Tariq Ramadan is very much a public figure, named one of Time magazine's most important innovators of the twenty-first century. He is among the leading Islamic thinkers in the West, with a large following around the world. But he has also been a lightning rod for controversy. Indeed, in 2004, Ramadan was prevented from entering the U.S. by the Bush administration and despite two appeals, supported by organizations like the American Academy of Religion and the ACLU, he was barred from the country until spring of 2010, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finally lifted the ban. In What I Believe, Ramadan attempts to set the record straight, laying out the basic ideas he stands for in clear and accessible prose. He describes the book as a work of clarification, directed at ordinary citizens, politicians, journalists, and others who are curious (or skeptical) about his positions. Aware that that he is dealing with emotional issues, Ramadan tries to get past the barriers of prejudice and misunderstanding to speak directly, from the heart, to his Muslim and non-Muslim readers alike. In particular, he calls on Western Muslims to escape the mental, social, cultural, and religious ghettos they have created for themselves and become full partners in the democratic societies in which they live. At the same time, he calls for the rest of us to recognize our Muslim neighbors as citizens with rights and responsibilities the same as ours. His vision is of a future in which a shared and confident pluralism becomes a reality at last.

The name of Tariq Ramadan is well known in the West. Thanks to his urbane manner and articulate way of expressing himself - in a number of languages - this Swiss-born academic is a regular contributor to television and radio features dealing with Islam (and Islamism) and the West. In England, his reputation as a ''moderate'' has won him praise - and even an invitation from the Prime Minister to serve on the government's task force on preventing extremism. Meanwhile, as the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Ramadan enjoys a certain status in Islamic circles - a kind of ambassador for his grandfather's brand of political Islam. So who is the real Tariq Ramadan and what does he stand for? In this incisive and insightful study of the man, well-known French writer and journalist Caroline Fourest dissects the public pronouncements of Tariq Ramadan. Drawing on his numerous books, articles and speeches as sources, she demonstrates with chilling clarity that the West has been beguiled by Ramadan's doublespeak. Tariq Ramadan is slippery. He says one thing to his faithful Islamist followers and something else entirely to his Western audience. His choice of words, the formulations he uses - even his tone of voice - vary, chameleon-like, according to his audience. In most people, this would be merely funny or irritating, but Tariq Ramadan is too influential a figure to be dismissed so lightly. Caroline Fourest does an incalculable service. In this long-overdue English translation of Brother Tariq she proves, once and for all, that Tariq Ramadan is not to be trusted. Ramadan has been portrayed as the Martin Luther King of Islam. This study reveals that he is a far more sinister character at the forefront of a militant and reactionary Islam.

Even though they were mother and daughter they were known mostly as ‘the sisters’. It was a union that would lead them both into lives they wished they had not had. For thirty-five years, two women frighten each other through the fading twilight of the last century, their existence an unacknowledged tragedy of manners. Confusing their duty to one another for the feelings they’re too busy to mention, their desire for “modest social success” ends by asphyxiating whatever lies within its grasp. From the art galleries of Manhattan Island to the pubs of the North Yorkshire Moors, Nature and Necessity is a wild reimagining of the nineteenth-century realist novel, a story of siblings battling for survival and supremacy, a war story without armies, and a warning that even the most promising and prosperous of lives can be crushed by the fear of uttering the confession: I love you.

In this new book, Tariq Ramadan argues that it is crucial to find theoretical and practical solutions that will enable Western Muslims to remain faithful to Islamic ethics while fully living within their societies and their time. He notes that Muslim scholars often refer to the notion of ijtihad (critical and renewed reading of the foundational texts) as the only way for Muslims to take up these modern challenges. But, Ramadan argues, in practice such readings have effectively reached the limits of their ability to serve the faithful in the West as well as the East. In this book he sets forward a radical new concept of ijtihad, which puts context -- including the knowledge derived from the hard and human sciences, cultures and their geographic and historical contingencies -- on an equal footing with the scriptures as a source of Islamic law.

An immigrant family embarks on their first camping trip in the Midwest in this lively picture book by Ambreen Tariq, outdoors activist and founder of @BrownPeopleCamping Fatima Khazi is excited for the weekend. Her family is headed to a local state park for their first camping trip! The school week might not have gone as planned, but outdoors, Fatima can achieve anything. She sets up a tent with her father, builds a fire with her mother, and survives an eight-legged mutant spider (a daddy longlegs with an impressive shadow) with her sister. At the end of an adventurous day, the family snuggles inside one big tent, serenaded by the sounds of the forest. The thought of leaving the magic of the outdoors tugs at Fatima's heart, but her sister reminds her that they can keep the memory alive through stories--and they can always daydream about what their next camping trip will look like. Ambreen Tariq's picture book debut, with cheerful illustrations by Stevie Lewis, is a rollicking family adventure, a love letter to the outdoors, and a reminder that public land belongs to all of us.

British photographer Tariq Zaidi presents a fashion subculture of Kinshasa & Brazzaville: La Sape, Societe des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Elegantes. Its followers are known as 'Sapeurs' ('Sapeuses' for women). Most have ordinary day jobs as taxi-drivers, tailors and gardeners, but as soon as they clock off they transform themselves into debonair dandies. Sashaying through the streets they are treated like rock stars - turning heads, bringing 'joie de vivre' to their communities and defying their circumstances.