Islam Books

Book SynopsisThe Western world often fears many aspects of Islam, without the knowledge to move forward. On the other hand, there are sustained and complex debates within Islam about how to live in the modern world with faith. Alison Scott-Baumann and Sariya Contractor-Cheruvallil here propose solutions to both dilemmas, with a particular emphasis on the role of women.Challenging existing beliefs about Islam in Britain, this book offers a paradigm shift based on research conducted over 15 years. The educational needs within several groups of British Muslims were explored, resulting in the need to offer critical analysis of the provision for the study of classical Islamic Theology in Britain. Islamic Education in Britain responds to the dissatisfaction among many young Muslim men and women with the theological/secular split, and their desire for courses that provide combinations of these two strands of their lived experience as Muslim British citizens. Grounded in empiricalTrade ReviewThis book opens up new opportunities for research and practice towards understanding Islam in the British context, and marks a significant contribution for a wide audience of educational researchers, higher education stakeholders, and policymakers alike ... The language is accessible ... For academics, it remains an informative overview of Islamic education provision in the UK and offers a new approach to its challenges. * Journal of Beliefs and Values *This book is a rich resource for understanding Islam in Britain from two authors with significant relevant research experience ... Scott-Baumann and Cheruvallil-Contractor make an important contribution to a conversation which needs to happen about education, Islam and Britain. * Theology Journal *This is a book not just for educationalists, but anyone interested in obtaining a well-informed, nuanced view of an important aspect of British Muslim institutional life and the factors that motivate young Muslims to enroll in Islamic Studies courses. * Salaam: Muslims in Britain *This is a useful book that synthesises the work of two energetic British researchers who, separately and together, have done a great deal to map and explain the terrain of Islamic education in Britain. Based on strong empirical and interdisciplinary foundations, they describe the complexity of this field of study with intelligence, sensitivity and insight, and their work will be of value to educationalists from a wide range of institutions. -- Sophie Gilliat-Ray, Professor of Religious & Theological Studies, and Director of the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK, Cardiff University, UKThis book is extremely encouraging, motivating and inspiring. I believe it to be invaluable for those who wish to know more about Islamic Education in Britain of today. By fostering the interdisciplinary approach, the authors seek to highlight the participation and inclusion of Muslims within the UK educational structure, enabling a way to preserve cultural, linguistic and religious practice, essential for the British Muslim Identity. -- Mohammad Mesbahi, Director of Education, The Islamic College, UKAn admirable and significant work that elucidates the gaps, and argues for a greater need for understanding various standards of education, offered under a broader rubric of ‘Islamic education’ in Britain. The book is written for a diverse audience, and it enables academics, communities and policy makers to see the necessity for dialogue. -- Ataullah Siddiqui, Markfield Institute of Higher Education, UKThis remarkable contribution to religious education is a paradigm for intercultural and interfaith understanding. Written by two academics with deep knowledge of the subject, and importantly of the communitie, this is an authentic exploration of a timely issue. -- Sughra Ahmed, President, Islamic Society of Britain, UKTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Foreword, Tim Winter Introduction: Islamic Education in Pluralist Britain Page 1 Chapter 1: British Islam and Islamic Education - Two Approaches Page 12 Chapter 2: Mapping Islamic Studies provision in Britain Chapter 3: More than Imams: new narratives of Muslim faith leadership Chapter 4: Arabic: the centrality of a living world language Chapter 5: Muslim women’s voices, feminisms and theologies Chapter 6: Universities and Muslim colleges: ‘Collaborative Partnerships’ in Higher Education Conclusion: New paradigms for Islam in education Afterword, Shuruq Naguib Bibliography

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Book SynopsisCorisande Fenwick is Lecturer in Mediterranean Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology at University College London, UK. She is co-editor of The Aghlabids and their Neighbours (2017) and the Oxford Handbook of Islamic Archaeology (2020). She co-directs excavations at Bulla Regia, Tunisia and Volubilis, Morocco.Trade ReviewFenwick’s ‘new perspective’ delivers a concise and erudite overview of an understudied period and region. * The Muslim World Book Review *Corisande Fenwick succeeds admirably in presenting a coherent perspective which re-appraises known sources, presents new data and makes original, yet solid proposals for a coherent narrative. ... this publication is a phenomenal achievement * Medieval Archaeology *Fenwick’s definitive study offers a bold and refreshing account of the arrival and assimilation of Islam in North Africa. By integrating textual and archaeological sources both old and new, her book displays an urgent freshness in rigorously challenging old narratives with modern discoveries. -- Alan Walmsley, Honorary Professor of Ancient History, Macquarie University, AustraliaTable of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgments A Note on Arabic and Terminology Introduction: The Problem of North Africa. Ch 1. Foundations: Evidence and Interpretation Ch 2. From Conquest to Muslim Rule Ch 3. Cities Ch 4. The Countryside Ch 5. Economic Life Ch 6. Social Life Epilogue: North Africa and the Islamic World Timeline Glossary Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWith resurgent interest in the Muslim world and in particular political Islam, this collection of original essays by major Muslim thinkers from the Middle East and South Asia demonstrates the ongoing and contentious debate between modernizers seeking to adapt Western ways and fundamentalists who rejected them. From Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Sayyid Ahmad Khan in the 19th century to Sayyid Qutb and Ayatollah Khomeini in the 20th, the essays provide an opportunity to examine a diversity of Muslim thinkers'' thoughts on important topics like jurisprudence, politics, relations with the West, and women, in their own words.Trade Review'Provides an excellent source of the major issues that have engaged Muslim intellectuals for over a century as they attempted to grapple with the challenges of Western hegemony and modernity.' - Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Georgetown University 'This superbly chosen volume provides the best possible way for outsiders to gain authentic insights into modern Islam - to listen as leading Muslim scholars debate the serious issues facing their faith.' - Rodney Stark, Professor of Sociology and Comparative Religion, University of WashingtonTable of ContentsIntroduction PART ONE: ISLAMIC MODERNISMS Jurisprudence, Rational Sciences, and Differentiation of Knowledge Religion Versus Science; S.Jamal al-Din Al-Afghani Islamic Revealed Law Versus Islamic Common Law; C.Ali The Rationalistic and Philosophical Spirit of Islam; A.Ali The Sociological Laws of the Quran; M.Abduh Scientific Reform of Religious Studies; M.Abduh Methodology of Historical Writing; S.Nu'mani Islam and Politics War and Peace: Popular Jihad; C.Ali The Problem of Caliphate; A.Abd al-Raziq Authority of the Problem of Succession; A.Ali Intellectual Pluralism and Freedom of Opinion; S.A.Khan Islam and Western Civilization Modernist Economic and Social Project; Aligarh Institute Gazette Islam and Civilization; M.F.Wajdi Islamic Modernism and the Women's Question Polygamy; C.Ali The Rights of Women, S.A.Khan The Liberation of Women; Q.Amin Style of Living The Way of Life; S.A.Khan The Way to Eat a Meal; S.A.Khan Civil Rights; R.al-Tahtawi PART TWO: ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM Jurisprudence, Bases of Law, and Rational Sciences Islam as the Basis for Knowledge; S.Qutb Fallacy of Rationalism, S.Abul A'la Maududi Islam and Politics War and Peace: Jihad; S.Qutb The Nature of an Islamic State; A.Khomeini The Necessity of Islamic Government; A.Khomeini The Political Theory of Islam; S.Abul A'la Maududi The Program of FIS; Islamic Salvation Front of Algeria Boycotting the 1997 Election in Jordan; Muslim Brotherhood Islamic Action Front Party: Interview With Dr. Ishaq A.Farhan Islam and Western Civilization Critical Attitudes about the West and the Idea of Western Decadence; A.Shari'ati Suicide of Western Civilization; S.Abul A'la Maududi Granting Capitulatory Rights to the U.S; A.Khomeini Islam and It's Adversaries; A.al-Latif Sultani Plagued by the West; J.Al-I Ahmad Women and the Hijab A Moralizing Fundamentalism; A.al-Latif Sultani On the Islamic Hijab; M.Motahhari Bibliography Index of the Articles

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Book SynopsisA reassessment of the supposition that Mecca was a trading centre.

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Book SynopsisThe story of Mu?ammad's granddaughter Zaynab.

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Book SynopsisIn the 13th century, a debate transpired over the course of several days between a monk named Jurji and several Muslims jurists in the city of Aleppo. This debate represents a careful and sophisticated example of a literary genre that had been developing among the Christians living under Islamic rule since the seventh century. The immense popularity of this work is demonstrated by the sheer volume of surviving manuscripts, which number around hundred. This volume provides a critical edition and translation of the text.

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Book SynopsisAmanullah De Sondy is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Miami, Florida, USA.Trade ReviewThe Crisis of Islamic Masculinities shows how any notion of Muslim or Islamic masculinity is always constructed against a number of “others” – women, the West and God … This is an important work for those interested in gender relations in Muslim societies. I only wish that my students could read English because this work would help them to explore a broader range of gender constructions without the (fully justifiable) fear of being labelled un-Islamic. -- Julia Droebner, An-Najah National University * Times Higher Education *This book might be of interest to scholars working on various areas including but not limited to gender, Islam, and feminism. In summary, it is a useful book for the library. -- Nazli Alimen, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London * Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography *Ultimately, De Sondy does not aim to uncover one specific definition of true Islamic masculinity, but, rather, to explore the different ways in which Muslims have understood masculinity ... The Qur’anic chapter is particularly interesting, insofar as De Sondy feels that the Qur’an is inconclusive with respect to uncovering a single definition of masculinity, since many Qur’anic male figures – such as Adam, Jesus, Joseph, and the Prophet Muhammad – lived significantly different lives. -- Amina Inloes, The Islamic College, London * Journal of Shi'a Islamic Studies, 7.3 *The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities, provides a timely addition to the emergent field of masculinity studies ... De Sondy has produced an inclusive and pluralistic vision of Islamic masculinities that accommodates polar opposite exemplars such as Mawdudi and Mirza Ghalib, that argues that the diversity of Qur’anic masculine paradigms must themselves be taken as proof that Islam does not support a single model of masculinity, and which offers a cogent analysis of the multiple positions Muslim women feminists have adopted and the methods they have employed to remain “pro-faith” while debunking the hegemonic discourses of Islamic traditions ... A beautifully written ... and well documented study that should be read not only by those interested in gender in Islam but by anyone interested in gender and masculinity issues more broadly. -- Linda G. Jones, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain * Society for Contemporary Thought and the Islamicate World Review *De Sondy does a fine job in illuminating the role of a foundational text such as the Qur’an in shaping notions of masculinity while at the same time avoiding over-determining scripture’s role in this process. Equally, in order to avoid the pitfalls of generalizing about Muslim men worldwide, he focuses his analysis on case studies from the Indian subcontinent between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries … beautifully written … and well documented study that should be read not only by those interested in gender in Islam but by anyone interested in gender and masculinity issues more broadly. -- Linda G. Jones, Universitat Pompeu Fabra * SCTIW Review *This book opens the way to rethinking what it means to be a man in the Islamic tradition, showing the intricate ways in which constructions of femininity and masculinity are intertwined. It is a must-read for those wishing to understand the Islamists' obsession with sexuality, their rejection of gender equality, and their invocation of religious dogma as the basis for gender rights. -- Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Law, SOAS, UK.De Sondy makes an original and rich contribution to the burgeoning literature on Islamic masculinities while engaging productively with Muslim feminist thought. -- Kecia Ali, Associate Professor of Religion, Boston University, USA.The study of Muslim masculinities is in its infancy, and The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities easily succeeds in laying a secure foundation for this highly significant but neglected field - a major step forward. -- Ahmet T. Karamustafa, Professor of History, University of Maryland, USA.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1.The Knot Mawdudi Tied 2. Feminists’ Nonothering Hermeneutics 3. The Failed Search for a Single Qur’anic Masculinity 4. Mirza Ghalib’s Hedonistic Challenge 5.Sufism’s Beloved Subversion Conclusion Bibliography

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Book Synopsis

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