Synopses & Reviews
The world's leading Islamicist offers a concise introduction to this rich and diverse tradition of 1.2 billion adherents.
In this informative and clear introduction to the world of Islam, Seyyed Hossein Nasr explores the following topics in depth:
- What Is Islam?
- The Doctrines and Beliefs of Islam
- Islamic Practices and Institutions
- The History of Islam
- Schools of Islamic Thought
- Islam in the Contemporary World
- Islam and Other Religions
- The Spiritual and Religious Significance of Islam
Review
"[A] deep, thoughtful, sympathetic introduction to the diversity and history of Islamic faith and practice." Booklist
Review
"A valuable primer on a religion that, for all its monolithic appearance, is as splintered as any other." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
The world's leading Islamicist offers a concise, straightforward introduction to the history, beliefs, and practices of his faith. Seyyed Hossein Nasr presents a comprehensive overview of Islamic doctrines and beliefs, schools of Islamic thought, Islam in the contemporary world, and much more. While outlining the 1400 year history of Islam, Nasr also pays close attention to the diversity of a religion that is embraced by more than a billion people.
Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr was born in Tehran, Iran in 1933. He received his advanced education at M.I.T. and Harvard University, returning to teach at Tehran University from 1958-1979, where he also served as Dean of the Faculty of Letters and Vice Chancellor. He founded the Iranian Academy of Philosophy and served as its first president, and was also for several years president of Aryamehr University. Since 1984, he has been University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and President of the Foundation for Traditional Studies.
"Members of the 'general Western republic' will put this book down with a fuller grasp of why Islam has shaped the religious impulse of so many and why it still does." -- New York Times Book Review
--Booklist
About the Author
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, one of the world's leading experts on Islamic thought and spirituality, is university professor of Islamic Studies at The George Washington University. The preeminent Sufi scholar in the United States, Nasr is the author of more than fifty other books, including The Heart of Islamand Islam. Born in Tehran, raised in the United States, and graduate of MIT and Harvard, Nasr is a well-known and highly respected intellectual figure in both the West and the Islamic world. He lives in Washington, D.C.