwaja has devoted a lifetime to the challenge of understanding and living the Quran with integrity. His forefathers worked closely with Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, and with Mahatma Gandhi. Khwaja studied philosophy in India and Europe. In 1957 he was elected to the Indian Parliament. However, his engagement with power politics was short lived. In 1962 he returned to his beloved, scholarly and contemplative lifestyle at the Aligarh Muslim University. He retired as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Philosophy. He is the author of seven major books. Khwaja's work seeks to answer three inter-related questions: Firstly, What does it mean to be an authentic Muslim? Secondly, How should a believer understand and interpret the Holy Quran in the 21st century? And finally, What is the role of Islam in a pluralistic society? Anyone interested in the intersection of Islam and Modernity will find Khwaja to be a reliable guide. His work is magisterial in scope. It is full of passion but remains balanced in perspective. Khwaja believes in judiciously creative modernization rooted in the Quran and firmly opposes shallow, unprincipled imitation of the West. His mission is to stimulate serious rethinking and informed dialog between tradition and modernity in Islam. Khwaja's work is the definitive contemporary discussion regarding the collision of Islam and Modernity. Readers of his work will be in turn, informed, inspired, and intellectually liberated.
