Akyol’s book nominated for ‘best-non fiction’

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

The Canada-based Lionel Gelber Prize jury has named Hürriyet Daily News writer Mustafa Akyol’s book, “Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty” as one of the 10 books of 2011 “that deepen public debate on important international issues.”

The Lionel Gelber Prize, founded in 1989 by Canadian diplomat Lionel Gelber, is a literary award given every year for the world’s best non-fiction book in English. Presented annually by the Lionel Gelber Foundation, in partnership with the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto and Foreign Policy magazine, the winning author receives $15,000.

The 10 nominees for this year’s award were announced last week. Besides Akyol’s “Islam without Extremes,” other candidates for the award include “On China” by Henry Kissinger, “The Origins of Political Order” by Francis Fukuyama, and “Civilization: The West and the Rest” by Niall Ferguson. The winner of the award will be announced on March 12.

Akyol’s book has been defined by its publisher, W.W. Norton, as “a provocative manifesto for an interpretation of Islam that synthesizes liberal ideas and respect for the Islamic tradition.” A recent Financial Times review has also defined it as “a forthright and elegant Muslim defense of freedom.”

“Read this book,” wrote David Gardner, International Affairs editor at the Financial Times, “and you will realize that Islamic liberalism is not the oxymoron so many Islamophobes in the West, as well as Islamists in the East, suppose it to be.”