An introduction to the thought of Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi, the political activist who heads Tunisia's banned Islamist political opposition to the contemporary authoritarian regime. He is the leader of a school in modern Islamic political thought that advocates democracy and pluralism.

"The face of nonviolent Islamic democracy has long been associated with the writings of the Tunisian political philosopher and activist Rachid Ghannouchi. Yet, not until the work of Azzam Tamimi has the Western world been exposed to the complexity of Ghannouchis argumentsintertwined as they are with a subtle appreciation of democracy's political imperative and Islam's moral authority. Through a careful use of original and secondary sources, Tamimi has provided the most detailed and fair-minded analysis of one of the Muslim worlds most articulatealbeit controversialinterpreters of political Islam and its relationship to modern democracy." --John Entelis, Professor of Political Science, Fordham University "This book is a serious contribution to the literature on liberal (and illiberal) trends in contemporary political Islam, and will be a useful reference." -- Middle East Journal "This brilliant intellectual biography of a very influential Islamist thinker of our times cannot be ignored by anyone interested in the vexed question of the relationship between Islam and democracy."--The Muslim World Book Review "The face of nonviolent Islamic democracy has long been associated with the writings of the Tunisian political philosopher and activist Rachid Ghannouchi. Yet, not until the work of Azzam Tamimi has the Western world been exposed to the complexity of Ghannouchis argumentsintertwined as they are with a subtle appreciation of democracy's political imperative and Islam's moral authority. Through a careful use of original and secondary sources, Tamimi has provided the most detailed and fair-minded analysis of one of the Muslim worlds most articulatealbeit controversialinterpreters of political Islam and its relationship to modern democracy." --John Entelis, Professor of Political Science, Fordham University "This book is a serious contribution to the literature on liberal (and illiberal) trends in contemporary political Islam, and will be a useful reference." -- Middle East Journal "This brilliant intellectual biography of a very influential Islamist thinker of our times cannot be ignored by anyone interested in the vexed question of the relationship between Islam and democracy."--The Muslim World Book Review