When the Ayatollah Khomeini pronounced the "fatwa" against the novelist Salman Rushdie in 1989, the world awoke to the question which unifies the fifteen essays in this volume: What is the contentious relationship between the world's fastest growing religion and an increasingly secular literary world? Recognizing the convergence between Islam's religious concerns and the political agenda it shares with many postcolonial emerging nations, noted international scholars address issues of authorization, the role of gender, and the pluralism among Islamic (and non-Arabic) cultures. After providing a historical context for current crises, the essayists discuss the coming cultural enrichment and potential threat.