The Great Figures of Islam - When Islam Illuminated the World, by Malek Chebel

One cannot understand the upheavals of the Arab world if one does not know the history of Islam. A story that sheds light on the figureheads of which Malek Chebel paints a portrait for us here. Whether they are politicians, philosophers, poets, doctors, builders or mystics, whether they are called Saladin, Suleiman the Magnificent, Averroes, Umar Khayyam, Leon the African and even Oum Kalsoum, they have found in Islam the source of their inspiration. Learned, they fed on an ancient culture rediscovered above all.

This aspiration to the universal was born under the impetus of a singular, "revolutionary" man, the Prophet Muhammad. Withdrawn in his cave, encouraged by his wife Khadidja, he received the Koran there. He will then fight for the advent of the new world that has been dictated to him, a fairer world, as it was perceived by the very new Muslims.

Over the pages, in watermark, relive some of the greatest civilizations of the golden age, when human wisdom prevailed over the ideology of withdrawal and showed the true face of Islam.

About the author: Malek Chebel

A recognized specialist in Islam, Malek Chebel is a philosopher and anthropologist. He has published numerous books, including Islam and Reason at Perrin.