Islam Books

Book SynopsisIn this timely study, world renowned Middle Eastern and Western scholars and advisers provide expert analyses of the contemporary affairs of the MENA region and offer solutions for achieving peace, security and prosperity. Ideal for students and lecturers of Middle Eastern Studies, political sciences, Islamic studies and globalisation.Trade Review'Sincere and informed opinion pieces ... they bring fresh ideas and perspectives to important debates.' - Nordicum-MediterraneumTable of ContentsForeword Preface 1. Towards a Discursive Framework of Change, Behrooz Sabet & Cyrus Rohani 2. Culture for Openness and Coexistence: How Can We Create It?, Abdul Hamid Al-Ansari 3. Guiding Principles of Leadership for the Twenty-First Century, Cyrus Rohani 4. Confronting Violence through Policies of Dialogue: Towards Establishing a 'Citizenship that Incorporates Diversity' in the Post-ISIS Era, Saad Salloum 5. Nonviolence and the Challenges in the Middle East, Ramin Jahanbegloo 6. Religion of Peace: Islamic Principles of Good Governance, Christopher Buck 7. Traditionalist and Reformist Discourses Pertaining to Islamic Revival, Armin Eschraghi 8. Defining Islamic Social Principles, Christopher Buck 9. Women's Rights in the Middle East, Nazila Ghanea 10. Reason in Islam: Taking Back Their Own, Ian Kluge 11. 'Be Just': Qur'anic Ethics as Benchmarks for Islamic Law, Christopher Buck

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Book SynopsisContrary to popular opinion, the bulk of Islamic law does not come from the Quran but from hadith, first-hand reports of the Prophet Muhammad’s words and deeds, passed from generation to generation. However, with varying accounts often only committed to paper a century after the death of Muhammad, Islamic scholars, past and present, have been faced with complex questions of historical authenticity. In this wide-ranging introduction, Jonathan A. C. Brown explores the collection and criticism of hadith, and the controversy surrounding its role in modern Islam. This edition, revised and updated with additional case studies and attention to the very latest scholarship, also features a new chapter on how hadiths have been used politically, both historically and in the Arab Spring and its aftermath. Informative and accessible, it is perfectly suited to students, scholars and general readers interested in this critical element of Islam.Trade Review‘Both erudite and highly readable… Jonathan Brown’s remarkably learned, engaging, and wide-ranging book will certainly find favor with students of all levels, but it is also accessible to educated lay readers and offers a fruitful read for specialists.’ * International Journal of Middle East Studies *‘It is impossible to understand the Islamic tradition without getting some knowledge of the sciences of hadith. In this fascinating introduction, Jonathan A. C. Brown provides the reader with the necessary means to navigate between the traditional framework and contemporary issues. A brilliant essay written by a widely-acknowledged scholar in the field.’ -- Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies, University of Oxford‘Far surpasses all previous introductory surveys. It is especially distinguished by its attention to hadith scholarship throughout the Middle Ages, not just the age of the great collectors.’ -- Christopher Melchert, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Oxford‘A must read and a great read. The combination of impeccable, critical scholarship with a storyteller’s style has produced an introductory volume that is both substantive and remarkably engaging.’ -- John L. Esposito, Founding Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University‘A comprehensive study of the scholarship throughout Islamic history dealing with the traditions of the Prophet. A combination of critical analysis and informed understanding that presents a significant new perspective on a much-debated subject.’ -- John O. Voll, Professor Emeritus of Islamic History, Georgetown University‘This work is, in my opinion, without parallel in the English language. Stunning in its scope, it enables one to grasp a highly complex subject in well-written and clear prose. The knowledge of Islam is of utmost importance today, and this book bridges a yawning gap in our access to that knowledge in English. It’s essential reading for any serious student of Islam limited by language.’ -- Hamza Yusuf Hanson, president and co-founder, Zaytuna CollegeTable of ContentsPreface to the Revised Edition Preface Acknowledgments Conventions, Abbreviations, and Transliteration 1 The Prophet’s Words Then and Now: Hadith and Its Terminology 2 The Transmission and Collection of Prophetic Traditions 3 The Methods and History of Hadith Criticism 4 Prophetic Traditions in Shiite Islam 5 The Function of Prophetic Traditions in Islamic Law and Legal Theory 6 The Function of Prophetic Traditions in Theology 7 The Function of Prophetic Traditions in Sufism 8 The Function of Prophetic Traditions in Politics 9 The Authenticity Question: Western Debates over the Historical Reliability of Prophetic Traditions 10 Debates over Prophetic Traditions in the Modern Muslim World 11 Conclusion Glossary Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisProfessor Ayoub of Temple University, Pennsylvania, is one of the best known scholars of Islam in America today. He firmly believes that it is important to learn about Islam, its history, beliefs, and practices from believing Muslims. In this book, he combines his objective scholarship with the insights of an insider, to present a unique introduction to Islam as a living religion. From the starting point of his own spiritual journey, Ayoub explores all aspects of Islam: from its origins to the modern-day challenges of the world; from the Qur’an and Islamic law to the epic poetry of the Sufis; and from the spread of Islam worldwide to the present role of Islam in the US and Europe. A unique blend of personal understanding and scholarly endeavour, this digestible account will enable the reader to gain an insider’s perspective on Islam and experience its significance from within.Table of ContentsPreface Prologue: Islam – A Personal Faith I.Origins and Early History II.Prophethood, Revelation and the Qur’an III.Faith and Worship IV.The Formative Period of Muslim History V.The Age of the Caliphs VI.The Spread of Islam VII.The Religious Sciences VIII.Sufism: The Mystical Tradition IX.Theology and Philosophy X.Islam and Modernity Epilogue: The Muslim Ummah and the Modern World

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Book SynopsisThe History of Akbar by Abu’l-Fazl is one of the most important works of Indo-Persian history. The eighth and final volume includes the conquest of Ahmadnagar, prince Salim’s rebellion, and the emperor’s final days. The Persian text is presented in the Naskh script along with a new English translation.Trade ReviewOf all the great monarchs to have ruled over India—a land whose history is richer and more turbulent than that of almost any other—the one who most retains our modern-day attention is Akbar, Mughal emperor from 1556 to 1605…[The History of Akbar] includes accounts of his court and his governance, as well as of the wars, alliances and intrigues of his time…Thackston’s translation is the first complete rendition into English of Abu’l-Fazl’s Persian text since Henry Beveridge, a British orientalist and imperial civil servant, completed his version in 1921…Thackston’s English is modern and…[his] translation…is impressively meticulous. -- Tunku Varadarajan * Wall Street Journal *At a time when Hindutva historians are eager to distort the history of Muslim invasions in order to deepen religious cleavages and consolidate vote banks, [Abu’l-Fazl's] elaboration of Akbar’s legacy as a tolerant Muslim ruler of a non-Muslim majority is an important reminder of how Indian society has evolved. -- Pragya Tiwari * India at LSE blog *We can only welcome an undertaking like the Murty Classical Library of India, which intends to inject fresh blood directly into the circulatory system of the English language. Any intelligent reader cannot fail to be favorably impressed in the presence of the variegated offerings of the series’ first titles…The Murty Classical Library offers a surprising array of texts that are in any case capable of broadening the all-too-restricted horizons of the average Western reader. -- Roberto Calasso * New York Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Faces of Muhammad is a learned, panoramic and fascinating book."---Tom Holland, The Spectator"[A] highly readable book."---Paul Hunt, interLib"A well-timed and long-awaited survey of the European portrayal of the Prophet of Islam."---Elmira Akhmetova, Muslim World Book Review"A perceptive, meticulous and unbiased critical assessment of the 'changing, complex, and contradictory visions‘ of the prophet of Islam in European and American/ 'Western‘ literary and academic works."---Tauseef Ahmad Parray, Aligarh Journal of Quranic Studies

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Book SynopsisIn Reaching Your Muslim Neighbor with the Gospel, A. S.Ibrahim seeks to provide his readers with insight and practical tips to engage and share the gospel with Muslim friends and neighbors.

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Book SynopsisA Sufi scholar's philosophical interpretation of the names of GodThe Divine Names is a philosophically sophisticated commentary on the names of God. Penned by the seventh-/thirteenth-century North African scholar and Sufi poet ?Afif al-Din al-Tilimsani, The Divine Names expounds upon the one hundred and forty-six names of God that appear in the Qur?an, including The All-Merciful, The Powerful, The First, and The Last. In his treatment of each divine name, al-Tilimsani synthesizes and compares the views of three influential earlier authors, al-Bayhaqi, al-Ghazali, and Ibn Barrajan.Al-Tilimsani famously described his two teachers Ibn al-?Arabi and al-Qunawi as a philosophizing mystic and a mysticizing philosopher, respectively. Picking up their mantle, al-Tilimsani merges mysticism and philosophy, combining the tenets of Akbari Sufism with the technical language of Aristotelian, Neoplatonic, and Avicennan philosophy as he explains his logic in a rigorous and concise way. Unlike Ibn al-?Arabi, his overarching concern is not to examine the names as correspondences between God and creation, but to demonstrate how the names overlap at every level of cosmic existence. The Divine Names shows how a broad range of competing theological and philosophical interpretations can all contain elements of the truth.An English-only edition.

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Book SynopsisA reinterpretation of the history of Sokoto that provides a new assessment of its leaders and their visions for the Muslim state. Sokoto was the largest and longest lasting of West Africa's nineteenth-century Muslim empires. Its intellectual and political elite left behind a vast written record, including over 300 Arabic texts authored by the jihad's leaders: Usman dan Fodio, his brother Abdullahi and his son, Muhammad Bello (known collectively as the Fodiawa). Sokoto's early years are one of the most documented periods of pre-colonial African history, yet current narratives pay little attention to the formative role these texts played in the creation of Sokoto, and the complex scholarly world from which they originated. Far from being unified around a single concept of Muslim statecraft, this book demonstrates how divided the Fodiawa were about what Sokoto could and should be, and the various discursive strategies they used to enrol local societies into their vision. Based on a close analysis of the sources (some appearing in English translation for the first time) and an effort to date their intellectual production, the book restores agency to Sokoto's leaders as individuals with different goals, characters and methods. More generally, it shows how revolutionary religious movements gain legitimacy, and how the kind of legitimacy they claim changes as they move from rebels to rulers.Trade ReviewThis is the most important new book on northern Nigeria's precolonial past that has come out for some years. -- Journal of African HistoryNaylor's study has bought some new dimensions to understanding the Sokoto empire through the texts written by its founders. The study not only allows one to understand the Sahelian territory but also helps to better map out the geographical, linguistic, cultural, and socio-political make-up of greater Africa. Naylor's study has reasonably succeeded in making accessible to the public a very specific part of Africa's history, which otherwise would have remained inaccessible. ... Paul Naylor must be congratulated for his contribution and bringing to light this much-needed volume. * Islamic Literary Society *Table of ContentsIntroduction The Arabic Writings of the Fodiawa in their Context A History of the Historiography Approaching Legitimacy 1. Sources of Legitimacy in the Nineteenth-Century Sahel Fiqh Kashf Nasab Conclusion 2. Discourses of Dissent and Moderation Laying Claims to Legitimacy: Usman's Writings in the 1790s A Discourse of Dissent (c.1804-1810) A Discourse of Moderation (1810-1812) The Intellectual Challenge of Abdullahi dan Fodio (c.1812-1817) Conclusion: from Ijtihad to Taqlid 3. 'Lesser of two evils': The Succession of Muhammad Bello Defending the Succession (1817) A Second Jihad (1817-1821) 'Fear them not, but fear me': Enforcing Obedience to Bello's Rule Creating a Caliphate: Bello's Exchanges with Ahmad Lobbo Conclusion 4. 'God has subjugated this land for me': Bello's Rule of Sokoto 1821-1837 Policies of Integration: The Hausa Policies of Enslavement Policies of Exclusion: The Tuareg Policies of Sedentarisation: The Fulani Meanwhile, in Gwandu... Conclusion Appendix: Sokoto Chronology Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe author clearly shows the idea of Jesus as part of a Trinity was a Greek Pagan idea adopted by early Christian mission-aries to gain converts among the Greek, and did not become a widely accepted Christian doctrine until after the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D.

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Book SynopsisNo Birds of Passage explores the remarkable business success of three Gujarati Muslim commercial castes: the Bohras, Khojas, and Memons. Often stereotyped as “Westernized” and as Hindus in all but name, these groups are better seen as having developed a distinctive Muslim capitalism, in which religious and commercial prerogatives are inseparable.Trade ReviewThis is an audacious scholarly conversation between received categories of classical political economy and South Asian Islam that is likely to provoke debate among specialists in the field. For the general student of history however, it is a book that demands close attention for its outstanding contributions to the craft, both in its expansive approach toward the archive as in its deft interweaving of religion, culture and politics within the complex terrain of capitalist enterprise and law. The structure, prose and narrative richness of the book are likely to ensure a life for it outside the scholarly niche of economic history. -- Madhumita Mazumdar * Telegraph India *No Birds of Passage is a brilliant and strikingly innovative contribution to the history of trade and diaspora in the Indian Ocean. Based on an impressive array of sources, it tells a compelling story about the emergence of a distinctive form of Muslim capitalism that continues to shape the region today. -- Sunil Amrith, author of Unruly WatersThe intersection of community, caste, and capitalism is a matter of abiding interest for South Asian historians of both the early modern and modern periods. Michael O’Sullivan’s well-documented and closely argued work on Gujarati Muslim entrepreneurs over two centuries is a significant intervention in this field. It merits a wide readership, and is also certain to provoke debates well beyond the confines of South Asian studies. -- Sanjay Subrahmanyam, author of Europe’s IndiaThis sophisticated and fine-grained case study is a model of how to write revisionist economic histories that resonate with the experiences of people in most of the world. No Birds of Passage succeeds precisely because its conceptual apparatus is built on giving endogenous institutions their due, bringing together a range of sources in multiple languages, and openly embracing paradoxes without which this story of Muslim capitalism would have remained illegible. This is an exciting contribution to the burgeoning global histories of capitalism. -- Mrinalini Sinha, author of Specters of Mother IndiaA major contribution to South Asian history. O’Sullivan’s sweeping account of Gujarati Muslim business communities is more than a business history. It is an impressive examination of how the Khojas, Bohras, and Memons reshaped community corporate identities through their interactions with the colonial state, Indian nationalism, Muslim politics, and postcolonial regimes. -- Douglas E. Haynes, author of Small Town Capitalism in Western IndiaThis is a landmark work of scholarship, meticulously recovering the transimperial worldviews of Gujarati Muslim business communities both before and after the age of imperial capitalism. Attentive to historical asymmetries of race and sovereignty, O’Sullivan’s dynamic and capacious study will inform future work on imperial and postcolonial economic history as well as on the social-religious logics of capital accumulation. -- Manu Goswami, author of Producing India

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Book SynopsisBeing the twenty-sixth book of The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya' 'ulum al-din), The Book of the Censure of This World (Kitab Dhamm al-dunya) seeks to persuade its reader of the folly of worldly pleasures and possessions.To do so, al-Ghazali begins with a collection of Islamic primary-source texts that speak to the dangers of this world from a variety of angles. He then adds to this collection fourteen metaphors for this world that illustrate its perfidious nature. In a third subsection, al-Ghazali provides an original rationale for renouncing worldly enjoyments, and he furnishes his reader with a blueprint for determining what constitutes 'this world' in its most dangerous sense. In a fourth and final subsection, al-Ghazali applies a sociological theory to enumerate the essential human vocations and identify the mechanisms through which these lead people away from God.

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Book Synopsis?Aisha bint Abu Bakr (RA) has been an inspiration and paragon for Muslims since the first generation of Believers emerged. Hailed as a guiding light, a fount of wisdom and a purveyor of the Prophetic mission, Aisha's words have illuminated Islamic thought in all its branches. This book compiles 40 of her insights and statements in the categories of Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir), Jurisprudence (Fiqh), Theology (?aqidah), Politics (siyasah) and Heart Softeners (al-raqa'iq) with commentary for the contemporary Muslim seeking spiritual and moral direction as they traverse through daily life and its challenges and possibilities.

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Book SynopsisJust over a sixth of the world''s population subscribes to the Muslim belief that `there is no god but God, and Muhammad is his Messenger''. Michael Cook gives an incisive account of the man who inspired this faith, drawing on the traditional Muslim sources to describe Muhammad''s life and teaching. He also attempts to stand back from this traditional picture to question how far it is historically justified.Trade Reviewa moving introduction to the prophet and a very necessary one * Listener *

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Book SynopsisRebellious Wives, Neglectful Husbands explores significant shifts in modern Qur'anic commentaries on the subject of women against the backdrop of broader historical, intellectual, and political developments in early twentieth-century North Africa.Trade ReviewMubarak's study is a welcome contribution to the emerging academic literature on the Quran and gender. Particularly, for any scholar or student interested in Islamic studies, the book will be a valuable resource for comprehending the Qur'anic exegetical tradition with great nuance and intricacy. Inspired by Barbara Stowasser's work on women and gender, the author insists on two central themes: that hermeneutics has a vital role in the sustainability of Islamic knowledge, and the boundaries of the Tafsir genre continue to be malleable in both the pre-modern or modern period. * Mohammed Salih, Reading Religion *Rather than add to the robust scholarly literature on women and gender in the Qur'an, Mubarak (Queens Univ. of Charlotte) begins her exploration of tafsir works by arguing for the significance of the exegetical tradition, past and present, for understanding Muslims' engagements with the Qur'an itself. She identifies a lacuna in feminist Muslim scholarship: for the most part, scholars have dismissed tafsir as patriarchal to rescue the Qur'an from that same charge. Mubarak offers readings of several 20th-century Muslim commentators in conversation with premodern tafsir scholars to argue that their views of women and gender norms are nuanced and provide openings for critiques of patriarchal perspectives as eternal and universal, thereby offering her own commentary on commentary. * Choice *Joining a vigorous and vibrant debate about patriarchy, hierarchy, and interpretive authority in Islamic texts and Muslim thought, Hadia Mubarak's new study offers detailed engagement with the work of prominent twentieth-century male exegetes. Scholars of jurisprudence and ethics have shown that those genres combine hierarchical gendered presuppositions with attention to women's concerns and needs; Mubarak argues that the Sunni tafsir tradition does the same and thereby offers resources to contemporary advocates of egalitarianism * Kecia Ali, author of Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence *In Rebellious Wives, Neglectful Husbands, Hadia Mubarak provides a fresh, engaging and major study of the extent to which modern Quranic commentaries, responding to the impact of European colonialism and modernity, resulted in new and diverse orientations (Islamic modernism, Islamism, and neo-traditionalism) in modern interpretations of gender and the status and role of women in the Quran. * John L. Esposito, University Professor and Professor of Islamic Studies, Georgetown University *This book is a fresh engagement with medieval and modern Qur'an interpretation on questions of gender and women's status. Hadia Mubarak's reassessment of modern tafsīr highlights the pluralism in the genre and shows how the interpreters have used the tradition to put forth their own new interpretations. Significantly, Mubarak raises the possibility that tradition can be used as a locus for modern reform. * Karen Bauer, author of Gender Hierarchy in the Qur'an: Medieval Interpretations, Modern Responses *This book is about the intersection of modernity and Sunni exegetical thought...The book can be read from a number of perspectives. On one level it is a response to and an accusation of 'well meaning' Muslim feminists who do not engage with the Tafsir genre and yet are quick to discard it as monolithic, patriarchal, misogynist and bereft of women's voice...It is a call to Muslim feminists not to indulge in disciplinary confusion. If one wants to engage with the Qur'an, then one needs to do so within the methods of the field of Tafsir studies and not superimpose methods from other disciplines. The book is also about the interpretive powers of pre-modern exegetes to have a say in modern issues. * Mansur Ali, Cardiff University, UK, Muslim World Book Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Chapter 1: Ruptures and Continuities in Modern Islamic Thought Chapter 2: Modern Approaches to Qur'anic Interpretation Chapter 3: Reflecting the Colonial Gaze: Women in Modern Qur'anic Exegesis Chapter 4: Sexually Neglectful Husbands: Classical and Modern Interpretations of Q. 4:128 Chapter 5: Rebellious Wives: Medieval and Modern Interpretations of Q. 4:34 Chapter 6: A New Rationalization for Polygyny: Medieval & Modern Interpretations of Q. 4:3 Chapter 7: Men's "Degree:" An Unconditional Privilege? Conclusion

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Book SynopsisOver the course of the twentieth century, Shia Ismaili Muslim communities were repeatedly displaced. How, in the aftermath of these displacements, did they remake their communities? Shenila Khoja-Moolji highlights women''s critical role in this rebuilding process and breaks new ground by writing women into modern Ismaili history.Rebuilding Community tells the story of how Ismaili Muslim women who fled East Pakistan and East Africa in the 1970s recreated religious community (jamat) in North America. Drawing on oral histories, fieldwork, and memory texts, Khoja-Moolji illuminates the placemaking activities through which Ismaili women reproduce bonds of spiritual kinship: from cooking for congregants on feast days and looking after sick coreligionists to engaging in memory work through miracle stories and cookbooks. Khoja-Moolji situates these activities within the framework of ethical norms that more broadly define and sustain the Ismaili sociality. Jamat--and religious community more geTrade ReviewWith this monograph, Khoja Moolji fills a gap in the existing literature and moves the trajectory of her own work in compelling directions. It constitutes appropriate reading for graduate level or advanced undergraduate courses, and selections would enhance syllabi in a range of introductory level courses. The book will, no doubt, garner an enthusiastic audience among Ismailis who see their histories reflected with such care and precision. For all its academic and theoretical value, the most enduring impact may be the service, the seva, that Khoja Moolji performs in capturing so keenly and tenderly an era in Ismaili women's history. * Celene Ibrahim, Reading Religion *A Landmark study. Exploring the lives of Shia Ismaili Muslim women in the North American diaspora, Rebuilding Community illuminates many themes of our day - displacement, flight, migration (sometimes repeatedly from one country to another) followed by the work of recreating home and community in new spaces. Documenting the minutiae of their experience with brilliance and exquisite sensitivity, Khoja-Moolji also compellingly develops a theory of the ethics of care pertinent to any community of faith. * Leila Ahmed, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Divinity, Harvard University *In this brilliantly conceptualized work, Khoja-Moolji argues for how the deeply ingrained ethic of care among migrant Ismaili women illustrates the critical role played by women in creating a vibrant symbolic, imagined, and living community, turning displacement into emplacement. Her careful research destabilizes understandings of migratory and refugee populations as solely victimized and traumatized, pointing instead to how the placemaking practices of such women draw upon shared spiritualities, ritual practices, traumatizing dislocations, and cultural traditions to forge connections across generations and geographical locations. We are drawn into a richly textured world in which mundane activities take on much greater significance when seen as threads in an intergenerational tapestry that tell the stories of loss, relocation, resilience, and regeneration. * Zayn Kassam, John Knox McLean Professor of Religious Studies, Pomona College *A pioneering study that sensitively explores the experiences of migrant Ismaili women in North America and the crucial role they have played in community formation through the ethic of care that is so central to their religious and spiritual lives. This compelling book will be of great interest to scholars in many intersecting fields, including religious studies, Islamic studies, gender studies, sociology, anthropology, migration and refugee studies. * Ali S. Asani, Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures, Harvard University *A book of rare power. Theoretically sophisticated and historically imaginative. The life stories and voices of Muslim women we encounter in this book offer new ways of thinking about and making visible the vital role of feminist ethics of care inside religious communities, and about the enduring power that practices of placemaking by women have in shaping and preserving religious identities. The book is written with an exemplary ethics of care and will itself become a cherished 'place' for honouring and celebrating the remarkable journeys of contemporary Ismaili Muslim communities. * Farouk Mitha, Institute of Ismaili Studies and University of Victoria *An insightful scholarly work that provides a rare, nuanced analysis of the experiences of Ismaili Muslim women...here is no doubt that [Khoja-Moolji's] book is a decolonial intervention within anthropology of religion that aims to engage with what is beyond the gaze of the ethnographer. * Shahana Munazir, Anthropology Book Forum *A powerful reminder of the importance of women to the forging of community. * Kirkus *The sharp theorisation of sacred spaces (jamatkhanas), the consideration of how care work informs religiosity, the focus on Muslim women's stories and the ethnographic methodology combine to render this book a worthy intervention into the fields of religious and Islamic studies. * Merin Shobhana Xavier, LSE Review of Books *Shenila Khoja-Moolji's eloquent and accessible book is a valuable contribution to the scholarship on lived Islam, and is written with special attention to the role of migrant women's ordinary ethical pursuits in cultivating spiritual intimacies in new spaces. Her book makes an especially important contribution to the anthropology of Islam, moving beyond paradigms of ethical self-cultivation to properly account for divine presence in an innovative and creative manner. * Anika Kabani, Journal of Gender, Place and Culture *Table of ContentsNote on Translation Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: Re-Assembling Community 2. Ismaili Women's Lifeworlds, 1890-1970 Interlude: Fleeing, 1971-1972 3. Fostering Sacred Spaces 4. Storying Divine Intervention 5. Culinary Placemaking 6. Placemaking in the Second Generation 7. Conclusion: Spiritual Intimacies Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn the Islamic tradition, fiqh (Islamic law) is generally regarded as the science of furu''al-din (matters complementary to the Islamic faith), as opposed to kalam (Islamic theology) which is known as the science of u?ul al-din (matters primary to the Islamic faith). Over time, however, fiqh has significantly surpassed Kalam in terms of cognitive maturation and epistemic development. In The Higher Objectives of Islamic Theology, Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour argues that far too little attention has been paid to parallel developments in Islamic theology. Consequently, the theological project in the Islamic tradition has largely become limited to definitions and deliberations about the nature and qualities of the transcendent God, and has barely developed as a systematic discipline devoted to the higher objectives of Islamic theology, similar to those of Maqa?id al-Shari?a (higher objectives of Islamic law). Addressing this gap and drawing on the full-fledged genre of Maqa?id al-Shari?a, thisTrade ReviewDescribing this study in lofty terms such as highly original, truly groundbreaking, and pioneering does not do it justice. I found this book to be all this, but also a profoundly perspicacious reflection upon the purpose of the Islamic faith. This book should be read by all students of Islamic studies and comparative religious studies. But it is an especially indispensable source to all readers interested in the future of Islamic ecumenism. * Khaled Abou El Fadl, Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law *Abdelnour ventures into retrieving the purpose of theology in Islamic thought. He draws on early literary genres in a bid to grapple with a more normative, rather than a defensive posture for theology. Bold in his aspiration, this book will spark energetic conversation among various stakeholders in these debates. * Ebrahim Moosa, Mirza Family Professor of Islamic Thought & Muslim Societies, the University of Notre Dame *Mohammad Gamal Abdelnour has written a book that is both deeply rooted in Islamic intellectual traditions and also thoroughly engaged with vital contemporary debates in theology and philosophy. The book draws on longstanding ideas of the Maqāṣid al-Sharī?a, or the higher purposes of the law, to develop an account of the higher objectives of Islamic theology. This innovative and convincing engagement between jurisprudence and theology offers a creative argument for how Muslims can understand faith, moral action, and religious difference in the contemporary world. Abdelnour is an exciting new voice in the revival of Islamic theology and the book contributes not only to Islamic Studies, but also to comparative theology, philosophical theology, and intellectual history. * Joshua Ralston, Reader in Christian-Muslim Relations, University of Edinburgh *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Transliteration and Dating Introduction -Important Definitions and Clarifications -Monograph's Epistemological Paradigm -Key Arguments -Structure of the Monograph -Important Caveats Chapter I. Historical Roots of Maqasid al-'Aqida -Maqasid al-'Aqida before al-Ghazali -Al-Ghazali's Contributions to Maqasid al-'Aqida -Maqasid al-'Aqida after al-Ghazali -Muhammad 'Abduh's Contributions to Maqasid al-'Aqida -Explaining the Underdevelopment of Maqasid al-'Aqida Chapter II. Sources and Methods of Maqasid al-'Aqida -The Qur'an and Maqasid al-'Aqida -The Sunna and Maqasid al-'Aqida -Maqasid al-'Aqida between Exotericism and Esotericism Chapter III: Towards a Theory of Maqasid al-'Aqida -"Interrogating" the Classical "Theory" of Maqasid al-Shari'a -"Generating" the Higher Objective/s of Islamic Theology -Is Islam the Only Valid Path to the Truth? Chapter IV: "Integrating" the "Tools" of Maqasid al-Shari'a into Maqasid al-'Aqida -Definition and Transmission -Al-Firqa al-Najiya between al-Daruriyyat, al-Hajiyyat, and al-Tahsiniyyat -Faith vis-à-vis Deeds between al-Daruriyyat, al-Hajiyyat, and al-Tahsiniyyat -Prophet Muhammad between al-Daruriyyat and al-Hajiyyat Chapter V: Why Does Maqasid al-'Aqida Matter? -Al-Ghazali's Maqasidi-oriented Approach and Treating the Wahhabi-Shiite Conflict Conclusions Way Forward Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIt is commonly understood that the Qur''an sought to transform social and religious practices in its seventh-century Arabian milieu. Yet the nature of that transformation is debated, especially as it relates to women, warfare, kinship and community. This book offers a fresh perspective by undertaking the first historical-critical study of all the Qur''an''s verses on women, who were integral to this transformation, and by offering an initial overview of households and patronage late antique social structures that took the place of formal state structures in the Qur''an''s tribal milieu. The findings of this study call into question common approaches to Qur''anic theology, law, and narratives, to the nature of the early community, and to women''s place in that community. Bauer and Hamza adopt a holistic method, which integrates aspects of the Qur''an that are commonly considered separately, showing, for instance, how stories act as precursors to law, with female characters acting as moTrade ReviewAn essential contribution! Karen Bauer and Feras Hamza's judicious and thorough study engages longstanding and pressing questions about the coexistence in the Qur'an of gender hierarchy with moral-spiritual equality. They show that its treatment of women and households must be understood within its salvific message - and that women and households are key to its vision of individual and communal salvation. * Kecia Ali, Boston University *Bauer and Hamza's magisterial study shows how the extensive amount of Qur'anic data on women makes compelling and coherent sense when viewed from an innovative vantage point: the importance of households in the Qur'an's late antique Arabian milieu. Women, Households, and the Hereafter in the Qur'an brims with fresh and exciting insights into how the Qur'an ties together the social and the soteriological and how it negotiates the tension between this-worldly hierarchies and an egalitarian eschatological piety. This monograph constitutes a major advance in the scholarly understanding of the Qur'anic world-view. * Nicolai Sinai, Oxford University *A refreshingly original contribution. The authors focus on the Qur'an's deeply egalitarian moral message, a radical idea in the late antique Arabian social setting of households and patronage structures. For the field of gender studies, the authors offer a consistently innovative reading of the Qur'an. The sacred text's treatment of women serves to designate the emerging Muslim community as a moral community: how can women who are vulnerable in a patriarchal patronage society become moral exemplars? The response offered is a profound revision of the traditional scholarly understanding. * Roberto Tottoli, University of Naples *

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Book SynopsisIcon of modern-day fundamentalist movements, firebrand religious purist, tireless polemicist against the intellectual schools of his timeâthe Ibn Taymiyya we know is a thinker we often associate with hard attitudes and dogmatic stances. Yet there is another Ibn Taymiyya that stands out from the pages of his work, the thinker who fashions himself as a master of the via media and as a defender of the harmony between human reason and the religious faith. The aim of this book is to shed fresh light on Ibn Taymiyya''s intellectual identity by a close investigation of his ethical thought. Earlier Muslim thinkers debating ethical value had been exercised by a number of core questions. What makes actions right or wrong? How do human beings know it? And what is God''s relationship to the evaluative standards discerned by the human mind? An investigation of Ibn Taymiyya''s engagement with such questions has much to teach us about his intellectual program and particularly about the role of reason and the linchpin concept of human nature (fitra) within this program. It also has much to teach us about Ibn Taymiyya''s relationship to the intellectual landscape of his time, bringing us up against a rich tapestry of ethical discussions unfolding within theology, philosophy and legal theory in the classical period. At the same time, a close reading of Ibn Taymiyya''s ethics invites us to confront not only the content of his thought but its form, and more particularly those features of his writing that fracture our efforts to unify his thought.Trade ReviewSophia Vasalou's book sets very high standards for future scholarly research on Ibn Taymiyya's intellectual legacy. The book proposes an alternative story of Ibn Taymiyya's relationship to the classical debates about ethics. * Caterina Bori, Quaderni di Studi Arabi *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements ; Introduction ; 1 Ethical value between deontology and consequentialism ; 2 Ethical knowledge between human self-guidance and the revealed Law ; 3 Ibn Taymiyya's ethics and its Ash'arite antecedents ; 4 The aims of the Law and the morality of God ; 5 Broader perspectives on Ibn Taymiyya's ethical rationalism ; 6 Return to the present ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisIslam features widely in the news, often in its most militant versions, but few people in the non-Muslim world really understand the nature of Islam.Malise Ruthven''s Very Short Introduction contains essential insights into issues such as why Islam has such major divisions between movements such as the Shi''ites, the Sunnis, and the Wahhabis, and the central importance of the Shar''ia (Islamic law) in Islamic life. It also offers fresh perspectives on contemporary questions: Why is the greatest ''Jihad'' (holy war) now against the enemies of Islam, rather than the struggle against evil? Can women find fulfilment in Islamic societies? How must Islam adapt as it confronts the modern world?In this new edition, Ruthven brings the text up-to-date by reflecting upon some of the most significant changes in the Muslim world in recent years; from the emergence of al-Qaeda and the attacks on New York and Washington on 9/11 and the ensuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, to the uprisings in the MidTrade ReviewReview from previous edition very readable * RE Today 01/01/2002 *excellent little book * The Guardian *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Islam, Muslims, and Islamism ; 2. The Quran and the Prophet ; 3. Divine Unicity ; 4. The Shari'a and its consequences ; 5. Women and Family ; 6. The Two Jihads ; Appendix: The five pillars of Islam ; References ; Further reading

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Book SynopsisVery Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, InspiringIslamic law is one of the major legal systems in the world today, yet it is often misunderstood, particularly in the West. It is applicable in different forms as part of state law in countries across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, and also has a strong influence on Muslim communities throughout the Western world.This Very Short Introduction provides an authoritative perspective on the evolution and nature of Islamic law. Mashood A. Baderin considers its theory, covering the history and nature of Islamic jurisprudence; its scope, covering Family Law, Inheritance Law, Financial Law, Penal Law, and International Law; and, finally, its practice. He takes into account both classical and modern scholarly perspectives in examining the various facets of Islamic law, to provide an overview of this key legal system.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewThe author of the book under review, does an excellent job in merging the fiqh (law) that is found in the classical and modern legal works with the law that is applied in today's world with all the unprecedented changes that have occurred in the last few centuries. His aim is to introduce the nature of Islamic law, the legal theory upon which the law is built, and also to shed light on some of its modern applications in Muslim countries...This introduction provides a good summary of the nature of Islamic law and many of its modern applications, which gives researchers and scholars a foundation to work with and expand on. * Zahed Fettah, Muslim World Book Review *One of the strengths of this book is that it manages, despite its size, to include discussions of some of the big questions about Islamic law that currently divide the scholarly community...In general, this is a well executed book which is extremely readable and intelligently organized and will give those who are approaching Islamic law for the first time the confidence to delve further. It is exactly the sort of book I would recommend to students of Islamic law at all levels of study, as well as to general readers. * Mustapha Sheikh, University of Leeds, Reading Religion *Table of ContentsPreface 1. Historical Development 2. The Nature of Islamic Law 3. Theory, Scope and Practice 4. Family Law 5. Law of Inheritance 6. Law of Financial Transactions 7. Penal Law 8. International Law 9. Administration of Justice 10. The Future of Islamic Law Further reading Index

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Book SynopsisHundreds of exceptional cartographic images are scattered throughout medieval and early modern Arabic, Persian, and Turkish manuscript collections. The plethora of copies created around the Islamic world over the course of eight centuries testifies to the enduring importance of these medieval visions for the Muslim cartographic imagination. With Medieval Islamic Maps, historian Karen C. Pinto brings us the first in-depth exploration of medieval Islamic cartography from the mid-tenth to the nineteenth century. Pinto focuses on the distinct tradition of maps known collectively as the Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik, or KMMS), examining them from three distinct anglesiconography, context, and patronage. She untangles the history of the KMMS maps, traces their inception and evolution, and analyzes them to reveal the identities of their creators, painters, and patrons, as well as the vivid realities of the social and physical world they depicted. In doing so, Pinto develops innovative techniques for approaching the visual record of Islamic history, explores how medieval Muslims perceived themselves and their world, and brings Middle Eastern maps into the forefront of the study of the history of cartography.

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Book SynopsisThe Ait Mazine of northern Morocco reenact the story of Abraham as a ritual sacrifice, a symbolic observance of submission to the divine. After comes a bacchanalian masquerade which seems to violate every principle the sacrifice affirmed. This study reunites them as a single ritual process.

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Book SynopsisThe area of Los Angeles known as South Central is often overshadowed by dismal stereotypes, problematic racial stigmas, and its status as the home to some of the city's poorest and most violent neighborhoods. Amid South Central's shifting demographics and its struggles with poverty, sociologist Pamela J. Prickett takes a closer look, focusing on the members of an African American Muslim community and exploring how they help each other combat poverty, job scarcity, violence, and racial injustice. Prickett's engaging ethnography relates how believers in this longstanding religious community see Islam as a way of life, a comprehensive blueprint for individual and collective action, guiding how to interact with others, conduct business, strive for progress, and cultivate faith. Prickett offers deep insights into the day-to-day lived religion of the Muslims who call this community home, showing how the mosque provides a system of social support and how believers deepen their spiritual pracTrade Review"Smart and highly original, Believing in South Central details how a small Muslim community in South Central, Los Angeles, makes meaning of their faith in the midst of a changing racial landscape and a declining community of believers. Prickett brings nuanced analysis, beautiful prose, and seamless narration together in this ethnography that will expand scholars' understanding of how African Americans practice their Islamic faith outside Arab and South Asian Muslim communities."--Ula Y. Taylor, author of The Promise of Patriarchy: Women and the Nation of IslamTable of ContentsIntroduction: Living a Muslim Way of Life in South Central Chapter One: “Our Test Is Living a Community Life” Chapter Two: “Don’t Move. Improve” Chapter Three: “Money Is Funny” Chapter Four: “Why Not Just Use a Cucumber!” Chapter Five: “That’s What They Think of Us” Conclusion: “Allahu Akbar” Methods Appendix Acknowledgments Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisThe author was employed as consultant for the Islamic fundamentalist Shari'a Movement's project to unite Muslims and non-Muslims in Khartoum's shanty towns. His book examines the use of Islam as a tool for political transformation and discusses religious discourse in Africa.Table of ContentsPreface Pt. 1: Struggles for the Familiar Ch. 1: Religion, Islam, and the State in Africa Ch. 2: Sudan: The Search for Political Coherency Ch. 3: The Civil War Pt. 2: Out of Bounds Islam and Transformation Ch. 4: Indigenous Solutions: Islamicization and Postcolonial Identity Ch. 5: Sociality of the Capital: Transformation of Khartoum Ch. 6: The Discursive Practices of the Islamic Movement Ch. 7: Politics of Cultural Revival Ch. 8: The Religion of Race, the Race for Religion Pt. 3: A Reference from Another Africa Ch. 9: Advantageous Marginalities: A South African Critique of the Islamic Movement in Sudan Notes Index

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Book SynopsisAnna M. Gade explores the religious and cultural foundations of Islamic environmentalisms. She blends textual and ethnographic study to offer a comprehensive and interdisciplinary account of the legal, ethical, social, and political principles underlying Muslim commitments to the earth.Trade ReviewAnna M. Gade places her arguments within a rich exploration of historical and modern theoretical approaches to the environment and environmentalism. This book is theoretically sophisticated, lively, and interesting. -- Marion Katz, author of Women in the Mosque: A History of Legal Thought and Social PracticeAnna Gade's Muslim Environmentalisms is an instant classic. It is inspired and inspiring, a work that deserves to be read and internalized in scholarly communities, activist movements, and policy circles. Many previous works on the subjects have offered profound philosophical speculations on the theme, but have remained oddly disconnected from the activities of Muslims on the ground. Gade's work brilliantly guides us among the rich discursive terrains of Qur'an and ethics, to the environmentalist movements in Cambodia and Indonesia, and Malaysia. I cannot remember another work that moves with such grace and brilliance, benefitting from the insights of the best of religious studies, anthropology, and more. Muslim Environmentalisms is more than simply a work that sums up or even challenges existing fields. It shines a light on the terrain that must be followed to save our only home. -- Omid Safi, author of Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and PluralismAnna Gade’s original book pushes environmental humanities to open up to concepts and insights from Islamic thinking. Rather than an idealized and static theology, Islam, for Gade, is what Muslims say and do, in their relation to the Qur’an; this already moves us beyond stereotypes and exclusions. Muslim Environmentalisms is a much needed addition to environmental thinking. -- Anna Tsing, author of Friction: An Ethnography of Global ConnectionMuslim Environmentalisms is a must-read for anyone interested in religion and the environment, and the environmental humanities generally. In contrast to essentializing, monolithic approaches of 'Islam and ecology,' Gade offers a nuanced and grounded portrait of Muslim environmentalisms that advances the project of the environmental humanities beyond romantic, colonial, and Eurocentric frames and inheritances, while staking an original claim for 'the environment' as an inherently ethical category. -- Lisa Sideris, author of Consecrating Science: Wonder, Knowledge, and the Natural WorldAn in-depth and all-encompassing critical survey of how some contemporary Muslims have sought to articulate environmental values in terms of Islamic ethics and norms. -- Richard Foltz Concordia University * AAR Book Review *Recommended. * Choice *A serious, sustained, and precious evaluation. . . . By re-situating the Islamic Humanities on a footing more representative of their actual practice, Gade invites us to comprehend them more accurately and compare them more profitably with other traditions. * Religion and the Arts *This brilliant book...opens a path for scholars, students, and activists alike to focus on ethical commitments and the environmental justice. * Journal of Muslim Philanthropy and Civil Society *An excellent work. It contributes to the existing literature on religious studies, Islamic studies, religious environmentalism, the anthropology of Islam, Southeast Asian studies, and environmental humanities. * Journal of Asian Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments1. History of Religions, Islam, and Environmental Humanities2. Islam and the Environment: Pluralism and Development3. A Qur’anic Environment: Relating Creatures and Resources4. Roots and Branches of Islamic Environmental Justice, Law, and Ethics5. Islamic Humanities: Apprehending Symbol, Expression, and Natural Science6. Muslim Environmentalism as Religious Practice: Accounts of the Unseen7. From This World to the NextNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisProphet or messiah, the figure of Jesus serves as both the bridge and the barrier between Christianity and Islam. In this book, the author takes her reader on a personal, theological journey exploring the centrality of Jesus in Christian-Muslim relations.Trade Review"An excellent book."—Christianity * Christianity *“A charitable, knowledgeable, very readable and personally candid survey of Christian-Muslim interactions and disputes."—Matthew Skinner, The Christian Century -- Matthew Skinner * The Christian Century *“This landmark study of the figure of Christ by a Muslim scholar is both a personal voyage of discovery and a sourcebook . . . This splendid work makes clear that mutual understanding requires empathy and courage to move beyond formulaic positions. Any serious theology today has to be interreligious.”—Dr Philip Lewis, Church Times -- Dr Philip Lewos * Church Times *"Parts of her book are rigorously academic and arcane, other parts are very personal . . . She does not confine her meditations on her own faith to an introduction. Rather, she ambitiously weaves her personal and scholarly views throughout . . . The most compelling passages are the personal ones, in which the author sets out some of her own dilemmas . . . She writes with clarity and empathy about the core doctrines of Christianity . . . But unlike other comparative-religion scholars, she does not paper over the differences between these two global monotheisms.”—The Economist * The Economist *“Siddiqui is careful and scholarly throughout, quoting extensively from primary as well as secondary sources, and her sharp scholar’s eye and clear prose style are assets as she explores complicated topics . . . While many of the topics and writers covered here merit an entire book, this concise and intelligent work deserves attention from both academic and popular audiences.”—Publishers Weekly * Publishers Weekly *“[T]his fine and empathetic volume. . .can be read as a dynamic, extended meditation on interfaith, from the standpoint of a scholar admirably honest about her own Islamic faith position. Siddiqui does not try to gloss over the very real differences between the praxis and theologies of Islam and Christianity, in their diverse forms, but deals with them all sympathetically and respectfully. In so doing, she provides not just a valid and rich intertextuality, but a basis for genuinely harmonious interfaith meeting and dialogue.” —Ian Richard Netton, The Tablet -- Ian Richard Netton * The Tablet *

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Book SynopsisA first-ever collection of contemporary Muslim women’s khutbahs (sermons) drawing on their social, religious, and spiritual experiences and framed by original reflections on an emerging Muslim feminist ethicsTrade Review“These bold, tender, and fierce women are not asking for permission to preach: they are marching ahead with a luminous presence. The diversity of these preachers is astonishing, as is their integrity, brilliance, and shared commitment to the life of the spirit, love, and justice. This book will uplift, transform, and inspire readers.”—Omid Safi, Duke University“An excellent addition to the field of Islamic studies, this book illustrates beautifully and persuasively the diverse types of new female religious actors and the ways in which they are transforming religious authority.”—Mulki Al-Sharmani, University of Helsinki“By turns inspiring and poignant, insightful and incendiary, the sermons collected here are a treasure-trove of wisdom from an impressive and impressively diverse array of scholars and community leaders. The Women’s Khutbah Book is an essential resource.”—Kecia Ali, editor of Half of Faith: American Muslim Marriage and Divorce in the Twenty-First Century“Shaikh and Seedat interweave inspiring sermons by present-day Muslim women with the eloquent voices of historical women, bringing intersecting experiences of injustice to the center of Muslim ethics. The result—an original and transformative feminist theology—is a pleasure to read.”—Ziba Mir-Hosseini, author of Journeys Toward Gender Equality in Islam“This delightful, inspiring book enables ‘ordinary’ women (and men) to transcend the limits of the private and reshape Muslim publics. The khutbahs collected here have created a world not seen before, embodying, in the beautiful words of their editors, ‘a tafsir of possibility.’" – Gabeba Baderoon, Pennsylvania State University

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Book SynopsisNeal Robinson first outlines the various Christian approaches to the subject and then explains the principles of Muslim exegesis before looking in detail at what five classical Sunni commentaries say about Jesus' return, the crucifixion, the miracles and the virginal conception.Table of ContentsPreface - Introduction - Jesus in the Qur' n - s through Christian Eyes - s and the Church Historian - Muhammad and the Christians - Muhammad and Jesus - Currents and Encounters - Shi'ites and Sufis - Classical Exegesis - Jesus' Return: Qur'an 4:159 - Jesus' Return: Continued - The Crucifixion: Non-Muslim Approaches - The Meaning of the Verb Tawaffa - Muslim Interpretation of Shubbiha La-Hum - The Miracles: Creating Birds from Clay - The Miracles: Raising the Dead to Life - The Virginal Conception: Non-Muslim Perspectives - The Virginal Conception: Razi's Comments on 19:16-22a - The Representation of Jesus in the Shi'ite Commentaries - The Representation of Jesus in the Sufi Commentaries - Postscript - Notes - Bibliography - Index

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Book SynopsisThe topic of religious conversion into and out of Islam as a historical phenomenon is mired in a sea of debate and misunderstanding. It has often been viewed as the permanent crossing of not just a religious divide, but in the context of the early modern Mediterranean also political, cultural and geographic boundaries. Reading between the lines of a wide variety of sources, however, suggests that religious conversion between Christianity, Judaism and Islam often had a more pragmatic and prosaic aspect that constituted a form of cultural translation and a means of establishing communal belonging through the shared, and often contested articulation of religious identities. The chapters in this volume do not view religion simply as a specific set of orthodox beliefs and strict practices to be adopted wholesale by the religious individual or convert. Rather, they analyze conversion as the acquisition of a set of historically contingent social practices, which facilitated the process of social, political or religious acculturation. Exploring the role conversion played in the fabrication of cosmopolitan Mediterranean identities, the volume examines the idea of the convert as a mediator and translator between cultures. Drawing upon a diverse range of research areas and linguistic skills, the volume utilises primary sources in Ottoman, Persian, Arabic, Latin, German, Hungarian and English within a variety of genres including religious tracts, diplomatic correspondence, personal memoirs, apologetics, historical narratives, official documents and commands, legal texts and court records, and religious polemics. As a result, the collection provides readers with theoretically informed, new research on the subject of conversion to or from Islam in the early modern Mediterranean world.Table of ContentsIntroductionClaire NortonPart 1: Trans-Imperial Subjects: Geo-Political Spatialities, Political Advancement and Conversion1. Trans-Imperial Nobility: The Case of Carlo Cigala (1556–1631) Tobias P. Graf2. Conversion Under the Threat of Arms: Converts and Renegades during the War for Crete (1645–1669)Domagoj Madunić 3. Conversion to Islam (and Sometimes a Return to Christianity) in Safavid Persia in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CenturiesGiorgio Rota4. Danube-Hopping: Conversion, Jurisdiction and Spatiality Between the Ottoman Empire and the Danubian Principalities in the Seventeenth CenturyMichał WasiucionekPart 2: Fashioning Identities: Conversion and the Threat to Self 5. The Early Modern Convert as "Public Property": A Typology of TurningPalmira Brummett6. The Moment of Choice: The Moriscos on the Border of Christianity and IslamHoussam Eddine Chachia7. "Saving a Slave, Saving a Soul": The Rhetoric of Losing the True Faith in Seventeenth-Century Italian Textual and Visual SourcesRosita D’AmoraPart 3: Translating the Self: Devotion, Hybridity and Religious Conversion8. Antitrinitarians and Conversion to Islam: Adam Neuser Reads Murad b. Abdullah in Ottoman IstanbulMartin Mulsow9. The Many Languages of the Self in the Early Modern Mediterranean: Anselm Turmeda/'Abdallāh al-Tarjumān (1355–1423) – Friar, Muslim Convert and TranslatorElisabetta Benigni

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Book SynopsisThis book chronicles individual perspectives and specific iterations of Muslim community, practice, and experience in the Himalayan region to bring into scholarly conversation the presence of varying Muslim cultures in the Himalaya. The Himalaya provide a site of both geographic and cultural crossroads, where Muslim community is simultaneously constituted at multiple social levels, and to that end the essays in this book document a wide range of local, national, and global interests while maintaining a focus on individual perspectives, moments in time, and localized experiences. It presents research that contributes to a broadly conceived notion of the Himalaya that enriches readers' understandings of both the region and concepts of Muslim community and highlights the interconnections between multiple experiences of Muslim community at local levels.Drawing attention to the cultural, social, artistic, and political diversity of the Himalaya beyond the better understood Table of Contents1. Diversity, Continuity, and Disjuncture: Approaching Multivocal Perspectives on Being Muslim in the Himalaya 2. Topiwalla Jinn and the Past-Times of Violence in Kashmir 3. Everyday Religiosity and Extraordinary Experiences: Nepali Muslim Narratives of Hajj 4. Portrait of an Indian Freedom Fighter: Munshi Abdul Sattar 5. Land of the Ungoverned: On the Historiography of Lawlessness at the Frontier of Empire 6. Perspectives: A Photo Essay 7. "When a Woman is Educated in Islam": Conversations with Alima of Ladakh 8. Hindu Shopkeepers, Qur'anic Verses: Intersecting Practices Between Muslims and Hindus of Nepal 9. The Social and Political Life of a Relic: The Episode of the Moi-e-Muqaddas Theft in Kashmir, 1963-1964 10. "Himalayan Ummah" as a Meeting Point Between Various Islamic Cultures: The Case of Chinese Muslim Community Trading Interactions in Amdo 11. Messy Narratives of Belonging: Hijrat and the Khache

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Book SynopsisMoral rationalism and Shari’a is the first attempt at outlining the scope for a theological reading of Sharī 'a, based on a critical examination of why the 'Adliyya theological ethics hasn’t significantly impacted Shī'ī readings of Shari’a and how these resources may come to do so. Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 Reason as a source of Sharī 'a in Shī 'ī usūl al-fiqh 2 The intelligibility of moral values in Shī 'ī theological thought 3 The nature of morality, rationality and independent judgments of rational morality in modern Shī 'ī usūl al-fiqh 4 The nature of morality, rationality and independent judgments of rational morality in modern Shī 'ī usūl al-fiqh 5 Reassessing the obstacles to independent judgments of rational morality impacting the reading of Sharī 'a

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisDrawing on texts from the writings of Fanon and Orwell to Ali G. and The Office, After Empire, Paul Gilroy explores Britain's failure to come to terms with the loss of its empire and pre-eminent global standing.Trade Review'This is a work of startling range, insight and originality' - Stephen Howe, The Independent'[A] perceptive book.' - Andy Beckett, The GuardianTable of ContentsPart 1: The Planet 1. Race and the Right to be Human 2. Cosmopolitanism Contested Part 2: Albion 3. Has it Come to This? 4. The Negative Dialectics of Conviviality

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Book SynopsisExamines how public fears about Muslims in the United States compare with the reality of American Muslims’ attitudes on a range of relevant issues. While most research on Muslim Americans focuses on Arab Muslims, a quarter of the Muslim American population, Rachel Gillum includes perspectives of Muslims from various ethnic and national communities.Trade Review“This work makes a significant contribution to the field, not only through its substantive findings on trust in law enforcement but also because it is one of the few nationally representative surveys of Muslim Americans. The insights in this book will help us assess where we are as a nation and where we need to go.” - Condoleezza Rice, Stanford University, former U.S. Secretary of State & National Security Advisor

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Book SynopsisExamines how public fears about Muslims in the United States compare with the reality of American Muslims' attitudes on a range of relevant issues. While most research on Muslim Americans focuses on Arab Muslims, a quarter of the Muslim American population, Rachel Gillum includes perspectives of Muslims from ethnic and national communities.Trade ReviewThis is the first study that I have seen that has parsed generational and ethnic/racial differences in attitude among Muslim Americans rather than viewing these communities as a monolith … This book combines both the statistical angle and interviews in an illuminating way."" - Faiza Patel, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law""Rachel Gillum combines sophisticated survey analysis and in-depth interviews to examine one of the most important civil rights issues in the United States today: the widespread and unfair treatment of Muslim Americans as potential terrorists."" - Charles Kurzman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThe History of Akbar by Abu'l-Fazl is one of the most important works of Indo-Persian history. Volume 7 includes accounts of the marriage of Akbar's heir Salim, the pacification of Bengal, and the emperor's visits to Kashmir, the Punjab, and Kabul. The Persian text is presented in the Naskh script along with a new English translation.Trade ReviewOf all the great monarchs to have ruled over India—a land whose history is richer and more turbulent than that of almost any other—the one who most retains our modern-day attention is Akbar, Mughal emperor from 1556 to 1605…[The History of Akbar] includes accounts of his court and his governance, as well as of the wars, alliances and intrigues of his time…Thackston’s translation is the first complete rendition into English of Abu’l-Fazl’s Persian text since Henry Beveridge, a British orientalist and imperial civil servant, completed his version in 1921…Thackston’s English is modern and…[his] translation…is impressively meticulous. -- Tunku Varadarajan * Wall Street Journal *At a time when Hindutva historians are eager to distort the history of Muslim invasions in order to deepen religious cleavages and consolidate vote banks, [Abu’l-Fazl's] elaboration of Akbar’s legacy as a tolerant Muslim ruler of a non-Muslim majority is an important reminder of how Indian society has evolved. -- Pragya Tiwari * India at LSE blog *We can only welcome an undertaking like the Murty Classical Library of India, which intends to inject fresh blood directly into the circulatory system of the English language. Any intelligent reader cannot fail to be favorably impressed in the presence of the variegated offerings of the series’ first titles…The Murty Classical Library offers a surprising array of texts that are in any case capable of broadening the all-too-restricted horizons of the average Western reader. -- Roberto Calasso * New York Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisWhat is Islam? How do we grasp a human and historical phenomenon characterized by such variety and contradiction? What is "Islamic" about Islamic philosophy or Islamic art? Should we speak of Islam or of islams? Should we distinguish the Islamic (the religious) from the Islamicate (the cultural)? Or should we abandon "Islamic" altogether as an analTrade ReviewWinner of the 2016 Best First Book in the History of Religions, American Academy of Religion One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016 "Anyone interested in exploring the intricacies and complexities of Islam as a religion, philosophical system and social text should study the new bookWhat Is Islam?... [A] perfect antidote to our present discourse."--Hussein Ibish, New York Times "One can't but be impressed by the grandeur of Ahmed's vision."--Malise Ruthven, London Review of Books "This is an enduring and timely work well worth the effort for those interested in discerning the essence of Islam beyond the seeming paradoxes of its own representations."--Publisher's Weekly "A bold new conceptualisation of Islam that reflects its contradictions and rich diversity."--Bookseller Buyer's Guide "[A] major new study ... a strange and brilliant work, encyclopedic in vision and tautly argued in the manner of a logical proof, yet pervaded by the urgency of a political manifesto."--The Nation "We can be grateful ... that Ahmed managed to complete this extraordinary work. Scholars from east and west will be under his influence for years to come."--Sameer Rahim, Prospect "In this monumental work, the late Shahab Ahmed sought new answers to important questions: How does one understand what Islam is? How does one study it meaningfully? ... This volume will be central to the study of Islam and of religion more broadly for the foreseeable future."--Choice "Remarkable."--Damian Howard, The TabletTable of ContentsList of Illustrations xi Preface xiii Part One Questions What Is Islam? 3 Chapter 1 Six Questions about Islam 5 Part Two Conceptualizations Chapter 2 Islam as Law, islams-not-Islam, Islamic and Islamicate, Religion and Culture, Culture and Civilization 113 Chapter 3 Religion and Secular, Sacred and Profane, Theocentric and Anthropocentric, Total Social Fact, Family Resemblance 176 Chapter 4 Culture, Meaning, Symbol System, Core and Nucleus, Whatever-Muslims-Say-It-Is, Discursive Tradition, Orthodoxy, Process 246 Part Three Re-Conceptualizations Chapter 5 Hermeneutical Engagement, Pre-Text, Text, and Con-Text, Meaning-Making for the Self, Spatiality of Revelation, Hierarchy, Exteriority-Interiority, Public and Private, Language and Vocabulary, Ambivalence and Ambiguity, Metaphor and Paradox 301 Chapter 6: Applications and Implications: Coherent Contradiction, Exploration, Diffusion, Form and Meaning, Modern 405 The Importance of Being Islamic 542 Works Cited 547 Index 593

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Book SynopsisThe history of the Islamic faith on the continent of Africa spans fourteen centuries. For the first time in a single volume, The History of Islam in Africa presents a detailed historic mapping of the cultural, political, geographic, and religious past of this significant presence on a continent-wide scale.Trade Review“Massive and marvelous synthesis…The editors and contributors deserve high praise for this achievement.” * Choice *“An elegantly produced and up-to-date reference work of high scholarly quality.” * Foreign Affairs *“A great resource…The book covers a wide range of topics within the history of Islam in Africa: everything you always wanted to know about the subject but were afraid to ask.” * Sixteenth Century Journal *“The text is a welcome and much-needed addition to any library and the editors and contributing authors should be commended for their work.” * The International Journal of African Historical Studies *

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