Mustafa Akyol argues for Islamic reform from within washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
April 5, 2021, 3:14 p.m. ET
Credit.Illustration by Arsh Raziuddin/The New York Times
In this age of anxiety, anger and contestations between the West and the Islamic world, many epoch-shaping stories of intellectual exchanges between our cultures are often forgotten.
A powerful example comes from literature. Millions of Christian, Jewish and Muslim readers across the world have read that famed tale of the man stranded alone on an island: “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe, the 18th-century British pamphleteer, political activist and novelist.
Few know that in 1708, 11 years before Defoe wrote his celebrated novel, Simon Ockley, an Orientalist scholar at Cambridge University, translated and published a 12th-century Arabic novel, “Hayy ibn Yaqzan,”
By Seth Satterlee | Jan 15, 2021
This season, religious publishers turn to the ways spirituality can uplift those suffering from depression or anxiety. They also continue to confront systemic issues at the heart of abuse scandals and propose grassroots strategies to overcome social inequalities.
Top 10
Yvonne Orji. Worthy, May 25 ($26, ISBN 978-1-5460-1267-2)
Emmy-nominated comic actor Orji shares 25 life lessons infused with the wisdom of the Bible and aimed at helping readers pursue ambitious goals.
Checking In: How Getting Real about Depression Saved My Life and Can Save Yours
Michelle Williams. Thomas Nelson, May 25 ($26.99, ISBN 978-1-4002-2333-6)
Williams, a member of Destiny’s Child, details her struggles with depression and her decision to check into a treatment facility in 2018. There, she found power in God’s unpredictable plan for her life.