Kategoria BISAC: Religion >> Islam - History

The history of the predominantly Muslim world is examined within the context of world history. It examines political, economic, and broad cultural developments, as well as specifically religious ones. The themes of the book are tradition and adaptation: it examines the tensions between the desire of Muslims to maintain continuity with their legacy and their recognition of the need to adapt to changing conditions.

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...

While jihad has been the subject of countless studies in the wake of recent terrorist attacks, scholarship on the topic has so far paid little attention to South Asian Islam and, more specifically, its place in South Asian history.

Seeking to fill some gaps in the historiography, Ilyse R. Morgenstein Fuerst examines the effects of the 1857 Rebellion (long taught in Britain as the "Indian Mutiny") on debates about the issue of jihad during the British Raj. Morgenstein Fuerst shows that the Rebellion had lasting, pronounced effects on the understanding by their Indian subjects (whether...

The night journey (isra') and ascension to heaven (mi'raj) is a singularly auspicious event in the biography of the Prophet Muhammad, and is one of the most popular religious narratives in Islam. Among other things, it is seen to confirm the Prophet as the final prophet, to explain how the five daily prayers were introduced to the Muslim community as a religious duty, and to give an early explanation of the concepts of heaven and hell. The night journey and ascension are, moreover, the greatest of miracles ascribed to Muhammad. Here, Ron Buckley explores how the Islamic understanding...

What is Islamic Philosophy? offers a broad introduction to Islamic thought, from its origins to the many challenging issues facing Muslims in the contemporary world. The chapters explore early Islamic philosophy and trace its development through key themes and figures up to the twenty-first century.

Topics covered include:

• ethical issues such as just war, abortion, women's rights, homosexuality and cloning
• questions in political philosophy regarding what kind of Islamic state could exist and how democratic can (or should) Islam really...