Originally a lecture delivered at the 1976 International Islamic Conference in London, this monograph offers a radically different account of religion from the Islamic viewpoint. The author eloquently shows that the concept couched in the Arabic term din is not the same as the word "religion" as understood throughtout Western religious history. By means of a careful semantic analysis, al-Attas takes up the notion "din" as a unifying theme, connecting it with other key-concepts within the worldview of Islam, such as the notion of human nature, soul, freedom, justice, happiness, change,progress, and development. Thoughtful and well written, this work will continue to interest both Muslim and non-Muslim readers in years to come.