Welcome to this Website!
This website introduces the second revised edition of the book “Exploring Islam in a New Light: A View from the Quranic Perspective” and its author Abdur Rab. The earlier editon had a slightly different sub-title: "An Understanding from the Quranic Perspective." While the substantive themes of the new-edition book remain basically the same as before, it incorporates some revision of texts here and there, along with other improvements, including addition of some new material. It is published by the Brainbow Press; publication date: May 31, 2010. (The original edition was published by iUniverse in March 2008.)
About the Author
Abdur Rab, currently a Bangladeshi-American, has had a long career in economic research and consulting, while serving a former Pakistani economic research institute and an industrial development bank and the Bangladesh and former undivided Pakistan governments and working for some international organizations, including the World Bank. He received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Dhaka University and a PH.D. from Harvard.
His insight into Islam comes from his association with a versatile Bengali spiritual guide possessing deep Quranic and spiritual knowledge, and his close study of the Quran and the Hadith and relevant Islamic literature of modern scholars.
more...About the Book
The book, a culmination of more than four years of research effort, is a bold new attempt to provide a comprehensive, in-depth description of the message of Islam, based on the Quran alone – one that seeks to promote a new way of thinking about Islam that can reconcile all Muslims and create the civil, moral Islam the Quran dictates. 
It is intended to be not just a strong retort to Islam’s usual stereotyping by the Western world (as fanatic and militant), but a marked departure from traditionally practiced Islam - a powerful voice against “Islamic fundamentalism,” and an agenda for much-needed, fundamental reform of the faith. It seeks to apply an intelligent, thoughtful, and rational approach the Quran encourages, keeping in view the social, political, and economic challenges the modern world faces. The book persuasively contends that the Hadith, surfacing, as it did, more than two centuries after the Prophet's death, is not authentic and reliable enough as religious authority and that it rather seriously misrepresents, undermines, and enormously distorts the true meaning of Islam. Islam is best understood if one focuses on the Quran alone and sincerely strives to grasp its complete, easy, and straightforward message. The book scrutinizes numerous misconceptions that have crept into the practiced faith, and calls for its essential reform.
more about the book...
Endorsements and Reviews
Muslim feminist scholar Riffat Hassan has written the book’s foreword, and other eminent scholars such as Khaled Abou El Fadl, Reza Aslan, Jeffrey Lang, Edip Yuksel, and Khaleel Mohammed strongly endorse and recommend it.
Professor Riffat Hassan of Louisville University, in her foreword to the book, considers it "of significance amongst scholarly works, written by modern scholars against the backdrop of the contemporary situation," as "a first serious attempt to understand Islam profoundly from within," and as one "that offers valuable insights on a number of issues of interest and concern to contemporary Muslims." She also thinks that the "book has much to offer to all readers who are keen to see and understand Islam as it is embodied in the Quran."
Among the other praise for the book is one from Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl of UCLA School of Law, which reads: “This is a surprising, inspiring, and ultimately, refreshing book. It is simultaneously a solid introduction to Islam, an ecstatic spiritual journey, and an analytical call for reform. Abdur Rab is not only a reliable and authoritative voice on modern Islam but he is an original and thrilling thinker. This is one book that is definitely well-worth the time investment and indeed it should be read widely by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.”
Another from Professor Reza Aslan of the University of California, Riverside is: “At a time when misconceptions about Islam are on the rise, even among Muslims, Abdur Rab has provided a compelling argument for returning to the Quran for a deeper, more complete, more original understanding of the meaning and message of Islam. The result is a book that posits not a NEW interpretation of Islam, but a more authentic one.”
Read some foreword remarks and all backcover endorsements here...
Where to Get the Book?
This second-edition book is currently available in paperback on amazon, barnes and noble and various other online bookstores in USA, Canada and various other countries worldwide (in Europe, Asia and Africa, including notably UK, Germany, India, Australia, Japan and South Africa). The new paperback edition (at a list price of US $19.95) is considerably cheaper than that of the original paperback edition.