Description
Book SynopsisCovering the origins, key features, and legacy of the Islamic tradition, the third edition of A New Introduction to Islam includes new material on Islam in the 21st century and discussions of the impact of historical ideas, literature, and movements on contemporary trends.
- Includes updated and rewritten chapters on the Qur'an and hadith literature that covers important new academic research
- Compares the practice of Islam in different Islamic countries, as well as acknowledging the differences within Islam as practiced in Europe
- Features study questions for each chapter and more illustrative material, charts, and excerpts from primary sources
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations xi
Preface to the Third Edition xv
Source Acknowledgments xvii
Part I The Formation of the Islamic Tradition 1
1 Islam in Global Perspective 3
The Problem of Defining Islam 3
Mapping the Islamic World 5
Arabs and Non-Arabs 9
Sunnis and Shiʿites 10
Islamic Ritual 11
What to Expect from This Book 14
Essential Resources for the Study of Islam 16
Questions for Study and Discussion 17
2 Arabia 19
Geography 19
Pre-Islamic Poetry 21
Arab Religion 25
Women in Pre-Islamic Arabia 27
Mecca and the Quraysh 28
The Gifts of the Arabs 31
Resources for Further Study 34
Questions for Study and Discussion 35
3 The Pre-Islamic Near East 37
Christianity in the Near East 39
Saints and Relics 45
Zoroastrianism 46
Judaism 47
Manichaeism 49
Mazdak 49
The Place of the Arabs in the Near East 50
Chronology of the Near East of Late Antiquity 52
Resources for Further Study 53
Questions for Study and Discussion 54
4 The Life of Muhammad 55
Prologue and Setting 56
Birth and Childhood 57
Early Adulthood 59
The Beginning of Revelation 61
Opposition 63
The Night Journey and Ascent to Heaven 65
The Hijra 66
The Battle of Badr 68
Confrontation with the Jews of Medina 69
The Battle of Uh. ud 70
The Peace of al-H. udaybiya and the Farewell Pilgrimage 72
Evaluation 73
Resources for Further Study 74
Questions for Study and Discussion 75
5 The Qur ʾan 77
The Qurʾan in Modern Imagination 77
The History of the Text 79
The Language of the Qurʾan 84
The Context of the Qurʾan 87
Jesus in the Qurʾan 88
The Qurʾan in Muslim Piety 90
The Eternity of the Qurʾan 91
The Inimitability of the Qurʾan 93
Interpreting the Qurʾan 94
Central Themes 95
Qurʾanic Narratives 96
Qurʾanic Law and the Problem of Abrogation 97
Women and Gender in the Qurʾan 98
Qurʾan, Sīra, and Hadith 99
Resources for Further Study 99
Questions for Study and Discussion 100
6 The Tradition Literature 103
The Science of Hadith 104
The Origins of the Hadith 108
In Quest of the Historical Muhammad 111
The Sīra and the Shaping of an Islamic Worldview 115
Resources for Further Study 119
Questions for Study and Discussion 120
Part II The Expansion of Islam 121
7 The Conquests 123
Psychological Impact 127
Archeological Data: The “Invisible” Conquests 129
Resources for Further Study 131
Questions for Study and Discussion 132
8 Religion of Empire 133
Early Arab Administration 134
Conversion to Islam 137
Leadership 138
The First Civil War 139
The Martyrdom of Ḥusayn 140
The Deputy of God 141
Personal Piety 142
The Dome of the Rock 144
The Constitution of Medina 149
Resources for Further Study 151
Questions for Study and Discussion 151
9 The Caliphate 153
Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ 153
The Shiʿite Vision 156
The ʿAbbasids 158
Twelvers 159
Ismāʿīlīs 160
Nizārī “Assassins” 161
Kharijites 163
The Sasanian Revival 164
Al-Māwardī and the Sunni Compromise 166
Resources for Further Study 169
Questions for Study and Discussion 170
Part III Islamic Institutions 171
10 Islamic Law 173
The Coffee Debate 173
Revelation and Reason 175
Qiyās 176
The Schools of Law 177
Islamic Law and the State 179
Ijmāʿ 180
The Uṣūl al-Fiqh 181
The Substance of the Law 183
Ritual Purity 184
Acts of Worship 185
Marriage and Divorce 186
The Origins of Islamic Law 189
Al-Shāfiʿī and Islamic Legal Theory 189
Resources for Further Study 192
Questions for Study and Discussion 193
11 Islamic Theology and Philosophy 195
Freedom and Determinism 196
God’s Attributes 198
Anthropomorphism 200
Faith and Works 200
Leadership 203
The Sunni Consensus 203
Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal 204
Al-Ashʿarī 205
Kalām 206
Al-Māturīdī and other Alternatives to Ashʿarite Kalām 208
Jewish and Christian Influences 209
The Challenge of Philosophy 210
Prophecy and Revelation in Islamic Philosophy 212
Philosophy and Mysticism 215
Resources for Further Study 216
Questions for Study and Discussion 217
12 Sufism 219
The Parliament of Birds 219
Stages on the Path 221
The Spiritual Master 223
Sufi Brotherhoods 224
Sufi Ritual 226
The Destination 229
Sufi Cosmology 230
Sufism in History: The Case of al-Ḥallāj 233
Beginnings to the Tenth Century 237
Classical Manuals and the Growth of Ṭarīqas 239
Resources for Further Study 241
Questions for Study and Discussion 242
Part IV Crisis and Renewal in Islamic History 243
13 Turks, Crusaders, and Mongols 245
The Saljūqs 245
Al-Ghazālī and the Sunni Revival 246
Slave Soldiers 248
The Crusades 250
The Mongols 254
The Impact of the Mongol Invasions 257
Resources for Further Study 261
Questions for Study and Discussion 262
14 Revival and Reform 263
The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires 263
The Rise of European Power 266
The Religious Environment 267
The ʿUlamāʾ 267
Sufi Reformers 269
The Wahhabi Movement 274
Resources for Further Study 277
Questions for Study and Discussion 278
15 Islam and the West 279
Napoleon’s Invasion of Egypt 279
The Birth of Orientalism 282
Jihad Movements 284
Al-Afghānī 285
Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Aligarh 287
Resources for Further Study 289
Questions for Study and Discussion 289
16 The Turbulent Twentieth Century 291
The Abolition of the Caliphate 291
Nationalism 293
Secularism 295
Rashīd Riḍā and al-Manār 298
The Muslim Brotherhood 299
Jihad and Martyrdom 300
From Shariʿa to Secular Law and Back 302
Modern Qurʾan Interpretation 304
The Problem of Sunna 305
Ijtihād and Ijmāʿ 306
A New Kalām? 307
Muhammad ʿAbdūh 307
Muhammad Iqbal 309
Sufism and Modernity 311
The Modernist Moment 314
Resources for Further Study 315
Questions for Study and Discussion 315
17 Salafism 317
Café Salafis 317
Salafi Doctrine 319
The Ibn Taymiyya Connection 320
The Albanian Watchmaker’s Son 322
Salafi Apocalypse 324
Salafi Spring? 329
The Appeal of Salafism 331
Salafis and Sufis 332
Resources for Further Study 334
Questions for Study and Discussion 334
18 Islam in the Twenty-First Century 335
The Challenge of Pluralism 336
Islamic Liberalism 340
Islam in the West 342
Islamic Feminism 346
The Challenge of Islam 350
Questions for Study and Discussion 351
Glossary 353
Bibliography 367
Index 391
