Shahab Ahmed. What is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2015. pp. 624. ISBN: 978-0-691-16418-2.

Australian Muslims rarely join the Australian Defence Force. There is no evidence this statistic is changing, no sign it is likely to change in the near future, and meanwhile the Australian Muslim population continues to grow faster than the general Australian population. If statistical trends continue, at best the situation will become far more noticeable, and at worst it will become an issue of national security and societal cohesion. This paper discusses the risks of long-term segregation of Australian Muslims from the nation’s defence forces, and considers them alongside the risks of acting to deliberately increase in numbers of Muslims serving in the ADF. Muslim jurists face a dilemma, where the scholar who is against Islamic service in the ADF risks being perceived as not supportive of Australia’s efforts to fight ISIS, et al, and the scholar who comes out in support of ADF service risks being perceived by their own community as endorsing Western imperialism and the collateral damage suffered by innocent Muslims in the same geographical areas. Similar dilemmas for ADF leadership also exist and are the cause of app

This article examines Said Nursi’s understanding of Jesus, his comparison of the prophethood of Jesus with that of Muḥammad, and his conception of Christianity and Islam as partners in the struggle against irreligion. Nursi’s views are then placed in the context of interreligious dialogue and the argument made that Nursi’s critical respect for Christianity can be read as an Islamic version of religious inclusivism, i.e. Nursi’s recognition and valuing of the truth, goodness and holiness of Christianity, while affirming that these qualities reach full expression only in Islam.

Islam, or more accurately Islamism, is often in the news. Militant Islamist groups such as Boko Haram and the so-called Islamic State are constantly in the headlines. There is a great danger such groups and the atrocities they commit will determine our conception of Islam as a whole. There are two ways to address this problem. One approach is to show how unIslamic these groups are by exposing the gulf that exists between their ideology and the teaching of the Qur’ān and the hạ dīth or traditions of Muḥammad. This is above all a task for the Muslim community. The second approach is to engage with Muslim thinkers and movements who advocate interreligious dialogue, cooperation between the world’s faiths, and collaboration between East and West. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (1877-1960) is one such thinker.

Abou El Fadl, Khaled. Reasoning with God: Reclaiming Shari’ah in the Modern Age. US, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers: 2014. pp. 556. $53.00. 978-0-7425-5232-6.

The notion that Islam means peace has almost become a cliché in a world where Islam’s relationship with peace is emphasised in an attempt to reclaim it from any association with terrorism. Islam does mean peace. Not only does Islam mean peace, but it also has a strong affiliation with inner peace through the tranquillity and peace it offers as a result of internalising the Islamic faith.
 Despite this strong affiliation with inner peace, there is minimal contemporary English literature regarding the relationship between Islam and inner peace. This is not because there is no connection between the two, but rather, it is a matter of language and conceptualisation. Most of the Islamic literature related to inner peace is encompassed within tasawwuf (Islamic spirituality) and extensively discussed in Arabic, Persian and Turkish. On the other hand, contemporary English literature on inner peace is predominantly from a Buddhist perspective, but also includes Hindu, Christian, Jewish and non-religious perspectives.
 When tasawwuf is delved into, various Islamic concepts can be identified that have a strong association with inner peace. The three concepts that will be analysed in this paper are riḍā (contentment), sakīna (serenity) and itṃ īnān (peace). These concepts can be brought together to produce a definition of inner peace that is true to the Islamic tradition: inner peace is attained when life and events are given a tawhị̄d-centric meaning in a way that satisfies the heart and mind.

In recent years, there has been growing concern regarding halal certification, which has resulted in targeted campaigns against halal food and products. On 13 May 2015, the Australian Senate commissioned a six month parliamentary inquiry into food certification processes in Australia, but given focus on the halal certification process. A central component of the investigation involved seeking public submissions, with 1,492 received in total. The Senate released a report of its findings on 1 December 2015. All public submissions and the Senate report are analysed in this paper. This article first argues there is an emerging link between targeted campaigns against halal certified products and related processes, and broader Islamophobic campaigns against Muslims living in Australia; demonstrating how Islamophobic discourse takes shape. Second, while the context may differ, the Islamophobic narrative remains effectively the same even as it pertains to halal certified foods. Finally, the article will demonstrate that a small segment of the Australian public used the commissioned Inquiry into the Third Party Certification of Food as an opportunity to whip up antiMuslim sentiment within the wider Australian community.

Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdi is one of the most influential theologians in the Muslim World. He emerged in the tenth century in Central Asia and established his own theological school, alMāturīdiyyah; a school that played and continues to play a pivotal role in the formation of the Sunni synthetic theological movement in the Muslim world. A review of the studies undertaken concerning alMāturīdi demonstrates the influence of the socio-political and theological context of Central Asia on al-Māturīdi has not been studied, examined or analysed. This paper focuses on studying this overlooked aspect in Sunni theology. It evaluates the existence of any influence of the social, political, cultural and religious factors on al-Māturīdī’s works and his academic identity. It examines the nature of these influences, positive or negative, by undertaking a qualitative content analysis of all biographical, historical and geographical literature relevant to al-Māturīdi and Central Asia. The study uncovered the strong influence these factors had on al-Māturīdi. These influences were all positive in many of his writings. More importantly, these factors helped shape the synthetic theological paradigm al-Māturīdi adopted in much of his literature.