A prominent American journalist has highly praised former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's posthumous book, saying it contains the "best-written and most persuasive modern interpretation of Islam".
"Written while she was preparing to re-enter political life, it is a book of enormous intelligence, courage and clarity," Fareed Zakaria, who is the editor of Newsweek International, said of "Reconciliation" in a detailed review published in The New York Times on Sunday.
Zakaria, who is of Indian origin, also praised Benazir as a leader, calling her "intelligent, erudite and intensely charismatic. Part of what makes it (the book) compelling, of course, is the identity of its author," the reviewer added.
Zakaria wrote: "People have often asked when respected Muslim leaders would denounce Islamic extremism and articulate a forward-looking and tolerant view of their religion. Well, Benazir has done it in full measure. And as the most popular political figure in the world of Islam for three decades she led the largest political party in the second largest Muslim country.
She had much greater standing than the collection of reactionary mullahs, second-rate academics and unelected monarchs who opine on these topics routinely, and are accorded far too much attention in the West. In fact, Washington should arrange to have the portions of the book about Islam republished as a separate volume and translated into several languages. It would do more to win the battle of ideas within Islam than anything an American president could ever say," he added.
Stating that Benazir had few accomplishment during her two terms as the prime minister, Zakaria said, "there are explanations for her lack of achievement. The military establishment gave her little room and maneuvered against her constantly but still one cannot help but notice the gap between ambition and action that haunted Benazir for most of her public life." "With the publication of Reconciliation, Benazir has "alas, posthumously closed that gap."
In the review, Zakaria uses several quotes, while noting that Benazir "frankly and unhesitatingly" discusses the Muslim world's problems." "It is so much easier to blame others," she writes, "than to accept responsibility ourselves." She takes on issues that most Muslim leaders have preferred to ignore or avoid, like the sectarian war within Islam.
"One billion Muslims around the world seemed united in their outrage at the war in Iraq. But there is deadly silence when they are confronted with Muslim-on-Muslim violence. Even regarding Darfur, where there is an actual genocide being committed against a Muslim population, there has been a remarkable absence of protests."
He also notes that Benazir addresses the most backward-seeming traditions in the Muslim world with a knowledge of both theology and history, citing several instances.
"Benazir asks that Muslim societies learn to tolerate differences in faith," the reviewer noted. "Here again, Benazir combines theological and practical smarts. She links the need for Sunni-Shia harmony with the broader need for respect for other religions."
On Professor Samuel Huntingtons Foreign Affairs essay "The Clash of Civilisations?", Zakaria notes that she "marshals evidence against him and cites almost all the best critiques. In fact she has devoted her book in large part to dissuading Muslims from seeing the world as one in which a clash of civilisations is necessary or inevitable."
"Benazir is a child of both East and West, and it shows. She is imbued with rationalism, tolerance, progressivism, Zakaria says. "But she also writes persuasively about Iran, Algeria and, of course, Pakistan, from a non-Western point of view, accurately describing the corrosive role of the West in many of these countries and arguing that the pervasive interference, often to support unpopular dictatorships, has left bitter memories in these lands, He added.