'The struggle to live as a child of the times in a liberated society and to be committed to Islam is incredibly difficult. Every answer seems to be accompanied by a multitude of questions.'

Funny, challenging, controversial, passionate and unforgiving, this is an unprecedented personal account of a Muslim's life in the modern world. Dr Esack is a Muslim theologian and an academic, yet he is also an outspoken public figure in the new South Africa. Every day immersed in the hotbed of controversy where faith and modernity meet, Esack is in a unique position to trample unashamedly over the traditional boundaries between the religious and the secular to tackle some of the key questions facing Muslims in the contemporary age. These range from intensely personal such as cultivating a meaningful personal relationship with God and being honestly self-aware- to meeting the major socio-political challengesof today, such as gender equality, religous freedom and racial tolerance.

A perspective and ground-breaking account of modern Islam, there is a great deal to be learnt from his book by anyone interested in the burning social and spiritual issues of the day.

Farid Esack has an internaitonal reputation as a Muslim scholar, speaker, and human rights activist. He has lectured widely on religion and Islamic Studies, and also served as a Commisioner for Gender Equality with Nelson Mandela's government. He is the author of "Qur'an, Liberation and Pluralism" and "The Qur'an: A short Introduction" He has taught at the Universities of the Western Cape, Amsterdam, and Hamburg, and at Union Theological Seminary (New York).