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Showing 181 - 200 of 2013 items
The Emergence of Modern Shi'ism: Islamic Reform in Iraq and Iran
By Zackery M. Heern. 2015
This book takes a fresh look at the foundations of modern Islam. Scholars often locate the origins of the modern…
Islamic world in European colonialism or Islamic reactions to European modernity. This study, however, focuses on the rise of Islamic movements indigenous to the Middle East, which developed in direct response to the collapse and decentralization of the Islamic gunpowder empires. Arguing that the Usuli movement, as well as Wahhabism and neo-Sufism, emerged in reaction to the disintegration and political decentralization of the Safavid, Ottoman, and Mughal empires, this book specifically highlights the emergence of Usuli Shi'ism in the 18th and 19th centuries. The long-term impact of the Usuli revival was that Shi'i clerics gained unprecedented social, political, and economic power in Iran and southern Iraq. Usuli clerics claimed authority to issue binding legal judgments, which, they argue, must be observed by all Shi'is. By the early 19th century, Usulism emerged as a popular, fiercely independent, transnational Islamic movement. The Usuli clerics have often operated at the heart of social and political developments in modern Iraq and Iran and today dominate the politics of the region.Crusade and Jihad: The Thousand-Year War Between the Muslim World and the Global North
By William R. Polk. 2018
Crusade and Jihad is the first book to encompass, in one volume, the entire history of the catastrophic encounter between…
the Global North—China, Russia, Europe, Britain, and America—and Muslim societies from Central Asia to West Africa. William R. Polk draws on more than half a century of experience as a historian, policy planner, diplomat, peace negotiator, and businessman to explain the deep hostilities between the Muslim world and the Global North and show how they grew over the centuries. Polk shows how Islam arose and spread across North Africa into Europe, climaxed in the vibrant and sophisticated caliphate of al-Andalus in medieval Spain, and was the bright light in a European Dark Age. Simultaneously, Islam spread from the Middle East into Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. But following the Mongol invasions, Islamic civilization entered a decline while Europe began its overseas expansion. Portuguese buccaneers dominated the Indian Ocean; the Dutch and the English established powerful corporations that turned India and Indonesia into colonies; Russian armies pushed down the Volga into Central Asia, destroying its city-states; and the Chinese Qing dynasty slaughtered an entire Central Asian people. Britain crushed local industry and drained off wealth throughout its vast colonies. Defeated at every turn, Muslims tried adopting Western dress, organizing Westernstyle armies, and embracing Western ideas. None of these efforts stopped the conquests. For Europe and Russia, the nineteenth century was an age of colonial expansion, but for the Muslim world it was an age of brutal and humiliating defeat. Millions were driven from their homes, starved, or killed, and their culture and religion came under a century-long assault. In the twentieth century, brutalized and and disorganized native societies, even after winning independence, fell victim to “post-imperial malaise,” typified by native tyrannies, corruption, and massive poverty. The result was a furious blowback. A sobering, scrupulous, and frank account of imperialism, colonialism, insurgency, and terrorism, Crusade and Jihad is history for anyone who wishes to understand the civilizational conflicts of today’s world.Animals in the Qur'an
By Sarra Tlili. 2012
The Islamic tradition has always held animals in high esteem, deserving the same level of consideration as humans. The Qur'an…
opines that 'there is not an animal in the earth nor a flying creature flying on two wings, but they are people like you'. This fascinating and highly original book examines the status and nature of animals as they are portrayed in the Qur'an and in adjacent exegetical works, in which animals are viewed as spiritual, moral, intelligent and accountable beings. In this way, the study presents a challenge to the prevalent view of man's superiority over animals and suggests new ways of interpreting the Qur'an. By placing the discussion within the context of other religions and their treatment of animals, the book also makes a persuasive case for animal rights from an Islamic perspective.Islam in Retrospect: Recovering the message
By Maher S. Mahmassani. 2014
Islamic Schools in Modern Turkey
By Iren Ozgur. 2012
In recent years, the Islamization of Turkish politics and public life has been the subject of much debate in Turkey…
and the West. This book makes an important contribution to those debates by focusing on a group of religious schools, known as Imam-Hatip schools, founded a year after the Turkish Republic, in 1924. At the outset, the main purpose of Imam-Hatip schools was to train religious functionaries. However, in the ensuing years, the curriculum, function, and social status of the schools have changed dramatically. Through ethnographic and textual analysis, the book explores how Imam-Hatip school education shapes the political socialization of the schools' students, those students' attitudes and behaviors, and the political and civic activities of their graduates. The book also examines the informal, but highly influential, modes of education, communication, and networking that appear in and around the schools. By mapping the schools' connections to Islamist politicians and civic leaders, the book sheds light on the significant, yet often overlooked, role that the schools and their communities play in Turkey's Islamization at the high political and grassroots levels. The book also provides comparative perspectives on Islamic movements by discussing the implementation of the Imam-Hatip school model in other countries, such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, which seek to reform their Islamic schools as a means to curb religious extremism.A Textbook of Hadith Studies
By Mohammad Hashim Kamali. 2005
A Textbook of Hadith Studies provides an academic introduction to the Hadith, or the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, which…
are second only to the Qur'an (Koran) in their authoritativeness within Islamic tradition. Suitable for university courses and all serious students of Islam, the topics surveyed include Hadith methodology, Hadith literature, the history of Hadith compilation and documentation, and the methods of Hadith criticism (al-jarh wa al-ta'dil) and classification.Mohammad Hashim Kamali, born in Afghanistan in 1944, was a professor of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence at the International Islamic University in Malaysia, and dean of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) from 1985-2007. He is currently chairman and CEO of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies, Malaysia. He is also on the international advisory boards of eleven academic journals published in Malaysia, the United States, Canada, Kuwait, India, Australia, and Pakistan. Professor Kamali has addressed over 120 national and international conferences, and has published sixteen books and over 110 academic articles. His books include The Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, Freedom of Expression in Islam, and Islamic Commercial Law: An Analysis of Futures and Options.A Quietist Jihadi
By Joas Wagemakers. 2012
Since 9/11, the Jordanian Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi (b. West Bank, 1959) has emerged as one of the most important radical…
Muslim thinkers alive today. While al-Maqdisi may not be a household name in the West, his influence amongst like-minded Muslims stretches across the world from Jordan - where he lives today - to Southeast Asia. His writings and teachings on Salafi Islam have inspired terrorists from Europe to the Middle East, including Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of al-Qa'ida in Iraq, and Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden's successor as the head of al-Qa'ida Central. This groundbreaking book, which is the first comprehensive assessment of al-Maqdisi, his life, ideology, and influence, is based on his extensive writings and those of other jihadis, as well as on interviews that the author conducted with (former) jihadis, including al-Maqdisi himself. It is a serious and intense work of scholarship that uses this considerable archive to explain and interpret al-Maqdisi's particular brand of Salafism. More broadly, the book offers an alternative, insider perspective on the rise of radical Islam, with a particular focus on Salafi opposition movements in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.Conversion and Apostasy in the Late Ottoman Empire
By Selim Deringil. 2012
In the nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire traditional religious structures crumbled as the empire itself began to fall apart. The state's answer…
to schism was regulation and control, administered in the form of a number of edicts in the early part of the century. It is against this background that different religious communities and individuals negotiated survival by converting to Islam when their political interests or their lives were at stake. As the century progressed, however, conversion was no longer sufficient to guarantee citizenship and property rights as the state became increasingly paranoid about its apostates and what it perceived as their 'denationalization'. The book tells the story of the struggle between the Ottoman State, the Great Powers and a multitude of evangelical organizations, shedding light on current flash-points in the Arab world and the Balkans, offering alternative perspectives on national and religious identity and the interconnection between the two.Children, Adults, and Shared Responsibilities
By Marcia J. Bunge. 2012
This collection of essays by Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars underscores the significance of sustained and serious ethical, interreligious and…
interdisciplinary reflection on children. Essays in the first half of the volume discuss fundamental beliefs and practices within the religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam regarding children, adult obligations to them, and a child's own obligations to others. The second half of the volume focuses on selected contemporary challenges regarding children and faithful responses to them. Marcia J. Bunge brings together scholars from various disciplines and diverse strands within these three religious traditions, representing several views on essential questions about the nature and status of children and adult-child relationships and responsibilities. The volume not only contributes to intellectual inquiry regarding children in the specific areas of ethics, religious studies, children's rights and childhood studies, but also provides resources for child advocates, religious leaders and those engaged in interreligious dialogue.Structure and Qur'anic Interpretation
By Raymond Farrin. 2014
The Qur'an, Islam's holy book, is widely misunderstood because it is a difficult book to engage. The Qur'an is not…
written as a straightforward narrative like the Christian Gospels but is composed of discontinuous revelations that are often unclear in placing in an overall context. Structure and Qur'anic Interpretation, aimed both at readers familiar with the Qur'an and at those opening it for the first time, differs from other books on the Qur'an in that it reveals the text's fundamental symmetrical organization. Moreover, through readings of key Qur'an chapters, Farrin shows how structure serves as a guide to interpretation. Indeed, one finds that the Qur'an's structure again and again points to universal messages of an ethical nature, rather than to messages whose application may be limited to a specific context. In addition, the book makes a contribution to Qur'anic studies by highlighting literary evidence indicating that the Qur'an was compiled by one author (in all probability, the Prophet Muhammad) and not by an official committee.Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam
By Robert G. Hoyland. 2001
Long before Muhammed preached the religion of Islam, the inhabitants of his native Arabia had played an important role in…
world history as both merchants and warriorsArabia and the Arabs provides the only up-to-date, one-volume survey of the region and its peoples, from prehistory to the coming of IslamUsing a wide range of sources - inscriptions, poetry, histories, and archaeological evidence - Robert Hoyland explores the main cultural areas of Arabia, from ancient Sheba in the south, to the deserts and oases of the north. He then examines the major themes of*the economy*society*religion*art, architecture and artefacts*language and literature*Arabhood and ArabisationThe volume is illustrated with more than 50 photographs, drawings and maps.Controversies in Contemporary Islam
By Oliver Leaman. 2014
This book helps to deepen our understanding of the varieties of contemporary Islam and the issues that are of most…
concern to Muslims today. Oliver Leaman explores some of the controversies and debates that exist within Islam and between Islam and other religions. He considers how the religion can be defined by looking at the contrast between competing sets of beliefs, and arguments amongst Muslims themselves over the nature of the faith. Areas covered include: Qur’anic interpretation, gender, finance, education, and nationalism. Examples are taken from a range of contexts and illustrate the diversity of approaches to Islam that exists today.Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society
By Akbar S. Ahmed. 1989
The Great Race to Sycamore Street
By J. Samia Mair. 2013
This topsy turvy adventure on Sycamore Street sees brother and sister Hude and Amani arrive in the country with one…
thought: it was going to be a long, boring summer.They couldn't be more wrong.With Grandma Hana's new neighbour planning to pull down her prized peach tree and a gang, led by the archer Bobby, marshalling the local lake, Hude and Amani have a hard time getting any peace.In this warm and comical story, find out how, under the watchful eyes of Grandma Hana, Hude and Amani plan to save the peach tree and beat Bobby at his own game before leaving Sycamore Street behind.J. Samia Mair has published two children's books with The Islamic Foundation, Amira's Totally Chocolate World and The Perfect Gift, which have been favourably received. She is currently a staff writer for SISTERS Magazine. Additionally, she has published articles, stories, and poems in books, magazines, anthologies, scientific journals, online news sources, and elsewhere. This is her first chapter book for kids. She lives in Odenton, Maryland.Gifts from Muhammad
By Khurram Murad. 1997
This book contains a selection of the Prophet Muhammad's teachings arranged under 40 topics - wonderful gifts of godliness and…
brotherhood, love and peace, mercy and justice, kindness and fairness, generosity and forgiveness, humility and dignity.Islamic Thought: An Introduction
By Abdullah Saeed. 2006
Islamic Thought is a fresh and contemporary introduction to the philosophies and doctrines of Islam. Abdullah Saeed, a distinguished Muslim…
scholar, traces the development of religious knowledge in Islam, from the pre-modern to the modern period. The book focuses on Muslim thought, as well as the development, production and transmission of religious knowledge, and the trends, schools and movements that have contributed to the production of this knowledge. Key topics in Islamic culture are explored, including the development of the Islamic intellectual tradition, the two foundation texts, the Qur’an and Hadith, legal thought, theological thought, mystical thought, Islamic Art, philosophical thought, political thought, and renewal, reform and rethinking today. Through this rich and varied discussion, Saeed presents a fascinating depiction of how Islam was lived in the past and how its adherents practise it in the present. Islamic Thought is essential reading for students beginning the study of Islam but will also interest anyone seeking to learn more about one of the world’s great religions.Medical Miracles of the Qur'an
By Sharif Kaf Al-Ghazal. 2006
This book explores some of the Qur'anic references to the medicine and science in the light of the latest scholarship.…
The Qur'an repeatedly asks man to reflect on the signs of Allah in his own being and around him. Taking the cue from this directive, the Qur'anic allusions to medicine and science are elucidated in this work.Islam: A Concise Introduction
By Huston Smith. 2001
Originally titled The Religions of Man, this completely revised and updated edition of Smith's masterpiece, now with an engaging new…
foreword, explores the essential elements and teachings of the world's predominant faiths, including: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and the native traditions of the Americas, Australia, Africa, and Oceania. Emphasizing the inner -- rather than institutional -- dimensions of these religions, Smith devotes special attention to Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism, and the teachings of Jesus. He convincingly conveys the unique appeal and gifts of each of the traditions and reveals their hold on the human heart and imagination.Karim Khan Zand: A History Of Iran, 1747-1779 (Makers of the Muslim World #12)
By John R. Perry. 2006
A forward thinking and notably popular leader, Karim Khan Zand (1705-1779) was the founder of the Zand dynasty in Iran.…
In this insightful profile of a man before his time, esteemed academic John Perry shows how by opening up international trade, employing a fair fiscal system and showing respect for existing religious institutions, Karim Khan succeeded in creating a peaceful and prosperous state in a particularly turbulent epoch of history.Dying and Living for Allah: The Last Will of Khurram Murad
By Khurram Murad. 2001
Dying and Living for Allah: The Last Will of Khurram Murad is essentially a wake up call, not just to…
his kith and kin, but all the Muslims. This Will is a nasihah - advising, commending and enjoining a life based on loyalty to Allah, striving for the akhira and being particular to one's responsibilities towards others.