Islam Books

Book SynopsisAn expert in the study of Islam answers thirty important questions about Muhammad, offering a clear and concise guide to his life and religious significance. This companion volume to the author's A Concise Guide to the Quran answers many of the key questions non-Muslims have about Muhammad, reveals the importance of Muhammad for Christian-Muslim and Jewish-Muslim interfaith relations, and examines Muslim and non-Muslim primary sources. This introductory guide is written for anyone with little to no knowledge of Islam who wants to learn about Muslims, their beliefs, and their prophet.Table of ContentsContentsChronological Events in Muhammad's LifeIntroduction: Why Should One Learn about Muhammad's Life?Part 1: Muhammad's History1. Who Was Muhammad?2. What Are the Major Muslim Sources for Muhammad's Life?3. What Do Scholars Say about the Reliability and Accuracy of Early Muslim Sources?4. What Is So Unique about Muhammad's Birth Year?5. What Is Significant about Muhammad's Genealogy?6. What Do Muslims Believe about Muhammad's Attributes?7. Was Muhammad a Real Historical Figure?8. What Do We Know about Mecca, Muhammad's Birthplace?9. What Is the Black Stone in the Ka'ba?10. What Do We Know about Muhammad's Wives and Their Roles in Islam?11. Was Muhammad Always a Monotheist?12. What Is Muhammad's Night Journey to Jerusalem and Heaven?13. Why Did Muhammad Strike a Peace Treaty with the Jews?14. Why Did Muhammad Raid the Pagans of Mecca?15. Was There Ever a Truce between Muslims and Meccans?16. Did Muhammad Really Fight the Jews?17. Did Muhammad Launch Raids against Christians?18. Who Killed Muhammad?19. Did Muhammad Appoint a Successor?20. What Are Some of the Early Non-Muslim Views on Muhammad?Part 2: Muhammad's Message21. What Was Muhammad's Central Message?22. Who Is Muhammad's Deity, Allah?23. What Is Muhammad's Message about Jesus?24. Where Is Muhammad Mentioned in the Bible?25. Where Are Muhammad's Sermons?26. What Did Muhammad Say about Loving One's Neighbors?27. How Does Muhammad's Tradition Treat Apostasy from Islam?28. What Do the Hadiths Say about Jihad?29. Who Are the Hadith-Rejectersamong Muslims?30. Why Are the Hadith-RejectersGrowing in Number?Appendix A: Muslim Primary Sources in EnglishAppendix B: Helpful Websites on Islamic Primary SourcesGlossaryIndex

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Book SynopsisFor many in the English-speaking world, Islam remains a mysterious religion. What is Islam in the first place? Does it mean "peace," or does it mean "submission"? Can it mean both? What is jihad? Sharia? Hadith? Who is Allah? What is a caliph, caliphate, or infidel? In this compact volume, an expert in the study of Islam provides explanations for more than one hundred important Islamic concepts and terms, which are divided into major sections: texts, history, faith and belief, practice and religious duties, jurisprudence, and movements. Ayman Ibrahim first introduces the section, then defines each concept or term briefly. Readers can read a chapter at a time or flip through the book to find concepts or terms as needed. Each term is described based on original Muslim sources, mainly written in Arabic, as well as ample scholarly studies. This introductory guide is written for anyone with little to no knowledge of Islam. It complements the author's A Concise Guide to the Quran and A Concise Guide to the Life of Muhammad. Together, these three volumes are useful as a set of resources on Islam.Table of ContentsPronunciation GuideIntroduction: How Can One Define Islam?Islamic TextsIslamic HistoryIslamic Faith and BeliefIslamic Practices and Religious DutiesIslamic JurisprudenceIslamic MovementsSources ConsultedResources on IslamIndex

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Book SynopsisAn engaging study of Sufi teachings that presents the Sufi way as a universal means of gaining a greater understanding of ourselves, others, and the world In Sufi teaching the human heart is not a fanciful metaphor but an objective organ of intuition and perception. It perceives all that is beautiful, lovely, and meaningful in life—and reflects these spiritual qualities in the world, for the benefit of others. Every human heart has the capacity and the destiny to bring that world of divine reality into this world of appearances. The Sufis, mystics of Islam, have been educators of the heart for some fourteen centuries. Their teachings and methods are designed to help us awaken and purify the heart, to learn to listen to our deepest knowing. In The Knowing Heart, Kabir Helminski presents the Sufi way as a practical spirituality suitable for all cultures and times—and offers insights that are especially valuable for our life in today’s world. In cultivating a knowing heart, we learn to experience a new sense of self, transform our relationships, and enhance our creative capacities. Most important, we learn how to meet the spiritual challenge of our time: to realize our sacred humanness.

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Book SynopsisThe first systematic study of the Qur’ān and Islamic history in the light of René Girard’s mimetic theory.This groundbreaking book offers the first systematic study of the Qurʾān and Islamic history in the light of René Girard’s mimetic theory. Girard did not deal deeply with Islam, offering only scattered hints in some interviews after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Addressing this gap in Girardian studies, Adnane Mokrani aims to develop an Islamic theology that goes beyond just war theory to adopt a radical nonviolent approach. He analyzes the Qurʾānic text and classical and modern exegetical literature, focusing on the Qurʾānic narratives, then extends his research to the history of Islam, removing the sacred character attributed to some events and human choices in order to disarm theology and dismantle the ideologies of power. This same critique is also applied to the unprecedented levels of violence in modern and contemporary history. A radical and politically committed theology of peace is needed to recover the spiritual dimension of religion that frees people from the temptations of the individual and collective ego. It is a mystical and narrative theology in dialogue with other world theologies on the future of humanity—an urgent appeal needed now more than ever.Trade Review“Adnane Mokrani’s book is an original and enlightening effort in reinterpreting the Islamic historical narrative in the mirror of RenÉ Girard’s mimetic theory. The greatest merit of Mokrani’s work is his clarity and audacity in presenting Islam as a post-sacrificial religion. As such, this book opens a new consideration in the field of nonviolent Islam by demonstrating the need to move beyond a limited and stereotyped view of this religion."—Ramin Jahanbegloo, professor, vice dean, and executive director, Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Peace Studies, Jindal Global Law School, India

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Book SynopsisA unique interreligious dialogue provides needed context for deeper understanding of interfaith relations, from ancient to modern times Freedom is far from straightforward as a topic of comparative theology. While it is often identified with modernity and even postmodernity, freedom has long been an important topic for reflection by both Christians and Muslims, discussed in both the Bible and the Quran. Each faith has a different way of engaging with the idea of freedom shaped by the political context of their beginnings. The New Testament emerged in a region under occupation by the Roman Empire, whereas the Quran was first received in tribal Arabia, a stateless environment with political freedom. Freedom: Christian and Muslim Perspectives, edited by Lucinda Mosher, considers how Christian and Muslim faith communities have historically addressed many facets of freedom. The book presents essays, historical and scriptural texts, and reflections. Topics include God's freedom, human freedom to obey God, autonomy versus heteronomy, autonomy versus self-governance, freedom from incapacitating addiction and desire, hermeneutic or discursive freedom vis-à-vis scripture and tradition, religious and political freedom, and the relationship between personal conviction and public order. The rich insights expressed in this unique interfaith discussion will benefit readers—from students and scholars, to clerics and community leaders, to politicians and policymakers—who will gain a deeper understanding of how these two communities define freedom, how it is treated in both religious and secular texts, and how to make sense of it in the context of our contemporary lives.Table of ContentsParticipants Introduction Part One: Overviews Who Gets to Decide what Freedom Is? A Christian Perspective C. Rosalee Velloso Ewell God-Given Freedom: An Islamic Point of View Tuba Işik Freedom in the Contemporary Context: Trends in Intersections of Religion, Development, and Foreign Policy Azza Karam Part Two: Islamic Texts on Freedom Aspects of Human Freedom: Reflections on Selections from the Quran and Hadith Abdullah Saeed The Quran and Hadith on Freedom: Selections for Dialogue Freedom as a Theme in Islamic Thought: An Introduction to Selected Pre-Modern Texts Lejla Demiri Pre-Modern Islamic Writings on Freedom: Selected for Dialogue Modern Muslim Elucidations and Contentions on Freedom: An Introduction to Texts for Dialogue Martin Nguyen Islamic Thought from the Modern Period: Texts for Dialogue About Freedom Part Three: Christian Texts on Freedom Freedom in the Hebrew Bible: From Exodus to Ezekiel, by way of Reba McEntire and Rage against the Machine Christopher M. Hays Old Testament Texts About Freedom: Selections for Dialogue The Motif of Freedom in New Testament Texts: An Introduction Susan Eastman New Testament Texts About Freedom: Selections for Dialogue Thematic Dimensions of Freedom: Christian Texts from the Classical Period Jonathan Chaplin Christian Thought on Freedom in the Classical Period: Selected Texts for Dialogue Freedom in Modern Christian Thought: Introduction to Selected Texts Peniel Jesudason Rufus Rajkumar Christian Writings from the Modern Period: Selections for Dialogue About Freedom Part Four: Reflections Conversations on the Theme of Freedom: Reflections on the Building Bridges Seminar at le Château de Bossey Lucinda Mosher Subject Index Scriptural Citation Index About the Editor

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Book SynopsisProceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 1995.

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Book Synopsis‘Abd al-Jabbar ibn Hamdis (1055–1133) survives as the best-known figure from four centuries of Arab-Islamic civilisation on the island of Sicily. There he grew up in a society enriched by a century of cultural development but whose unity was threatened by competing warlords. After the Normans invaded, he followed many other Muslims in emigrating, first to North Africa and then to Seville, where he began his career as a court poet. Although he achieved fame and success in his time, Ibn Hamdis was forced to bear witness to sectarian strife among the Muslims of both Sicily and Spain, and the gradual success of the Christian reconquest, including the decline of his beloved homeland. Through his verse, William Granara examines his life and times.Trade Review‘An intriguing and original approach that brings together historical events and verses of the Siculo-Arab poet Ibn Hamdis. The author offers a wholehearted evocation of the life of a great human being and the difficult times of wars and political transitions he lived through.’ -- Francesca Maria Corrao, Professor of Arabic Language and Culture, LUISS University Rome‘Erudite and beautifully written… Granara has charmingly translated Ibn Hamdis’s poetry, which is distinguished by novel meanings, a profound lyrical sense of nostalgic longing, and audacious and memorable metaphors… It is a must-read for students of Arabic culture, Mediterranean studies, and medievalists.’ -- Maher Jarrar, Professor, American University of BeirutTable of Contents1 BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN The Kalbids of Sicily Muslim Sicily Unraveling Born in Syracuse, Becoming a Poet Education in an Early Jihadi Frontier The Rise of an Indigenous Muslim-Sicilian Culture Poetry in Muslim Sicily, From Philology to Art and Politics Crafting a Poetics of ‘Homeland’ 2 DILEMMA: TO REMAIN OR DEPART Sojourn in Sfax: Maintaining the Ifriqiya-Sicily Connection Asad ibn al-Furat: Muslim Sicily’s Founding Father Ibn Hawqal’s Sicilian Chapter In the Shadow of the Norman Conquest 3 THE FIRST DESERT CROSSING Ifriqiya: A Divided and Turbulent Motherland The Zirid Dynasty of Ifriqiya The ‘Arabs’ of Eleventh-Century Ifriqiya On the Desert Highway: Traveling with Arab Companions 4 LA DOLCE VITA IN SEVILLE The ‘Abbadid Kingdom of Seville Muslim Spain and Muslim Sicily: A Comparative View Elegy to a Father Serving the Patron: The Political Panegyric Court Poet as Court Functionary The Looming Threat of the Christian Reconquest Poetic Sparring: Poet as Client, Poet as Competitor 5 FROM THE DARK CLOUDS OF AL-ZALLAQA TO A SECOND EXILE Confrontation at Badajoz: Enter the Almoravids The Battle of al-Zallaqa The Fall of the ‘Abbadids of Seville 6 1091: ANNUS HORRIBILIS AND THE SECOND DESERT CROSSING Intermission at Qal‘at Bani Hammad Return to Mahdia Connecting to the Zirids: Praise and Blame for Tamim Vigilant Eye on the Norman Conquest Ode to a Falling Homeland Back to the Family in Sfax: Mourning the Loss of an Aunt and a Wife 7 THE POETICS OF JIHAD: AT THE ZIRID COURT IN MAHDIA At the Court of Yahya ibn Tamim Revolt and Murder at the Zirid Palace Breaking Ranks in Gabes From Seville to Nicotera and Mahdia: The Almoravids Move East Victory at al-Dimas The Almohads on the Horizon 8 TIME OF REFLECTION: ASCETIC VERSES AND ARABS AT THE NORMAN COURT Retreat into Devotional Verse Arabs and Muslim Culture at the Norman Court in Palermo 9 TWILIGHT: BLINDNESS, LOSS, AND DEFEAT Losing Sight Sicily Forever on the Mind Elegy to a Nephew and Family History Mourning a Daughter, Mourning a Homeland Death and Burial Ibn Hamdis’s Legacy in History and Literature

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Book SynopsisIt is a tragedy that we only appreciate what has already been lost—this is where the concept of a ‘world order’ first arises in historical memory. The ordering of the world has been a notion observed by historians and thinkers throughout the ages and around the globe. Rises and falls have provided incentives for the categorisation of civilisations, and other forms of global ordering. The West’s control of history, its power over the present, and its attempts to colonise the future are coming to an end, and a new narrative is about to emerge. Amidst environmental apocalypse, the end of Western dominance and unbridled technological advancement, this issue of Critical Muslim analyses the terms of world order, exposing its problems and limitations, and asks what will define it next, as the world begs for something truly new. About Critical Muslim: A quarterly publication of ideas and issues showcasing groundbreaking thinking on Islam and what it means to be a Muslim in a rapidly changing, interconnected world. Each edition centers on a discrete theme, and contributions include reportage, academic analysis, cultural commentary, photography, poetry, and book reviews.

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Book SynopsisThis monograph, the first dedicated exclusively to the Lessons, places the Lessons in conversation with their historical milieu, exploring political and metaphysical discourses that informed Fard Muhammad's world.

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Book SynopsisThe history of British Islam and British Muslims is a growing area of interest among historians and the general public. But, whilst Muslim women have featured in some research, their lives and experiences prior to the present day have remained obscure, if not 'hidden', in both academic and popular discussion. Uncovering Muslim women's experiences and contributions to society in past generations is essential for us to build a full picture of Muslim life in Britain, then and now. This is the first book to address that gap, telling the stories of Muslim women who lived in Britain between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, from Victorian times to the years immediately after the Second World War--just before immigration profoundly affected the size and composition of Britain's Muslim communities. It reveals a rich variety of experiences, including Muslim women who travelled to or away from Britain, and many who converted to Islam within the British Isles. Underpinned by feminist historical approaches, this groundbreaking book aims to make women visible where they have been hidden from or within history. Its fascinating accounts will reinstate Muslim women as actors, storytellers and storymakers who have shaped the history of Britain and of 'British Islam'.Trade Review‘A collection of remarkable and… hidden stories of Muslim women who helped shape the history of Britain.’ -- BBC News'Groundbreaking.' -- Morning Star'Providing unique insight into the stories of extraordinary Muslim women--from an aristocrat to a teacher and a WWI spy--this remarkable book reshapes our understanding of their profound impact on British history.' -- Sadiya Ahmed, founder of Everyday Muslim Heritage and Archive Initiative'This important and timely book sheds new light on the active and inspiring part that these pioneering women played in shaping the history of Islam in an increasingly multicultural Britain.' -- Humayun Ansari, Emeritus Professor in the History of Islam and Cultural Diversity, Royal Holloway, University of London, and author of "'The Infidel Within': Muslims in Britain Since 1800"'These captivating narratives transcend the limits of time and tradition, speaking to the multifaceted identities of Muslim women in colonial Britain. Their stories are not only tales of the past, but an enduring testament to the strength, diversity and spirit of women who have walked these shores.' -- Umar Ryad, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Leuven

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Book SynopsisDiscover the best in your relationships is the second book in the ‘Discover the best in you’ series. This self-help book looks at how to improve your relationships with your inner and outer circles in order to life a happier and content life. Accompanied with diagrams, charts, exercises and examples and quotes from the Qur’an and sunnah, this book will prove to be a great companion through your life journey.Table of ContentsChapter 1: What is relationship? Chapter 2: Communication: The work of Relationships. Chapter 3: Building a Compassionate Relationship with Yourself. Chapter 4: Enhancing Sibling relationships. Chapter 5: Parenting Chapter: Creating Love and Joy in the Relationship with Our kids. Chapter 6: Cultivating Fulfilment in Your Marriage Chapter 7: Overcoming Divorce with Grace Chapter 8: Stress Stresses Relationships! Chapter 9: Getting Along with Extended Family

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Book SynopsisI.B.Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies Dedicated to the achievements of Farhad Daftary, the foremost authority in Ismaili Studies of our time, this volume gathers together a number of studies on intellectual and political history, particularly in the three main areas where the significance of Daftary's scholarship has had the largest impact - Ismaili Studies as well as Persian Studies and Shi'i Studies in a wider context. It focuses, but not exclusively, on the intellectual production of the Ismailis and their role in history, with discussions ranging from some of the earliest Ismaili texts, to thinkers from the Fatimid and the Alamut periods as well as relations of the Fatimids with other dynasties. Containing essays from some of the most respected scholars in Ismaili, Shi'i and Persian Studies (including Patricia Crone, M A Amir-Moezzi, C Edmund Bosworth and Robert Gleave), the book makes a significant contribution to wider scholarship in philosophical theology and medieval Islam. The contributors include: I. Afshar, H. Algar, M. A. Amir-Moezzi, S. J. Badakhchani, C. Baffioni, C. E. Bosworth, D. Cortese, P. Crone, D. De Smet, R. Gleave, H. Haji, I. Hajnal, A. H. Hamdani, C. Hillenbrand, A. C. Hunsberger, H. Landolt, L. Lewisohn, W. Madelung, A. Nanji, A. J. Newman, I. K. Poonawala and P. E. Walker.Table of ContentsPreface by Azim Nanji List of Figures and Tables List of Abbreviations List of Contributors Introduction by Omar Alí-de-Unzaga Bibliography of the Works of Farhad Daftary Sunni Claims to Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq Hamid Algar 2. The Kitab al-Rusum wa’l-izdiwaj wa’l-tartib attributed to 'Abdan (d. 286/899): Edition of the Arabic Text and Translation Wilferd Madelung and Paul E. Walker 3. Abu Tammam on the Mubayyida Patricia Crone 4. The Ikhwan al-Safa' between al-Kindi and al-Farabi Abbas H. Hamdani 5. 'Ibda?, Divine Imperative and Prophecy in the Ikhwan al-Safa? Carmela Baffioni 6. Some Aspects of the External Relations of the Qaramita in Bahrayn István Hajnal 7. A Distinguished Slav Eunuch of the Early Fatimid Period: al-Ustadh Jawdhar Hamid Haji 8. Al-Qadi al-Nu?man’s Refutation of Ibn Qutayba Ismail K. Poonawala 9. The Risala al-Mudhhiba Attributed to al-Qadi al-Nu?man: Precious Evidence of the Adoption of Neoplatonism by Fatimid Ismailism at the Time of al-Mu?izz Daniel de Smet 10. Persian, the Other Sacred Language of Islam M.A. Amir-Moezzi 11. Early Evidence for the Reception of Nasir-i Khusraw’s Poetry in Sufism: 'Ayn al-Qudat’s Letter on the Ta?limis Hermann A. Landolt 12. A Dream Come True: Empowerment through Dreams Reflecting Fatimid-Sulayhi Relations Delia Cortese 13. From the ‘Moses of Reason’ to the ‘Khidr of the Resurrection: The Oxymoronic Transcendent in Shahrastani’s Majlis-i maktub…dar Khwarazm Leonard Lewisohn 14. A Newly Discovered Collection of Poetry from Alamut: The ‘Poems of Resurrection’ by Hasan Mahmud Katib (d. 644/1236-1237) S. Jalal Badakhchani 15. Further Notes on the Turkish Names in Abu’l-Fadl Bayhaqi’s Tarikh Masoudi C. Edmund Bosworth 16. What’s in a Name? Tughtegin - the ‘Minister of the Antichrist’? Carole Hillenbrand 17. Safawids and ‘Subalterns’: The Reclaiming of Voices Andrew J. Newman 18. Compromise and Conciliation in the Akhbari-Usuli Dispute: Yusuf al-Bhrani’s Assessment of 'Abdallah al-Samahiji’s Munyat al-Mumarisin Robert Gleave General Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWhat is halal? Does Islam have a particular flavour? Is culture transferred through gastronomy? In this issue we resist intoxication by wine and soberly sample the culinary delights of the Muslim world—then and now. By exploring the more obscure delicacies of international cuisine, we confront the underbelly of gluttony and ask why the Muslim world is so indulgently carnivorous. We go back to nature on an organic farm and consider whether going organic will save the world and promote the true spirit of Islam.

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Book SynopsisMulla Sadra (572–1640) is perhaps the single most important and influential philosopher in the Muslim world in the last four hundred years. The author of over forty works, he sought to bring to life the whole heritage of Islamic thought, from philosophy to mysticism, and create a more flexible and conciliatory approach to the problems which seemed to dissociate reason from faith. In this wide-ranging profile, Sayeh Meisami reaches beyond historical narrative to assess the true impact of the man and his ideas. This thought provoking and comprehensive account is ideal for any philosopher wanting to uncover the life and thoughts of a man who represents the climax of intellectual tradition at a crucial point in the history of Islamic civilization.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments 1 THE MAN AND HIS WORK Life and Works Mulla Sadra and the School of Isfahan Transcendental Philosophy 2 THE REALITY AND GRADATION OF BEING Being and Quiddity The Ground of Reality Is Quiddity an Illusion? Diversity in Unity Unity in Diversity 3 THE UNITY OF THE KNOWER AND THE KNOWN Knowledge and Being The Hierarchy of Knowing Knowledge by Presence Knowledge and Realization 4 THE BEGINNING AND THE END Substantial Motion The Ground of Motion Temporal Origination and Eternity The Soul The Resurrection 5 GOD AND HIS ATTRIBUTES Theology in Transcendental Philosophy The Existence of God The Oneness of God The Attributes Divine Knowledge Divine Will Free Will Prophets, Imams and Awliya 6 THE PHILOSOPHER’S LEGACY Early Influence: Students and Critics Mulla Sadra in the Qajar and Pahlavi Periods After the Islamic Revolution Outside Iran Select Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisNo other religion in the modern world has come under such close scrutiny or been viewed as a source of so much harm to our civilization as Islam. It is routinely portrayed in the media as a promoter of terrorism, supporter of authoritarian governments, oppressor of women, and an enemy of the West. In this sympathetic assessment of the religion, renowned Christian theologian Hans Küng, demonstrates that this simplistic perception could not be further from the truth. Providing a masterful overview of Islam’s 1,400-year history, Küng’s critically acclaimed bestseller examines its fundamental beliefs and practices, outlines the major schools of thought, and surveys the positions of Islam on the urgent questions of the day. Deft, assured, and comprehensive, this essential reference work is now available in paperback for the first time.Trade Review"This huge 1,000-page-book will give students, academics and general readers a very comprehensive study of its subject." * The Bookseller *"The author’s magnum opus. Destined to become a seminal text." * Library Journal *"This comprehensively researched, clearly structured and thought-provoking works is truly remarkable." * Tablet *"An eminently political book" "Kung proves himself a masterful historian." * Muslim World Book Review *"Kung proves himself a masterful historian." * Muslim World Book Review *"An honest, balanced approach to Islam that endeavours to build bridges of dialogue between religions and races. This huge 1,000-page-book will give students, academics and general readers a very comprehensive study of its subject." * The Bookseller *"The author’s magnum opus. Destined to become a seminal text." * Library Journal *"Exactly what readers expect from Hans K * U. S. Catholic *"This comprehensively researched, clearly structured and thought-provoking works is truly remarkable." * Tablet *Interview with Kung with regards to his relationship with the Pope and Tony Blair. It mention the book and how he is building a dialogue between the 3 main world religions. * The Sunday Times *"Required Reading not only for Kung’s many fans, but also for those of us who long to know more about Islam and Islamic practice" * The Good Book Guide *"it contains insightful ideas and worthwhile commentary" * Publishers Weekly *"A brilliant treatment of Islam and its beliefs by a brilliant theologian." * The Washington Times *"It is a stimulating overview by an accomplished theologian that raises important questions for both Christians and Muslims. It also reveals a respect and sympathy for the spiritual and theological heritage of Islam other Christians writers should seek to emulate" * Church of England Newspaper *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Against a Clash of Civilizations A. Origin I. A controversial religion II. Problems of the beginning B. Centre I. God’s word has become a book II. The central message III. The central structural elements C. History I. The original Islamic community paradigm II. The paradigm of the Arab empire III. The classical paradigm of Islam as a world religion IV. The paradigm of the Ulama and Sufi D. Challenges of the present I. Competition between different paradigms II. Which Islam do Muslims want? III. The Israel-Palestine conflict IV. New approaches to theological conversation V. Speculative questions VI. From biblical criticism to Qur’anic criticism? E. Possibilities for the future I. Islamic renewal II. The future of the Islamic legal order III. The future of Islamic state order and politics IV. The future of the Islamic economic and social order V. Islam: a picture of hope

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Book SynopsisThis classic study by Norman Daniel explores the political and religious considerations behind distorted western views of Islam, examining Christian-Muslim interaction from medieval times to the modern world. First published over 30 years ago, the message within this great scholarly achievement is more relevant today than ever before. This timeless and accessible book should be of interest to students and for anyone wishing to gain a deeper insight into the complex relations between two of the world’s greatest religions.Trade Review"The importance of the late Norman Daniel’s updated study… is as great now as it was when the first edition was published." * The Times Literary Supplement *"Painstakingly thorough. Twenty Years after its first publication, Islam and the West remains the standard work on views of Christian polemicists towards Islam." * Religious Studies Review *"Carefully researched. An important addition to public and academic libraries." * Library Journal *"A justly celebrated account of the reaction to the Christian world to the phenomenon of Islam." * Expository Times *"A monumental work of painstaking scholarship." * Impact International *

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Book SynopsisBased on original sources, this book questions the conventional wisdom that Mediterranean Muslim women are passive people subjected to the tyranny and misogyny of religion, society and male relatives. Encompassing everything from medieval love poetry to popular literary sources these studies bear witness to the fact that individual women of all social classes play pivotal roles in both the private domains of sociey and in the public realm.

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

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Book SynopsisThis book discusses recent trends and issues in the scholarly study of the Qur’ān and its exegesis. The last few years have witnessed an unprecedented development in qur'anic studies in terms of both the number of volumes that have been produced and the wide range of issues covered. It is not an exaggeration to say that the field of qur'anic studies today has become the 'crown' of Islamic studies. In this book, scholars of diverse approaches critically engage with the Qur’ān and its exegesis, including questions about the milieu in which the Qur’ān emerged, the Qur’ān's relation to the biblical tradition, its chronology, textual integrity, and its literary features. In addition, this volume addresses recent scholarship on tafsīr (qur'anic exegesis), including thematic interpretation, diacronic and syncronic readings of the Qur’ān. Various approaches to understanding the Muslim scripture with or without tafsīr are also discussed.

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Book SynopsisThe Egyptian judge and man of letters, Ibn Abi al-'Id al-Sakhawi al-Maliki, who lived in Cairo and Medina in the ninth/fifteenth century and who practised charity his whole life, compiled a work titled the Hilyat al-kurama', literally "The Ornament of the Magnanimous." On Generosity comprises an introductory study of this work and its author, the first reliable and critical edition of the Arabic text, an annotated English translation, and glossaries designed to make the text more accessible to non-specialists. In Arabic-Islamic culture, generosity is held in the very highest regard and descriptions of charity, hospitality and largesse are consequently an important component of Arabic literature. A significant example of a flourishing genre devoted to generosity and a testament to the intense cultural and literary activity of the author's time, the Hilyat al-kurama' includes aphorisms, poems, and anecdotes about benevolent individuals whose generosity is exemplified by the gifts and money they lavished on others and by the many ways they provided aid to the needy. The lively examples of the liberality exhibited by everyone, from rulers to ordinary people, are intended to urge others to similar acts of generosity, charity and assistance.

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Book SynopsisThis book unpacks how the ethical is embodied through an examination of the lived experiences of female Muslim volunteers in Belgium. Kayikci draws on a wealth of interview material that sheds light on the ethical turn in the anthropology of Islam, exploring how volunteering enables the space and time for Muslim women to commit to both orthodox religious and civic social values. As volunteering and interacting (caring) with the society requires careful deliberation of their society and their position as Muslims, and as women in that society, this research unpacks how multiple belongings of Muslim women in Belgium are negotiated, balanced, and influenced. This analysis reveals how the everyday is informed by different epistemological traditions; both the liberal and the Islamic, and how these traditions make the life-worlds of the women. Islamic Ethics and Female Volunteering will be of interest to academics across religious studies, anthropology, sociology, gender studies and community studies, especially scholars working in the areas of ethics, migration, Muslims in Europe, volunteering and activism. Table of ContentsIntroduction.- 1. Getting Acquainted with the Volunteers.- 2. Caring is a Part of Believing and Why the Ethical is Relational.- 3. Reviving A Forgotten Tradition, Infaq.- 4. The Authority in Sisterhood.- 5. When Volunteering Touches the Experience of Time.- 6. The Adab of Da'wa.- 7. Transparency, Visibility and the Mahram.- 8. Conclusion: Further Thoughts on Volunteering.- Epilogue.- Glossary.

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Book SynopsisIn recent decades the concept of Mediterranean has been cited with increasing frequency in relation to the study of medieval literatures. And yet, in what sense would Dante’s Comedy be ‘Mediterranean’? Is it because of its Greek-Arabic and Islamic sources? Dante and the Mediterranean Comedy analyzes the ideological function of references to the sea in the study of the Comedy undertaken by Enrico Cerulli, a scholar of Somali-Ethiopian languages, and a colonial governor of ‘Italian East Africa.’ Then it presents novel lines of inquiry on the reception and appropriation of the poem, such as the presence of Islamic sources in early commentaries of the Comedy, and cross-cultural allusions to Dante’s Hell in some graffiti on the walls of the Spanish Inquisition prison in Palermo. The image of the Mediterranean that seeps through the poem and through the history of its circulation is vivid yet hardly idyllic.Table of Contents1 Introduction: A Mediterranean ComedyPart I History of Criticism 2 A Post-Colonial Comedy: Enrico Cerulli on Dante 3 Beyond Good and Evil? More on Cerulli and Italian Orientalism Part II Exercises in Criticism 4 Exposing Maometto’s Contrapasso: The Arabic Sources from Spain and the Early Commentators on the Commedia 5 A Transreligious Hell: Dante in the Prisons of the Inquisition in Palermo 6 The City Lament: Mediterranean Microecologies of Courtly Love 7 Conclusion: A Sea of Differences

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Book SynopsisIn this rich and multi-layered deconstruction of German colonial engagement with Islam, Jörg Haustein shows how imperial agents in Germany’s largest colony wielded the knowledge category of Islam in a broad set of debates, ranging from race, language, and education to slavery, law, conflict, and war. These representations of ‘Mohammedanism’, often invoked for particular political ends, amounted to a serious misreading of Muslims in East Africa, with significant long-term effects. As the first in-depth account of the politics of Islam in German East Africa, the book makes an essential contribution to the history of religion in Tanzania before British rule. It also offers a template for re-reading the colonial archive in a manner that recovers Muslim agency beyond a European paradigm of religion. Table of Contents1. Introduction: Studying Islam in German East Africa.- 1.1 Previous Scholarship and Sources.- 1.2 Historical Overview and Chapter Plan.- I. Race and Religion: Islam and the 'Arab Revolt'.- 2. Supplanting “Arabdom”: Race and Religion in the German Conquest.- 2.1 Islam and “Arabdom” in the Scramble for East Africa.- 2.2 The “Arab Revolt” in Imperial Reckoning.- 2.3 Insurgent Coalitions and “Arab” Identity.- 2.4 Islam and “Arab” Politics.- 3. Contested Philology: Kiswahili as Religious Language.- 3.1 Missionary Philology, Religion, and Romanisation.- 3.2 Kiswahili as Contested Language.- 3.3 The Christianisation of Kiswahil.- 3.4 Race and Language: Colonial Religion and the Disavowal of Hybridity.- II. Colonial Instrumentality: Islam in the German “Civilising Mission”.- 4. Slavery and Religion: From Anti-Islamic Abolitionism to Christian Serfdom.- 4.1 The Quick Rise and Fall of the German Anti-Slavery Movement.- 4.2 Islam and Christianity in the “Civilising” Regime.- 4.3 Slavery in Missionary Campaigns and Parliamentary Debates.- 4.4 Bureaucratised Manumission and Coercive Labour Regimes.- 5. Educating for Islam? The German Government Schools and “Christian Civilising”.- 5.1 A School for Muslims in Tanga.- .2 “Secular” Schools and Missionary Complaints.- 5.3 Repression and Simple Equivalences.- 5.4 Colonial Instrumentality: Islam, Made in the Image of “Civilising”.- III. Coloured Justice: Colonial Jurisdiction and Islamic Law.- 6. Islam in the German Legal Order: Constitutional Conflicts and “Native Law”.- 6.1 The Schutzgebietsgesetz of 1886.- .2 Implementing a Racial Divide.- 6.3 Defining Religious Exemptions.- 6.4 Islam in the Colonial Practice of “Native Law”.- 7. Studying Islamic Law: Elisions of German Scholarship.- 7.1 German Orientalism and Islamic Jurisprudence.- 7.2 “Native Law” and Islamic “Influence”.- 7.3 Coloured Justice: The Irreality of Colonial Law.- IV. Political Islam: The Making of “Islamic Danger”.- 8. Phantoms of Muslim Sedition: From Maji Maji to the “Mecca Letters”.- 8.1 Islam in the Maji Maji War.- 8.2 The “Mecca Letter” of 1908.- 8.3 The Liabilities of “Islamic Danger”.- 8.4 Sufi Piety and Government Interventions.- 9. Mainstreaming “Islamic Danger”: Scholars, Missionaries, and Colonial Surveillance.- 9.1 German Scholars and the Geopolitics of Islam.- 9.2 Becker’s Islamwissenschaft and the Colonial Congress of 1910.- 9.3 Colonial Press and Missionary Activism.- 9.4 Surveying Islam in East Africa.- 9.5 Political Islam: The Swan Song of Wartime Propaganda.- 10. Conclusion: A Genealogy of Colonial Religion.- 10.1 Pluralising Concepts: A Genealogy of Entangled Pretensions.- 10.2 Provincialising Europe: The Force of the Unrepresented.- 10.3 Rhizomatic Topography: The Sprawling Study of Islam.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the concept of leadership from within the Islamic worldview, exploring its meaning and various manifestations through textual evidence from the two primary sources of Islam, The Qur’an and hadith. Using this theoretical framework concurrent with contemporary leadership theory, the authors scrutinise the distinctive leadership dynamics of Islamic organisations within a minority-Muslim context and a focus on Australia. Drawing on empirical data gathered over four years, the nature of leadership and its processes within this unique context is examined. Leadership in Islam reconciles the problematic processes that exist within Muslim organisational context and offers a set of measures and strategies to improve leadership processes including enacting leadership, enacting following, accommodating complexity, sense making and embracing basics as the core processes. This book will be beneficial for anyone who seeks to understand the meaning of leadership in Islam, the way Islamic organisations operate, and the way forward for improving leadership processes within an Australian/Western context.Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Leadership in Islam based on primary sources.- Chapter 3: Overview of the Australian Muslim context.- Chapter 4: Australian Muslims’ perceptions of leadership.- Chapter 5: Leadership: Core problems.- Chapter 6: Problematic context.- Chapter 7: Reconciling Problems.- Chapter 8: Accommodating Complexity and Sense making.- Chapter 9: Embracing Basics: Internal & External.- Chapter 10: Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisIndia has produced some of the world''s greatest religiouseaders, sages, saints, philosophers, and spiritual thinkers. They were monks, nuns, and renunciates, nationalists, and reformers. No one religion had a Monopoly on them. They range from Mahavira and Buddha, whoived over 2, 500 years ago, to medieval saintsike Chishti, avvaiyar, and Guru Nanak, to more recent philosophers and religious icons such as Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, saint Teresa, and many others. The spiritual and philosophical heritage theyeft behind is India''s gift to all Indians and the world. In the lifeessons'' series we publish the essential teachings of some of India''s best-known spiritual teachers, along with commentaries and biographical notes. Each book will be a handy companion to help the reader along the difficult pathways ofife. * Nizamuddin Auliya (12381325), also known as Hazrat Nizamuddin, is one of the most revered of the Sufi saints in the subcontinent and the founder of the Chishti nizami order. Born in Badaun in great poverty, he chose to dedicate hisife to the Sufi vision ofove and peace and service to the poor. At the age of twenty, he became a disciple of the Sufi saint known as Baba farid (of ajodhan), and eventually took over as his spiritual successor. Renowned for his simplicity, he emphasises thatove and service to humanity was the way to realize God. Nizamuddin auliya''s religious vision was imbued with a strong sense of plurality. He believed in the unity of mankind and decried all distinctions based on social or economic inequalities. Hisife was marked by a disregard for religious orthodoxy and political hegemony. Heeft an indelible mark on the city where heived and his disciples spread the message of Sufism all over the world. Centuriesater, his teachings continue to inspire his followers who flock to his dargah in Delhi in search of solace and guidance. Edited by Bela Upadhyay, this volume collects together some of Hazrat Nizamuddin''s core teachings.

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Book SynopsisWhat if an ideology, which is meant to impart wisdom and guidance to humanity, itselfoses all its control and causes serious woes to the entire world?'' In theast few decades, an extremely anti-pluralistic, visibly misogynistic and terribly intolerant strain of Islam has taken control of the Arabian heartland and systematically spread out to other countries, eventually wreaking havoc across the world. Covering the expansion of political Islam in the modern Arab and non-Arab world until the dawn of Crown Prince Bin Salman era in Saudi Arabia, Hasnain''s thorough research explores the radicalization of Muslim youth in North America and Europe, as well as the sectarian faultines and rise of the Shia crescent in the Middle-East. These developments ultimatelyed to the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), along with the weaponization of Islamic thought through the use of various social media platforms for the recruitment of jihadi volunteers, which has plagued the world in the past decade. An important work, it exposes how extremist outfits, with the support of the religious apparatus, methodically managed to scar the face of a faith that claims to have the secondargest number of followers in the world.

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Book SynopsisCairo's Islamic monuments are part of an uninterrupted tradition that spans over a thousand years of building activity. No other Islamic city can equal Cairo's spectacular heritage, nor trace its historical and architectural development with such clarity. The discovery of this historic core, first visually by nineteenth-century western artists then intellectually by twentieth-century Islamic art specialists, now awaits the delight of the general visitor. This new, fully revised edition of a popular and handy guide continues to walk the visitor around two hundred of the city's most interesting Islamic monuments. It also keeps pace with recent restoration initiatives and newly opened monuments.Trade Review"Anyone interested in knowing more about Cairo's Islamic architecture should pick up the excellent Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide."--Lonely Planet"Any visitor to Cairo who wants to see the monuments should not be without it."--Bernard O'Kane, author of "The Mosques of Egypt""This book ought to be in the luggage of every visitor to Cairo. Furthermore, once home, lovers and students of Cairo's architecture will find it a convenient and accurate quick reference as well as a cherished souvenir of many profitable and enjoyable rambles among the monuments of Cairo."--Journal of the American Research Center in EgyptTable of ContentsAcknowledgments How to Use This Book 1. Historical Summary and Chronology 2. Architectural and Ornamental Summary 3. The Island of Roda and Old Cairo 4. The Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun and Sharia Saliba 5. The Madrasa of Sultan Hasan and Bab al-Wazir 6. From the Mosque of Sultan Hasan to Bab Zuwayla (Darb al-Ahmar) 7. Bab Zuwayla to Sharia Saliba 8. The Southern Cemetery 9. Sharia Port Said-On and Off 10. Bab Zuwayla to the Mosque of al-Azhar 11. Al-Azhar Square to Bab al-Futuh and Back 12. The Citadel 13. The Northern Cemetery 14. Al-Husayniya and the Mosque of Baybars I 15. Bulaq Glossary Islamic Calendar and Principal Feasts Bibliography Index Maps

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Book SynopsisFor more than a millennium, Sufism has been the core of the spiritual experience of countless Muslims. As the chief mystical tradition of Islam, it has helped to shape the history of Islamic societies.Although it is the Sufi face of Islam that has often appealed to Westerners, Sufis and Sufism remain mysterious to many in the West, and are still widely misunderstood. In this new, redesigned paperback edition of this bestselling book, a scholar with long experience of Sufism in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe succinctly presents the essentials of Sufism and shows how Sufis live and worship, and why.As well as what Sufism is and where it comes from, the book discusses Sufi orders not only in the Islamic world but also in the West. The political, social, and economic significance of Sufism is outlined, and the question of how and why Sufism has become one of the more controversial aspects of contemporary Islamic religious life is addressed.This book assumes no prior knowledge of the subject. It is a penetrating and concise introduction for everyone interested in Islam and Islamic societies.

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Book Synopsis10 CDs. One of today''s most acclaimed scholars on Islam, a peace activist and the foremost inspirer of a global-scale network of schools M Fethullah Gule presents in this work the core issues of Islamic faith: arguments for the existence and unity of God, Resurrection and the Day of Judgement, divine scriptures, death and spirit after death, destiny and man''s free will and other familiar themes of Islamic discourse. Unabridged recording. Approximate running time: 600 minutes.

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Book SynopsisThrough his years as a college student in Delhi, where being denied apartments because of his name was the norm; to ultimately becoming a journalist documenting history of his country as it happened.

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

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewYoussef Courbage and Emmanuel Todd totally recast the current debate about Islam and the West by focusing attention on some societal fundamentals and by debunking-once and for all-a number of myths. -- Nicolas Guilhot, editor of The Invention of International Relations Theory This articulate and elegant demographic study convincingly documents a general trend toward modernity in the Muslim world, from Morocco to Indonesia. It successfully refutes many Western prejudices towards Islam, especially those based on misconceptions about its religion. It should be required reading for Western policy makers as well as for the general public. -- Leon-Francois Hoffmann, Princeton University An insightful academic study of how the unrest and turbulence that characterizes large areas of the Muslim world are the results of demographic-rather than ideological-trends... Important reading. Kirkus Reviews I found this succinct book fascinating and recommend it. -- Patrick J. Ryan Commonweal Engaging for a general reader and rewarding for a specialist... Highly recommended. Choice Scholarly and engaging, this is an important work and one which deserves to be widely read. -- Sandra Berns Law Society Journal A positive, enlightening survey. The Midwest Book Review A primer in the demography of Muslim societies, a treatise on the causes and consequences of fertility decline, and a rejoinder to the 'clash of civilizations' argument. -- John Casterline Population and Development Review Written with clarity and elan. Review of Middle East StudiesTable of ContentsList of Figures and Tables Introduction: Clash of Civilizations or Universal History 1. The Muslim Countries in the Movement of History 2. Crises of Transition 3. The Arab Family and the Transition Crisis 4. Other Muslim Women: East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa 5. At the Heart of Islam: The Arab World 6. The Non-Arab Greater Middle East 7. After Communism 8. Matrilocal Asia 9. Sub-Saharan Africa Conclusion Appendix Notes

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Book SynopsisDemonstrates the existence of a coherent pre-Islamic Arabian myth that was subsequently incorporated into Islamic poetic tradition. This book dissects the Arab-Islamic myth built around Muhammad's unearthing of a "golden bough" from the grave of the last survivor of an ancient Arab people.Trade ReviewUntil now Arabian myth has been ignored at the same time that other ancient Near Eastern myths have been studied at length. Stetkevych (Univ. of Chicago) succeeds brilliantly in reconstructing the myth of the destruction of the Thamud, an ancient people of north Arabia. His key to this myth is a canonical story of the discovery by the prophet Muhammad of a golden bough at the very site where the Thamud are thought to have been destroyed by a scourge from God. Through careful philological, historical, and literary analysis he sets the story of this golden bough in an ever-widening context of myth and legend, reaching back to Gilgamesh, the Bible, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid. James Frazer's The Golden Bough (1890, 1915) is examined and reevaluated in the light of the other golden bough myths. Stetkevych's argument for the existence of an autochthonous Arabian myth is entirely convincing, and this book will add a new dimension to the study of Near Eastern and Mediterranean myth and legend. Highly recommended for collections in folklore and mythology, ancient Near Eastern studies, and Islam.W. L. Hanaway, emeritus, University of Pennsylvania, 1997apr CHOICE.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Reclaiming Arabian Myth1. The Textual Puzzle2. The Thamudic Backdrop to the Puzzle3. The First Answer to the Puzzle: The Raid on Tabuk4. The Totem and the Taboo5. Poeticizing the Thamud6. Demythologizing the Thamud7. The Scream8. The Arabian Golden Bough and Kindred Branches: Frazer, Vergil, Homer, and GilgameshConclusion

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Book SynopsisTimbuktu is famous as a center of learning from Islam’s Golden Age. Yet it was one among many scholarly centers to exist in precolonial West Africa. Ousmane Kane charts the rise of Muslim learning in West Africa from the beginning of Islam to the present day and corrects lingering misconceptions about Africa’s Muslim heritage and its influence.Trade ReviewMedieval Timbuktu was a wealthy city whose great libraries allowed it to flourish as a center of learning and scholarship. Kane’s compelling intellectual history of West Africa places Timbuktu within a much broader tradition of Islamic learning in the region, which was home to other medieval knowledge centers and which continues to advance the study of Arabic philology even today. Kane wants to show that West Africa has been much more central to Islam than has been typically understood. His wide-ranging book focuses on the intellectual traditions of the region and its role in the production and circulation of key Arabic-language texts regarding religion, law, and ethics. -- Nicolas van de Walle * Foreign Affairs *Beyond Timbuktu is an insightful analysis of how, through the centuries and from different perspectives, Muslim intellectuals have shaped the production, dissemination, and content of Islamic knowledge in relation to the socio-political contexts in which they lived. As Ousmane Kane demonstrates, this process continues today in the ways the transformation of Muslim educational institutions and availability of new communication technologies make possible a resurgent Muslim public presence. No similar overview of West African Muslim intellectual history exists. -- Louis Brenner, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of LondonA fascinating and comprehensive analysis of the intellectual history of Islamic West Africa. This original book not only fills a gap but also challenges traditional readings of classical texts. -- Chouki El Hamel, Arizona State University

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewDeeply thoughtful…A delight. * The Economist *A closely researched and engrossing study of a subset of the Republic of Letters—those scholars who, having learned Arabic, used their mastery of that difficult language to interpret the Quran, study the career of Muhammad, write the history of medieval Islam and introduce Europeans to the masterpieces of Arabic literature…[Bevilacqua] has joined the ranks of a latter-day Republic of Arabic Letters that, in its scholarship and scholarly cooperation, is in no way inferior to its early-modern precursor. -- Robert Irwin * Wall Street Journal *What makes his study so groundbreaking, and such a joy to read, is the connection he makes between intellectual history and the material history of books. The re-evaluation of Islam that took place in the 17th century was closely connected to the acquisition of a much wider range of empirical sources than had been available before: it was the stockpiling of Oriental collections in the great libraries of Europe that enabled this work to take place. -- Gavin Jacobson * Financial Times *[A] tour de force study of the origins of modern Islamic scholarship in the West and its central role in the Enlightenment…Bevilacqua’s extraordinary book provides the first true glimpse into this story…It has taken until now for a book to tell the history of the origins of the Western study of Islam, as Bevilacqua’s does. Few have his linguistic and cultural expertise. He, like the tradition he describes, is a rarity. -- Jacob Soll * New Republic *Erudite and eloquent…What [Bevilacqua’s] meticulous scholarship reveals is that between the mid-17th and mid-18th centuries, the engagement with Islam really did transform Europeans’ understanding not only of Islam but also of their own Christian faith. -- Dmitri Levitin * London Review of Books *Anyone interested in the Enlightenment, or Islam, or both, should read Alexander Bevilacqua’s The Republic of Arabic Letters. -- Ritchie Robertson * Times Literary Supplement *Bevilacqua offers many surprising discoveries. One of them is that robust modern scholarship on Islam was shaped in an ostensibly improbable source, namely the Vatican…It is indicative of the West’s tortuous engagement with Islam that the foundation of European scholarship on Islam had to wait until now to be uncovered; it is all the more creditable that Bevilacqua has cleared the ground to build on it. -- Benedikt Koehler * Standpoint *A succinct and erudite overview of 17th- and 18th-century European scholars and writers who focused on Islamic studies. * Publishers Weekly *A closely researched and elegantly written book…The Republic of Arabic Letters brings back to life a fascinating moment in intellectual history. -- Francis Ghiles * Arab Weekly *An extraordinary achievement, displaying wide-ranging and often profound scholarship…A book of great originality, based on an astonishingly wide array of sources, some previously uninvestigated, and all carefully interpreted…Will be essential reading, not only for those concerned with ‘Islam and the European Enlightenment,’ but for anyone interested in the intellectual history of the eighteenth century, or in the achievements of Arabists in the seventeenth. -- G. J. Toomer * Erudition and the Republic of Letters *The great names of the second phase [of reinterpretation of Islam] are known, among them secular men of letters like Montesquieu and Voltaire. The scholars of the first phase, however, are forgotten. The fascinating study of the American historian Alexander Bevilacqua studies these figures. Many of them were, unlike the Enlighteners after them, pious Christians or even clerics. They engaged on the basis of their faith with Islam, out of curiosity and as scholars. Thus Bevilacqua draws the portrait of a ‘Republic of Letters’ dedicated to the Islamic-Arabic world that was not known until now. -- Rainer Hermann * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung *Fabulous…Bevilacqua narrates in lucid prose how the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries witnessed a transformation in European knowledge of Islam and its peoples. -- Richard Calis * Marginalia *[A] fascinating book. -- Fitzroy Morrissey * History Today *Bevilacqua explores a new humanism in early modern Europe that sought a more accurate representation of Muslims…The resulting wave of scholarship has impacted Europe’s relations with Muslims ever since. -- I. Blumi * Choice *In this passionate, lucid, and enjoyable book, Bevilacqua successfully pursues the connection between intellectual history and material history of books, showing how new texts and new information changed the traditional understanding of Islam. And in so doing he considers, rightly, the birth of the republic of Arabic letters to have been an episode in the history of the global Enlightenment or, at least, ‘a significant chapter in the long and painstaking global advance of philological learning and interreligious knowledge.’ -- Franco Giudice * Il Sole 24 Ore *Fascinating, eloquent, and learned, The Republic of Arabic Letters reveals a world later lost, in which European scholars studied Islam with a sense of affinity and respect. With deep research and insight, Alexander Bevilacqua delivers a powerful reminder of the ability of scholarship to transcend cultural divides, and the capacity of human minds to accept differences without denouncing them. -- Maya Jasanoff, author of The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global WorldAmong the many things produced by the Enlightenment we must now include a vast expansion of European scholarly engagement with Arabic and Islam. That engagement shaped much of how future Christians and Muslims would think about each other and themselves. Alexander Bevilacqua’s learned and luminous The Republic of Arabic Letters is both a recovery of a fascinating moment in intellectual history, and an exploration of the conditions of thought in our own time. -- David Nirenberg, author of Neighboring Faiths: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in the Middle Ages and TodayA lucid, erudite, and in many respects engaging study of a dimension of the European Enlightenment and its precursor traditions that has not previously been examined. -- William Graham * European Legacy *The Republic of Arabic Letters contends that Maracci, d’Herbelot, and Sale, along with a few other scholars scattered across Europe, were responsible for transforming Europe’s understanding of Islam. A worthy chronicler of these meticulous and erudite figures, Bevilacqua moves easily between multiple languages to trace a trans-European story packed with colorful anecdotes and elegantly told lives. -- Ian Coller * Journal of Modern History *

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Book SynopsisJustice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts explores the administration of justice during Islam's founding period, 6321250 CE. Inspired by the scholarship of Roy Parviz Mottahedeh, ten scholars of Islamic law draw on diverse sources including historical chronicles, biographical dictionaries, exegetical works, and mirrors for princes.Trade ReviewThis book makes a valuable contribution to the literature. It will be widely used and appreciated by scholars and graduate students with an interest in the historical practice and development of Islamic law. -- Marion Katz, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York UniversityThis book will be welcomed as a significant contribution toward a better understanding of the development of Islamic law in practice. Students of Islamic law have generally relied on the theoretical and ideal formulations of judicial procedure in manuals and chapters in textbooks that Muslim jurists wrote on dispensing justice. By contrast, this book offers path-breaking studies on Islamic legal practice by exploring biographical literature, local histories, and more, and by critically analyzing judicial contexts. These studies enlighten the reader about close interactions between jurists and judges on the one hand, and between judicial and political authorities, who kept revisiting concepts of the rule of law and of justice as they led the early Muslim societies, on the other. -- Judge M. Khalid Masud, Ad Hoc Member, Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan

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Book SynopsisThe History of Akbar, Volume 6 by Abu’l-Fazl details the twenty-third to twenty-eighth years of Akbar’s reign, including accounts of the quelling of rebellions in Bihar, Bengal, and Kabul, and final victory in Gujarat. The Persian text, presented in the Naskh script, is based on a careful reassessment of primary sources.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 SynopsisA bilingual edition of the Qur'an, the Holy Book of Islam. It includes the original Arabic and the translated English that sit side by side on each page, encouraging the reader to draw from both texts. It also includes notes where necessary, providing the full meaning of each word and phrase. It is suitable for scholars and followers of Islam.Trade Review"In one of the most popular English versions of the Qur'?n, Ahmed Ali has succeeded in bringing all of the subtlety, depth, and spiritual power of Islam into his translation of this peerless scripture. Without distorting the English, Ali, a highly regarded author in his own right, renders the poetry of the original Arabic into lines of elegance and rhythm... For the curious, the convert, or the devout, Ahmed Ali's Al-Qur'?n will bring all readers closer to the glory of God."--Brian Bruya, Amazon.comTable of ContentsAcknowledgements 6 By Way of Preface 7 1 The Prologue 11 2. The Cow 12 3. The Family of Imran 51 4. The Women 73 5. The Feast 97 6. The Cattle 114 7. Wall Between Heaven and Hell 133 8. Spoils of War 54 9. Repentance 162 10. Jonah 177 11. Hud 188 12. Joseph 200 13. Thunder 211 14. Abraham 217 15. AI-Hijr 223 16. The Bees 228 17. The Children of Israel 240 18. The Cave 250 19. Mary 260 20. Ta Ha 266 21. The Prophets 275 22. The Pilgrimage 283 23. The True Believers 291 24. The Light 298 25. The Criterion 306 26. The Poets 312 27. An-Naml 321 28. The History 329 29. The Spider 337 30. The Romans 343 31. Luqman 348 32. As-Sajdah 352 33. The Allied Troops 355 34. Sheba 363 35. The Originator 368 36. Ya Sin 373 37. Who Stand Arrayed in Rows 378 38. Sad 385 39. The Small Groups 391 40. The Believer 399 41. Adoration 407 42. Consultation 412 43. Ornaments of Gold 418 44. Smoke 424 45. Kneeling 427 46. Al-Ahgaf 431 47. Muhammad 435 48. Victory 439 49. Apartments 443 50. Qaf 446 51. The Dispersing 449 52. The Mount 452 53. The Star 455 54. The Moon 458 55. Ar-Rahman 461 56. The Inevitable 465 57. Iron 469 58. The Disputant 473 59. Confrontation 476 60. The Woman Tried 479 61. Formations 482 62. The Congregation 484 63. The Hypocrites 486 64. Exposition 488 65. Divorce 490 66. Prohibition 492 67. The Kingdom 494 68. The Pen 497 69. The Concrete Reality 500 70. The Steps 502 71. Noah 504 72. Thejinns 506 73. The Enwrapped 508 74. The Enfolded 510 75. The Resurrection 512 76. Time 514 77. The Emissaries 516 78. The Announcement 518 79. Those Who Pull and Withdraw 520 80. He Made a Wry Face 522 81. The Folding up 524 82. The Splitting 526 83. The Defrauders 527 84. The Cleaving 529 85. Signs of the Zodiac 530 86. The Night Star 531 87. The Most High 532 88. The Overpowering 533 89. The Dawn 535 90. The Earth 537 91. The Sun 538 92. The Night 539 93. Early Hours of Morning 540 94. The Opening Up 541 95. The Fig 542 96. The Embryo 543 97. Determination 544 98. The Clear Proof 545 99. The Earthquake 546 100. The Chargers 547 101. The Calamity 548 102. Plenitude 549 103. Time and Age 550 104. The Slanderer 551 105. The Elephants 552 106. The Quraish 553 107. Things of Common Use 554 108. Pre-eminence 555 109. The Unbelievers 556 110. Help 557 111. Abu Lahab 558 112. Pure Faith 559 113. The Rising Day 560 114. Men 561 Index 563 Index of Names 571

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of the Financial Times' Best Books of the Year: Critics' Picks""One of Asian Review of Books' Books of the Year (Biography & Memoir)"

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisThis richly illustrated volume highlights the history of Islamic cosmopolitanism as documented through works of art from the eighth century to the present; from the Mediterranean, North Africa, South Asia, and the United States; and including painting, architecture, textiles, calligraphy, photography, and animation. These essays examine Muslim artists, patrons, and collectors' engagement with global influences, as well as artistic exchange between Muslim and non-Muslim societies.Drawing on Kwame Anthony Appiah's view of cosmopolitanism as respect for the differences among people and acknowledgment of a shared community across those differences, leading scholars offer case studies of art objects that illustrate such dynamics in the Islamic cultural sphere. In doing so, they bring Islamic art history into dialogue with Western European medieval art, Byzantine art, African art, global modern art, and American art and architecture. This timely volume demonstrates the importance of cultivating coexistence, becoming citizens of the world, and recognizing the possibilities of cultural intersections. It offers historical examples of such intersections, for which works of art provide a visual testament.Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Islamicate Art and Inter-faith Intersections Melia Belli Bose 1. An Inscribed Jug from Raqqa: Scripture and the Expression of Identity Marcus Milwright 2. Intersecting Sicily William Tronzo 3. A Crossroads of Travel: Cairo's Historic Qarafa Cemetery Aliaa El Sandouby 4. Setting the Elite Table across the Byzantine-Seljug Divide Alicia Walker 5. Ink, Blood, and Body: Transmission and Ritual Purity in the Early Modern Western Mediterranean Manuela Ceballos 6. The Story of Plato Making Music and a Multifaceted Mughal Organ Mika Natif 7. Woven Together: Textiles and Trans-Saharan Exchange Michelle Huntington Craig 8. Cosmopolitan Interiors: Syrian 'ajami Rooms and an American Reinterpretation at Frederic Church's Olana Elizabeth McCauley-Lewis 9. Articulations of the Illustrated Manuscript: Shahzia Sikander's Disruption As Rapture Vivek Gupta Chapter 10: Bridging Identity: Language, World Making, and Iranian-American Publics in the Work of Siah Armajani Elizabeth Rauh List of Contributors Index

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