Understanding Islam wins Iran's 32nd World Book Award

We are delighted to announce that Understanding Islam: Positions of Knowledge has won the 32nd World Book of the Year Award in Iran. Bryan S. Turner's book examines different positions of knowledge – insider and outsider –to explore what understanding Islam means in the 21st century.

From the author

'It is with some degree of humility and trepidation that I am honoured to accept this distinguished and generous award. I feel privileged to continue working as a professor of the sociology of religion at ACU in Sydney, Australia, and in this way to sustain the work that has defined my academic career, from my earliest critique of Max Weber through to the publication of Understanding Islam'

About the prize

The Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance inaugurated the World Award for Book of the Year in 1993 to highlight worthwhile international books which progress Islamic and Iranian Studies, and to honour their authors, editors, and translators.

About the book

Can we understand a religion without believing and practicing it? Can we have knowledge about faith? Can people understand those different from themselves? Can outsiders ever understand the world of insiders? Examining insider and outsider positions of knowledge, Bryan S. Turner explores what understanding Islam entails. He argues that understanding Islam has in recent years been dominated by political events – the Iran Hostage crisis, the fall of the Iranian Shah, 9/11, Afghanistan and the foreign policy of Donald Trump – leading to western intellectuals and public figures, many of whom know nothing about Islam, suddenly becoming experts. Turner asks how they, or how anyone, can have the authority to speak on this subject. He brilliantly elucidates the questions and problems involved in the challenge of understanding religion.

Find out more about Understanding Islam