The timeless insight of Islam’s sacred writings can enrichyour own spiritual journey.For many in the West, the teachings of the Qur’an often are enshrouded in mystery and fear. Yet Islam’s holy book gave birth to one of the most powerful and enlightened civilizations the world has ever seen. By the sixteenth century, Muslim culture stretched from India to Africa to Europe, preserving with it the ancient learning that helped spawn the Renaissance. With its in...

The treatment and role of women are among the most discussed and controversial aspects of Islam. The rights of Muslim women have become part of the Western political agenda, often perpetuating a stereotype of universal oppression. Muslim women living in America continue to be marginalized and misunderstood since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Yet their contributions are changing the face of Islam as it is seen both within Muslim communities in the West and by non-Muslims. In their public and ...

Christian-Muslim dialogue, going on in America for many decades, has become more intentional and serious since the events of September 11, 2001. This volume looks at the history of encounter between the two religions, the types of dialogue that are taking place both locally and nationally, and the hope that conversation brings for better interfaith understanding. No book has been written on this topic before. The book combines the history of Christian-Muslim relations, the rise of Islam in...

Although they are typically portrayed by the media as dangerous extremists in distant lands, Muslims in fact form a permanent, peaceful and growing population in nearly every Western country. While Westerners are now more commonly seeing mosques in their neighborhoods or scarved Muslim women in their streets, misperceptions and stereotypes remain. With expanding numbers and desires to protect their rights and identities, Muslims are coming into more and more into the public view. In Mu...

Since its inception, the United States has defined itself as a nation of immigrants and a land of religious freedom. But following September 11, 2001 American openness to immigrants and openness to other beliefs have come into question. In a timely manner, Religion and Immigration provides comparative perspectives on Protestants, Catholics, Muslims and Jews entering the American scene. Will Muslims seek and receive inclusion in ways similar to Catholics and Jews generations before? How wil...

As the U.S. Muslim population continues to grow, Islamic schools are springing up across the American landscape. Especially since the events of 9/11, many have become concerned about what kind of teaching is going on behind the walls of these schools, and whether it might serve to foster the seditious purposes of Islamist extremism. The essays collected in this volume look behind those walls and discover both efforts to provide excellent instruction following national educational standards...

The treatment and role of women are among the most discussed and controversial aspects of Islam. The rights of Muslim women have become part of the Western political agenda, often perpetuating a stereotype of universal oppression. Muslim women living in America continue to be marginalized and misunderstood since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Yet their contributions are changing the face of Islam as it is seen both within Muslim communities in the West and by non-Muslims. In their public and ...

Based on two years of ethnographic research in the southern suburbs of Beirut, An Enchanted Modern demonstrates that Islam and modernity are not merely compatible, but actually go hand-in-hand. This eloquent ethnographic portrayal of an Islamic community articulates how an alternative modernity, and specifically an enchanted modernity, may be constructed by Shi'I Muslims who consider themselves simultaneously deeply modern, cosmopolitan, and pious.In this depiction of a Sh...

The challenge of Islam to America’s Christian identity and the stark differences between Muslim and Western worldviews are exposed in this penetrating study by Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, a renowned expert on Islam. By exposing the plans of certain Muslim groups to Islamise the United States, he invites you to consider how deep their influence runs in contemporary American society. As Muslims become increasingly assertive and Islamism grows, the call is for Christian and secular leaders to respo...

A revealing look at Islamic social institutions in Gaza and the West BankMany in the United States and Israel believe that Hamas is nothing but a terrorist organization, and that its social sector serves merely to recruit new supporters for its violent agenda. Based on Sara Roy's extensive fieldwork in the Gaza Strip and West Bank during the critical period of the Oslo peace process, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza shows how the social service activities s...

"A moving and incisive account of Muslim immigrant experiences in the United States. It reveals a dimension of American life seldom genuinely understood." —Saba Mahmood, author of Politics of PietyIn Islam Is a Foreign Country, Zareena Grewal explores some of the most pressing debates about and among American Muslims: What does it mean to be Muslim and American? Who has the authority to speak for Islam and to lead the stunningly diverse population ...