The following lectures entitled
Islam and God-Centricity: A Theological Basis for Human Liberation
presents the first in a multi-volume series of talks in which the essential message of Islam is presented in a fresh reevaluation of religion and human purpose. The lectures transcribed and edited in this book lay out the philosophical foundations of the Quranic outlook for humanity, one which envisions religion and prophetic teachings as a purposive process of continuous spritual growth rooted in the Quranic principle of God-centricity. By identifying the core tenets of purposive religion, the author embraces a philosophically rigorous concept of human progress that is informed by the teachings of the sages and mystics of Islam, and provides an interpretation of religion that regards human beings as being in a state of continual existential motion at both the individual and communal levels so as to achieve greater degrees of human perfection. This process, because it has no finality, allows religion and relgious teachings to be forever relevant albeit themselves in a state of flux as their facilitative nature also progresses in accordance with the progress of human liberation. In this way, religion as a process is both the cause and effect of human success.