"Reading the Muslim mind" by Dr. Hassan Hathout, a contemporaneous philosophical reflection

Abstract

The author of this book, Hassan Hathout, Egyptian American encyclopedic personality (physician, scientist, teacher, speaker, thinker, writer, poet, ethicist and Islamic scholar) wrote this book at the age of 70.
Being bicultural and bilingual, he understood that Islam is widely in West for what it is not in reality, and as a Muslim, he felt himself guilty in part and justly reacts by writing as a response the book "Reading the Muslim Mind", which is the eighth one authored by him, along side papers and articles of various types.
The bulk of the book includes five chapters and the foreword by the Saudi Arabian personality, Sheikh Ahmad Zaki Yamani.
Chapter one: "God?" opens a path that may lead the Muslim to know his God and this way smooth the progress of belief and full acceptance. Logical analysis of factors that show the existence of God lead naturally to Chapter two, deepening into of the logical analysis of the consequences of this existence as well as of the three principal monotheist religions that have common sourcing points in the personae of the patriarch Ibrahim, i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Chapter three of this book is an attractive and objective presentation of Islam and its relations with the two other religions.
This chapter reveals the evaluation degree of Moses, the prophet of Hebrews, in Koran. The history of war of Moses and his people is repeated several times in Koran. The names of Prophets Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon and Joseph are well-known in the Muslim community.
Chapter four of this book, the longest and the most important one, penalizes the anatomy of Islam. Dr. Hassan Hathout examines briefly of Shari'ah, or the stem of the Islamic Law, separation of religion from state, and democracy. He continues with approaching the spiritual aspect of Islam, i.e. the issues of worship and moral message that disciplined Muslims and sowed in them compassion, mercy and love for everything good.
Chapter five, and the last one, deals with the political and social issues about which there have been controversies all around the world. Viewpoints of and proposed solutions of the author are the reflection of his deep understanding of Islamic Shari'ah and moral principles put into use.
In the entirety of all chapters' unity in this book, what has impressed and drawn our attention are the unity and diversity of thought, ideas and opinions, confrontation and analysis, basis and culture of conclusions.