Download or read book The Struggle Within Islam written by Rafiq Zakaria and published by Penguin (Non-Classics). This book was released on 1989 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Islam is a simple religion: it requires of its followers only two things -- one, a belief in the unity of God and, two, a belief in the prophethood of Muhammad. Despite the pure and homogeneous nature of the faith, the history of Islam has been one of conflict. The first problem Islam faced was the issue of succession to the Prophet. from then on, Islam has been riven by dissent -- a result of the almost uninterrupted face-off between Islamic rulers, who were usually secular and flexible in their interpretation and implementation of the rules and practices of Islam and fundamentalist theologians, jurists and their followers, who insisted on a rigid adherence to the Quran and the Sunna. Besides a thorough analysis of this problem, the author examines other issues that have led to discord -- the treatment of non-Muslims in an Islamic State; the power of taxation of the State; the nature of punishment for certain offences mentioned in the Quran and so on." --Page [4] of cover.