Prof. Salim Mansour on "The Qur'an Problem and Islamism"

Political science professor emeritus Salim Mansour discusses his 2017 book The Qur’an Problem and Islamism. In it, he argues that power-hungry people have long been politicizing the Qur’an by championing their own (often simplistic) interpretations and demonizing other interpretations, from the time of the First Fitna to our own era, and that the results have generally been disastrous.

But does that mean that all forms of “political Islam” or “Islamism” are inherently untenable? Does the fault lie with religion and its interpretations, or with the inherently conflictual nature of politics? And are many or even most of the apparent excesses of modern Islamism, above all the phenomenon of “Islamic terrorism,” illusions created by the enemies of Islam by way of false flags and other forms of propaganda?

In this podcast, Prof. Mansour discusses and debates these and other issues with Islamic Studies colleague Kevin Barrett. https://alandalustribune.substack.com/p/prof-salim-mansour-on-the-quran-problem