Synopses & Reviews
The author's extensive field work, experience, and scholarship combined with his engaging writing style and passion for the subject sets this text apart. An Introduction to Islam, Third Edition, provides students with a thorough and unified topical introduction to the global religious community of Islam. It places Islam within a cultural, political, social, and religious context and examines its connections with Judeo-Christian morals. The text's integration of the doctrinal and devotional elements of Islam enables students to see how Muslims think and live—engendering understanding and breaking down stereotypes. An Introduction to Islam, Third Edition also reviews pre-Islamic history so students can see how Islam developed historically. |
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 367-385) and index.
Table of Contents
Preface
PART ONE Religion and Common Life in the Pre-Islamic Near East
Chapter 1 Early Civilizations and the Origins of Judaism and Christianity
Chapter 2 Pre-Islamic Arabia: Beliefs, Values, Way of Life
PART TWO The Coming of Islam: The Prophet, His People, and God's Religion
Chapter 3 Muhammad and the Early Muslim Community
Chapter 4 The Arab Conquests and Islamic Rule: The Stuggle for a Unified Umma
PART THREE The Islamic Religious System
Chapter 5 The Basic Beliefs and Worship Practices of Islam
Chapter 6 The Nature and Function of the Qur'an
Chapter 7 The Prophet's Sunna as Preserved in the Hadith
Chapter 8 Muslim Creeds and Theologies: Their Purposes and Varieties
Chapter 9 Law and the State in Classical Islamic Formulations
PART FOUR The Sufi Way of Mysticism and Fellowship
Chapter 10 Islamic Mysticism and the Disciplines of Exoteric Piety
Chapter 11 Masters and Disciples: The Forms and Functions of Sufi Orders
PART FIVE Patterns of Islamic Personal and Communal Life
Chapter 12 The Islamic Life Cycle and the Family
Chapter 13 Ideals and Realities of Islamic Community Life
PART SIX Islam in the Modern World
Chapter 14 Major Movements and Trends in Renewal and Reform
Chapter 15 Three Forms of Islamic Revival: "Fundamentalism," Feminism, and Establishing the Umma in North America
Chapter 16 Whither Islam and the Muslims? Progressive Muslims with a Vision of an "Islam without Borders"
Suggestions for Further Reading
Glossary
Acknowlegements
Index