Description
Book SynopsisDevoting especial attention to questions of rationality, scriptural fidelity, and the construction of 'orthodoxy', this volume introduces key Muslim theories of revelation, creation, ethics, scriptural interpretation, law, mysticism, and eschatology. The treatment is firmly set in the historical, social and political context in which Islam's distinctive understanding of God evolved.
Trade Review'… a reader-friendly volume faithful to the Cambridge series' promise to 'provide an accessible and stimulating introduction to the subject for new readers and non-specialists'.' The Muslim World Book Review
'Tim Winter (University of Cambridge) has brought together fifteen essays on classical Islamic theology at an opportune time, given sentiment today, alerting us to developments in critical understanding of the early period of Islam (in this book, between the seventh century and the sixteenth), and showing us how key theological issues were teased out by various scholars and schools. In doing this, the companion succeeds in mediating what is often a marginalized area of Islamic studies for the ordinary reader …' Reference Reviews
Table of ContentsIntroduction Tim Winter; Part I. Historical Perspectives: 1. The Koran and Hadith M. Abdel Haleem; 2. Early kalām Khalid Blankinship; 3. Falsafa Hossein Ziai; 4. The developed kalām tradition Oliver Leaman and Sajjad Rizvi; 5. The social construction of orthodoxy Ahmed El Shamsy; Part II. Themes: 6. God: essence and attributes Nader El-Bizri; 7. Creation David Burrell; 8. Ethics Stefan Stelzer; 9. Revelation Yahya Michot; 10. Cosmology and the existence of God Ayman Shihadeh; 11. Worship William C. Chittick; 12. Theology and jurisprudence Umar F. Abd Allah; 13. Theology and mysticism Toby Mayer; 14. Epistemology and divine discourse Paul Hardy; 15. Eschatology Marcia Hermansen.
