Download or read book Islam the Alternative written by Murad Wilfried Hofmann and published by Garnet Education. This book was released on 1993 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This work, firmly rooted in classical Islam, is written by a Muslim schooled in law and philosophy, with an intimate knowledge of the Arab world. That he is also a German diplomat in Morocco and a convert to Islam gives his work unique importance amongst those Europeans who seek to understand Islam on a personal level. In an attempt to build bridges, he tackles all those difficult issues which have helped to form both the old and the new images of Islam amongst Europeans." "An important and provocative book, it will further our understanding of the true dimensions of a religion so near to us, yet of which we have so little genuine knowledge; a religion which shapes the lives of a billion people, including increasing numbers of Europeans. It is a book which will also further our understanding of the conflicts between our different religious cultures and perhaps, through greater awareness, find the means to resolve them."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Download or read book Islam Sharia and Alternative Dispute Resolution written by Mohamed M. Keshavjee and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-06-30 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The meanings and contexts of Shari'a are the subject of both curiosity and misunderstanding by non-Muslims. Shari'a is sometimes crudely characterised by outsiders as a punitive legal system operating broadly outside, and separate from, national laws and customs. This groundbreaking book shows that Shari'a and its 'fiqh' (laws set forward by various Islamic legal schools) comprise a far more nuanced matrix of interpretations than is often assumed to be the case. Far from being monolithic or impervious to change from without, Muslim legal tradition has - since its beginnings in the early Islamic period - placed an emphasis on equity and non-adversarial conflict-resolution. Mohamed Keshavjee examines both Sunni and Shi'a applications of Islamic law, demonstrating how political, cultural and other factors have influenced the practice of fiqh and Shari'a in the West. Exploring in particular the modern development of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), the author shows that this process can revitalise some of the essential principles that underlie Muslim teachings and jurispudence, delivering not only formal remedies but also perceived justice, even to non-Muslims.

Download or read book A Culture of Ambiguity written by Thomas Bauer and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-08 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Western imagination, Islamic cultures are dominated by dogmatic religious norms that permit no nuance. Those fighting such stereotypes have countered with a portrait of Islam’s medieval “Golden Age,” marked by rationality, tolerance, and even proto-secularism. How can we understand Islamic history, culture, and thought beyond this dichotomy? In this magisterial cultural and intellectual history, Thomas Bauer reconsiders classical and modern Islam by tracing differing attitudes toward ambiguity. Over a span of many centuries, he explores the tension between one strand that aspires to annihilate all uncertainties and establish absolute, uncontestable truths and another, competing tendency that looks for ways to live with ambiguity and accept complexity. Bauer ranges across cultural and linguistic ambiguities, considering premodern Islamic textual and cultural forms from law to Quranic exegesis to literary genres alongside attitudes toward religious minorities and foreigners. He emphasizes the relative absence of conflict between religious and secular discourses in classical Islamic culture, which stands in striking contrast to both present-day fundamentalism and much of European history. Bauer shows how Islam’s encounter with the modern West and its demand for certainty helped bring about both Islamicist and secular liberal ideologies that in their own ways rejected ambiguity—and therefore also their own cultural traditions. Awarded the prestigious Leibniz Prize, A Culture of Ambiguity not only reframes a vast range of Islamic history but also offers an interdisciplinary model for investigating the tolerance of ambiguity across cultures and eras.

Download or read book Empires of Dirt Secularism Radical Islam and the Mere Christendom Alternative written by Douglas Wilson and published by Canon Press & Book Service. This book was released on 2016-11-08 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As it self-destructs, the strategy of secularism (the idea that nations can be religiously neutral) is splitting between American exceptionalism and radical Islam. American exceptionalism, the belief that "America" is more than a nation, is folly. Radical Islam is obviously wrong as well, but Muslims at least own the nature of the current cultural conflict: You must follow somebody, whether it's Allah, the State, or Jesus Christ. This important and timely book is an analysis of the changing face of religion and politics and also an extended argument for Christian expression of faith in Jesus Christ. This does not mean a withdrawal from politics to our own communities and churches. Instead, we Christians must take what we have learned from the wreck of secularism and build a Christendom of the New Foundation: A network of nations bound together by a formal, public, civic acknowledgement of the lordship of Jesus Christ and the fundamental truth of the Apostles' Creed.

Download or read book Islam 2000 written by Murad Wilfried Hofmann and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Islamic Alternatives written by Shahrokh Raei and published by Harrassowitz. This book was released on 2017 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Islamic Alternatives are the proceedings of a symposium which was held in April 2014 within the framework of a research project entitled The Khaksar Order between Ahl-e Haqq and Shiite Sufi Order, funded by the German Research Foundation. The tradition and belief system of the Khaksar is closely connected to several cultural and religious traditions across a vast geographical area in the Orient: the territory of Persianate societies, which might also be called 'the territory of wandering dervishes'. The extensive historical and cultural relations and associations, the similarities between the Khaksar Order and the Futuwwa tradition or religious communities (such as the Ahl-e Haqq (Yarsan) and Bektashi order in different geographical territories), the relationship between this order and Dervish groups in Pakistan and Central Asia on the one hand and its connection with the official orthodox Shia on the other hand are the main topics dealt with in the present book. The commonalities and cultural relations of these numerous and diverse cultural traditions as well as the heterodox movements in this region are so substantial that understanding the related aspects of each helps us gain a deeper knowledge of the whole subject matter. This symposium and the present proceedings attempt to gather as many specialists of these diverse but associated themes as possible in order to achieve a better understanding of these concepts.

Download or read book Defenders of Reason in Islam written by Richard C. Martin and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-03-03 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This clearly written text explores the rational theology of Islam, the conflict between the "defenders of God" and the "defenders of reason", and the controversy's historical roots.

Download or read book Alternative Paradigms written by Ahmet Davutoğlu and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many scholars were convinced that the existing Western style of life, thought, and political institutions could easily be adapted to Muslim societies by bringing them into line with Islamic belief systems and rules. But after some experiences they were surprised when even intellectuals who had Western academic training remained deeply attached to Islam. In this book, Davutoglu develops a comparative analysis between Western and Islamic political theories and images. His argument contends that the conflicts and contrasts between Islamic and Western political thought originate from their philosophical, methodological, and theoretical background rather than mere institutional and historical differences. The questions of how and through which processes these alternative conceptions of the world affect political ideas via a set of axiological presuppositions are the crux of the book. Contents: Transliteration; Introduction; I. Theoretical Inquiries. Western Paradigm: Ontological Proximity; Islamic Paradigm: Tawhid and Ontological Differentiation; II. Political Consequences. Justification of the Socio-Political System: Cosmologico-Ontological Foundations; Legitimation of Political Authority: Epistemologico-Axiological Foundations; Power Theories and Pluralism; The Political Unit and the Universal Political System; Concluding Comparative Remarks.

Download or read book Muslim Sects and Divisions written by A.K. Kazi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-05 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1984, The Section on Muslim Sects in Kit?b al-Milal wa '1-Nihal by Muhammmad b.'Abd al-Karim Shahrastani who died in 1153. Identified as indispensable as a servicebook, this is a useful addition to Muslim theology and provides a translation into English of Shahrastani's Kit?b al-Milal wa 'l-Nihal. The part of the al-Milal is translated which deals with Muslim sects.

Download or read book Alternative Islamic Discourses and Religious Authority written by Susanne Olsson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-23 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like anywhere else, the present-day Islamic world too is grappling with modernity and postmodernity, secularisation and globalisation. Muslims are raising questions about religious representations and authority. This has given rise to the emergence of alternative Islamic discourses which challenge binary oppositions and dichotomies of orthodoxy and heterodoxy, continuity and change, state and civil society. It also leads to a dispersal of authority, a collapse of existing hierarchical structures and gender roles. This book further argues that the centre of gravity of many of these alternative Islamic discourses is shifting from the Arabic-speaking 'heartland' towards the geographical peripheries of the Muslim world and expatriate Muslims in North America and Europe. At the same time, in view of recent seismic shifts in the political constellation of the Middle East, the trends discussed in this book hold important clues for the possible direction of future developments in that volatile part of the Muslim world.

Download or read book Islam Between Divine Message and History written by ?Abd al-Maj?d Sharaf? and published by Central European University Press. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This work attempts to introduce the characteristics of the Mohammedan Mission, with the aspiration to be faithful to its essential purposes and to historical truth at the same time. The author thus illustrates the different ways in which people have understood the Mission and the reasons that led them to those various interpretations. The book presents several alternative interpretations that actually existed but did not enjoy widespread acceptance and popularity.". "This book looks to the future, attempting to respond to the needs of those who are rapidly becoming integrated into modern life, and to the new generations aspiring to an Islamic thought adapted to these processes."--Jacket.

Download or read book Esoteric Transfers and Constructions written by Mark Sedgwick and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-04-07 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Similarities between esoteric and mystical currents in different religious traditions have long interested scholars. This book takes a new look at the relationship between such currents. It advances a discussion that started with the search for religious essences, archetypes, and universals, from William James to Eranos. The universal categories that resulted from that search were later criticized as essentialist constructions, and questioned by deconstructionists. An alternative explanation was advanced by diffusionists: that there were transfers between different traditions. This book presents empirical case studies of such constructions, and of transfers between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the premodern period, and Judaism, Christianity, and Western esotericism in the modern period. It shows that there were indeed transfers that can be clearly documented, and that there were also indeed constructions, often very imaginative. It also shows that there were many cases that were neither transfers nor constructions, but a mixture of the two.

Download or read book iMuslims written by Gary R. Bunt and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2009-04-30 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring the increasing impact of the Internet on Muslims around the world, this book sheds new light on the nature of contemporary Islamic discourse, identity, and community. The Internet has profoundly shaped how both Muslims and non-Muslims perceive Islam and how Islamic societies and networks are evolving and shifting in the twenty-first century, says Gary Bunt. While Islamic society has deep historical patterns of global exchange, the Internet has transformed how many Muslims practice the duties and rituals of Islam. A place of religious instruction may exist solely in the virtual world, for example, or a community may gather only online. Drawing on more than a decade of online research, Bunt shows how social-networking sites, blogs, and other "cyber-Islamic environments" have exposed Muslims to new influences outside the traditional spheres of Islamic knowledge and authority. Furthermore, the Internet has dramatically influenced forms of Islamic activism and radicalization, including jihad-oriented campaigns by networks such as al-Qaeda. By surveying the broad spectrum of approaches used to present dimensions of Islamic social, spiritual, and political life on the Internet, iMuslims encourages diverse understandings of online Islam and of Islam generally.

Download or read book Religion as Critique written by Irfan Ahmad and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2017-11-20 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Irfan Ahmad makes the far-reaching argument that potent systems and modes for self-critique as well as critique of others are inherent in Islam--indeed, critique is integral to its fundamental tenets and practices. Challenging common views of Islam as hostile to critical thinking, Ahmad delineates thriving traditions of critique in Islamic culture, focusing in large part on South Asian traditions. Ahmad interrogates Greek and Enlightenment notions of reason and critique, and he notes how they are invoked in relation to "others," including Muslims. Drafting an alternative genealogy of critique in Islam, Ahmad reads religious teachings and texts, drawing on sources in Hindi, Urdu, Farsi, and English, and demonstrates how they serve as expressions of critique. Throughout, he depicts Islam as an agent, not an object, of critique. On a broader level, Ahmad expands the idea of critique itself. Drawing on his fieldwork among marketplace hawkers in Delhi and Aligarh, he construes critique anthropologically as a sociocultural activity in the everyday lives of ordinary Muslims, beyond the world of intellectuals. Religion as Critique allows space for new theoretical considerations of modernity and change, taking on such salient issues as nationhood, women's equality, the state, culture, democracy, and secularism.

Download or read book What s Right with Islam written by Feisal Abdul Rauf and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An American imam offers answers for today's toughest questions about Islam, and a vision for a reconciliation between Islam and the West. One of the pressing questions of our time is what went wrong in the relationship between Muslims and the West. Continuing global violence in the name of Islam reflects the deepest fears by certain Muslim factions of Western political, cultural, and economic encroachment. The solution to the current antagonism requires finding common ground upon which to build mutual respect and understanding. Who better to offer such an analysis than an American imam, someone with a foot in each world and the tools to examine the common roots of both Western and Muslim cultures; someone to explain to the non-Islamic West not just what went wrong with Islam, but what's right with Islam. Focused on finding solutions, not on determining fault, this is ultimately a hopeful, inspiring book. What's Right with Islam systematically lays out the reasons for the current dissonance between these cultures and offers a foundation and plan for improved relations. Wide-ranging in scope, What's Right with Islam elaborates in satisfying detail a vision for a Muslim world that can eventually embrace its own distinctive forms of democracy and capitalism, aspiring to a new Cordoba - a time when Jews, Christians, Muslims, and all other faith traditions will live together in peace and prosperity.

Download or read book Teaching Humanity written by Vernon James Schubel and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-03-21 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces Islam through a "humanistic" lens, by highlighting the affective traditions and expressions associated with Sufism and Shi'ism. While most introductory books emphasize the shari’a, and especially the “Five Pillars,” as the primary defining characteristic of Islam, Vernon James Schubel provides an alternative introduction which instead underscores the importance of humanity and the human being within Islamic thought and practice. The book stresses the diversity of Islamic beliefs and practices, presenting them as varied responses to the shared multivalent concepts of tawhid (the unity of God), nubuwwa (prophecy) and qiyama (the Day of Judgment). Readers are introduced to essential aspects of Islam including the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur’an, the development of the shari‘a, and the emergence of the Sunni, Shi‘a and Sufi traditions. The book concludes with a call to redefine “mainstream” Islam, as a religious tradition focused on the centrality of love and rooted in the importance of humanity and universal human virtues.

Download or read book British Muslim Converts written by Kate Zebiri and published by ONEWorld. This book was released on 2008 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only exploration of this unique group in British society, this well-argued and powerful book investigates the fascinating contribution that Western converts to Islam are making to a distinctive take on Islamic thought and discourse. Informed by interviews with British converts as well as published and internet material, Zebiri asks whether converts could act as much-needed mediators in the growing divide between Islam and the West.