Mustafa Akyol is a Turkish author and journalist who has written extensively on the compatibility of Islam and liberal values such as freedom and democracy. In his 2011 book "Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty," he traces how following the Prophet Muhammad's death, debates emerged between rationalist and dogmatic schools of Islamic thought, with the latter prevailing. However, Akyol argues reexamining Muslim intellectual history reveals liberal currents in the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey's unique "Islam-liberal synthesis" offers hope for reconciling Islam with political and social freedoms. Akyol is a columnist for two Turkish newspapers and has written for numerous international publications.