An Introduction to Islam, Fourth Edition, provides students with a thorough, unified and topical introduction to the global religious community of Islam. In addition, the author's extensive field work, experience, and scholarship combined with his engaging writing style and passion for the subject also sets his text apart. An Introduction to Islam places Islam within a cultural, political, social, and religious context, and examines its connections with Judeo-Christian mo...

Thematic examination of monotheistic religions The second edition of Jews, Christians, Muslims: A Comparative Introduction to Monotheistic Religions, compares Judaism, Christianity, and Islam using seven common themes which are equally relevant to each tradition. Provoking critical thinking, this text addresses the cultural framework of religious meanings and explores the similarities and differences among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as it explains the ongoing process of interpretatio...

This ebook is a selective guide designed to help scholars and students of Islamic studies find reliable sources of information by directing them to the best available scholarly materials in whatever form or format they appear from books, chapters, and journal articles to online archives, electronic data sets, and blogs. Written by a leading international authority on the subject, the ebook provides bibliographic information supported by direct recommendations about which sources to consult...

Islam features widely in the news, often in its most militant versions, but few people in the non-Muslim world really understand the nature of Islam. Malise Ruthven's Very Short Introduction contains essential insights into issues such as why Islam has such major divisions between movements such as the Shi'ites, the Sunnis, and the Wahhabis, and the central importance of the Shar'ia (Islamic law) in Islamic life. It also offers fresh perspectives on contemporary questions: Why is ...

The book you must read to understand the Islamist crisis—and the threat to us allRobert R. Reilly’s eye-opening book masterfully explains the frightening behavior coming out of the Islamic world. Terrorism, he shows, is only one manifestation of the spiritual pathology of Islamism.Reilly uncovers the root of our contemporary crisis: a pivotal struggle waged within the Muslim world nearly a millennium ago. In a heated battle over the role of reason, the side...

In this powerful, but accessible new study, John Bowen draws on a full range of work in social anthropology to present Islam in ways that emphasise its constitutive practices, from praying and learning to judging and political organising. Starting at the heart of Islam - revelation and learning in Arabic lands - Bowen shows how Muslims have adapted Islamic texts and traditions to ideas and conditions in the societies in which they live. Returning to key case studies in Asia, Africa and Wes...

Prophecy, politics, and the birth of a religionMore than a billion people consider themselves Muslim. It is the world’s second-largest religion. Yet Western portrayals of the Islamic mind are often flawed. Islam for the Western Mind is an intensive look--from a Christian perspective--at what inspires and motivates Muslims, namely Muhammad and the teaching of the Koran.Dr. Drummond, an ordained Presbyterian minister and former professor, presents a balanced look at ...

This volume of Princeton Readings in Religions brings together the work of more than thirty scholars of Islam and Muslim societies in South Asia to create a rich anthology of primary texts that contributes to a new appreciation of the lived religious and cultural experiences of the world's largest population of Muslims. The thirty-four selections--translated from Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, Hindavi, Dakhani, and other languages--highlight a wide variety of genres, many...

A twentieth-anniversary edition of the fascinating, accessible introduction to Islam with a new preface and study guide, from the #1 bestselling author of ZealotFINALIST FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD“Wise and passionate . . . an incisive, scholarly primer in Muslim history and an engaging personal exploration.” —The New York Times Book ReviewTwo decades after its original publication, ...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this “brilliantly lucid, splendidly readable book” (The Sunday Times), one of Britain’s foremost commentators on religion explores how people have perceived and experienced God throughout history, from the time of Abraham to the present.“An admirable and impressive work of synthesis that will give insight and satisfaction to thousands of lay readers.”—The Washington Post Book WorldWh...

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (d. 855) was the eponymous founder of a school of law, and an influential intellectual who led the Baghdadi masses during the Inquisition. Owing to his status as a jurist, to the religious ideas he propounded and to his model way of life, he is perceived as one of the pivotal figures in the history of Islam and a revered hero to th

***2015 National Jewish Book Award Winner***In this powerful and timely book, one of the most admired and authoritative religious leaders of our time tackles the phenomenon of religious extremism and violence committed in the name of God. If religion is perceived as being part of the problem, Rabbi Sacks argues, then it must also form part of the solution. When religion becomes a zero-sum conceit—that is, my religion is the only right path to God, therefore your re...