Human Struggle

The first comparative work to explore how humankind seek out the meaning of life amid suffering and struggle.

The great thinkers and poets in Christianity and Islam led lives of personal religious struggle. This book is the first comparative work to explore struggle in the writings of iconic figures like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Hamid Ghazali, Rainer Maria Rilke and Sayyid Qutb. It asks: how does humankind find meaning in life in an age of uncertainty?Many of the great thinkers and poets in Christianity and Islam led lives marked by personal and religious struggle. Indeed, suffering and struggle are part of the human condition and constant themes in philosophy, sociology and psychology. In this thought-provoking book, acclaimed scholar Mona Siddiqui ponders how humankind finds meaning in life during an age of uncertainty. Here, she explores the theme of human struggle through the writings of iconic figures such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Muhammad Ghazali, Rainer Maria Rilke and Sayyid Qutb - people who searched for meaning in the face of adversity. Considering a wide range of thinkers and literary figures, her book explores how suffering and struggle force the faithful to stretch their imagination in order to bring about powerful and prophetic movements for change. The moral and aesthetic impulse of their writings will also stimulate inter-cultural and interdisciplinary conversations on the search for meaning in an age of uncertainty.