In the Christian theological lexicon, heresy is equivalent to innovation in the Islamic lexicon. However, while heresy in the former dictionary indicates deviation from orthodox beliefs, innovation in Arabic derives from the same root as creativity. Thus, a creative person is seen as an innovator, stepping outside the collective norms and thoughts. This is the 'heretical' nature of the studies collected in this book, which do not provide answers but rather raise questions and reformulate issues. One such issue is democracy: Is it a ripe fruit ready for harvest or a seed awaiting planting? Is it merely a mechanism reliant on the ballot box, or is it also a culture, dependent on the brain's mindset? Another issue is secularism: Is it solely a product of Christianity's historical development, or does it also have roots in Islam? If so, what is the true Qur’anic basis for the doctrine of divine governance? Other questions include the issue of translation in Islam: not how it emerged, but how it was suppressed. Modernity is another issue: Did Europe create it, or did it create Europe? Ultimately and importantly: Why Arab resistance? Is it a culture of otherness aversion, or the intensifying agony of a narcissistic wound?

Publishing house: Dar Al Saqi Publishing and Distribution Number of Pages: 240 Year of Publication: 2006