During the latter decades of the nineteenth century, popular European fascination with the world beyond reached an all-time high. The British and French empires spanned the globe, and their colonial agents sent home exotic goods and stories. The Silk Route dates from this romantic period, in name if not in reality. In the century since its invention as a concept, the Silk Route has captured and captivated the Western imagination. It has given us images of fabled cities and exotic peoples. Religions of the Silk Road tells the story of how religions accompanied merchants and their goods along...

This volume outlines the Islamic view of the cosmic order and reviews the ways an Islamic world view can be interpreted, reassessed and applied to such environmental problems as pollution and water scarcity.

Although today associated exclusively with Islam, Iran has in fact played an unparalleled role within all the world religions, injecting Iranian ideas into the Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, and Manichaean traditions of the merchants who passed along the Silk Roads. This concise and readable introduction explores the manner in which Persian culture has interacted with and transformed each world faith, from the migration of the Israelites to Iran thousands of years ago, to the influence of Iranian notions on Mahayana Buddhism and Christian thought. The author also considers Iran's role in...

This book, the first of its kind, surveys Islamic and Muslim attitudes towards animals, and human responsibilities towards them, through Islam's philosophy, literature, mysticism and art.