This book presents some twenty essays on different aspects of Islam in history and the present. These essays are grouped into eight larger sections. The first, "The Beginnings," deals with the transition from pre-Islamic understandings and reason, an essential part of the Quranic message. The next two sections deal with Islam specifically as a religion with its particular signs and symbols. The question of rules of interpretation in Islam and its structural features is discussed here. Sections four and five deal with ethics in Islam, including Muslim identity and human rights, and certain...

This book deals with Islamic studies and with the question how the scholarly study of religion can contribute to the study of Islam. The author advocates studying Islamic phenomena as signs and symbols interpreted and applied in diverse ways in existing traditions.

He stresses the role of Muslims as actors in the ongoing debate about the articulation of Islamic ways of life and construction of Islam as a religion. A careful study of this debate should steer clear of political, religious, and ideological interests. Research in this area by Muslims and non-Muslim scholars alike should...