With a scope that bridges the gap between the study of classical Islam and the modern Middle East, this book uncovers a profound theological dimension in contemporary Islamic radicalism and explores the continued relevance of medieval theology to modern debates. Based on an examination of the thought of the medieval scholar Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), the book demonstrates how long-standing fault lines within Sunni Islam have resurfaced in the past half-century to play a major role in such episodes as the Qutbist controversy within the Muslim Brotherhood, the split between radical salafīs and politically quietist ones, the renunciation of militancy by Egyptian and Libyan jihadist groups, and the radicalization of the insurgency in the North Caucasus. This work combines classical Islamic scholarship with a deep familiarity with contemporary radicalism and offers compelling new insights into the structure of modern radical Islam.
Asma Sayeed's book explores the history of women as religious scholars from the first decades of Islam through the early Ottoman period. Focusing on women's engagement with hadīth, this book analyzes dramatic chronological patterns in women's hadīth participation in terms of developments in Muslim social, intellectual and legal history. It challenges two opposing views: that Muslim women have been historically marginalized in religious education, and alternately that they have been consistently empowered thanks to early role models such as 'Ā'isha bint Abī Bakr, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad. This book is a must-read for those interested in the history of Muslim women as well as in debates about their rights in the modern world. The intersections of this history with topics in Muslim education, the development of Sunnī orthodoxies, Islamic law and hadīth studies make this work an important contribution to Muslim social and intellectual history of the early and classical eras.
More than any other issue in Islamic theology, anthropomorphism (tashbih) stood at the heart of many theological debates, and was mostly discussed within the circles of traditionalist Islam. The way a
Improvisational Islam is about novel and unexpected ways of being Muslim, where religious dispositions are achieved through techniques that have little or no precedent in classical Islamic texts or co
Improvisational Islam is about novel and unexpected ways of being Muslim, where religious dispositions are achieved through techniques that have little or no precedent in classical Islamic texts or co
With contributions from specialists in different areas of classical Islamic thought, this accessible volume explores the ways in which medieval Muslims saw, interpreted and represented the world aroun
Within a century of the Arab Muslim conquest of vast territories in the Middle East and North Africa, Islam became the inheritor of the intellectual legacy of classical antiquity. In an epochal cultur
The Muslim perception of Christianity and Christians is an issue of longstanding debate among scholars of both Islam and Christianity. In this book, Jane McAuliffe analyses a series of passages from the Qur'an that make ostensibly positive remarks about Christians. She conducts this analysis through a close examination of Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an, spanning ten centuries of commentary. In this effort to trace various interpretations of these passages, the author attempts to determine whether these positive passages can justifiably serve as proof-texts of Muslim tolerance of Christianity. She finds that commentators have consistently distinguished between the vast majority of Christians, who are denounced for having turned from the true word of God, and a small minority, who accepted the prophethood of Muhammed and are praised.
The Muslim perception of Christianity and Christians is an issue of longstanding debate among scholars of both Islam and Christianity. In this book, Jane McAuliffe analyses a series of passages from the Qur'an that make ostensibly positive remarks about Christians. She conducts this analysis through a close examination of Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an, spanning ten centuries of commentary. In this effort to trace various interpretations of these passages, the author attempts to determine whether these positive passages can justifiably serve as proof-texts of Muslim tolerance of Christianity. She finds that commentators have consistently distinguished between the vast majority of Christians, who are denounced for having turned from the true word of God, and a small minority, who accepted the prophethood of Muhammed and are praised.
This is a timely study of the international relations of Islamic states, dealing both with the evolving theory of pan-Islamism from classical to post-caliphal times and the foreign-policy practice of
A comparative study of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, this volume provides side-by-side descriptions of the three religions. It describes each faith's classical theology and foundational texts, an
In this lucid and carefully constructed volume, feminist academic Kecia Ali examines classical Muslim texts and tries to evaluate whether a just system of sexual ethics is possible within an Islamic f
In Coercion and Responsibility in Islam, Mairaj Syed explores how classical Muslim theologians and jurists from four intellectual traditions argue about the thorny issues that coercion raises about re
In this pioneering work Siraj Sait and Hilary Lim address Islamic property and land rights, drawing on a range of socio-historical, classical and contemporary resources. They address the significance
In this pioneering work Siraj Sait and Hilary Lim address Islamic property and land rights, drawing on a range of socio-historical, classical and contemporary resources. They address the significance
Jonathan Berkey's 2003 book surveys the religious history of the peoples of the Near East from roughly 600 to 1800 CE. The opening chapter examines the religious scene in the Near East in late antiquity, and the religious traditions which preceded Islam. Subsequent chapters investigate Islam's first century and the beginnings of its own traditions, the 'classical' period from the accession of the Abbasids to the rise of the Buyid amirs, and thereafter the emergence of new forms of Islam in the middle period. Throughout, close attention is paid to the experiences of Jews and Christians, as well as Muslims. The book stresses that Islam did not appear all at once, but emerged slowly, as part of a prolonged process whereby it was differentiated from other religious traditions and, indeed, that much that we take as characteristic of Islam is in fact the product of the medieval period.
Jonathan Berkey's 2003 book surveys the religious history of the peoples of the Near East from roughly 600 to 1800 CE. The opening chapter examines the religious scene in the Near East in late antiquity, and the religious traditions which preceded Islam. Subsequent chapters investigate Islam's first century and the beginnings of its own traditions, the 'classical' period from the accession of the Abbasids to the rise of the Buyid amirs, and thereafter the emergence of new forms of Islam in the middle period. Throughout, close attention is paid to the experiences of Jews and Christians, as well as Muslims. The book stresses that Islam did not appear all at once, but emerged slowly, as part of a prolonged process whereby it was differentiated from other religious traditions and, indeed, that much that we take as characteristic of Islam is in fact the product of the medieval period.
