Stories about gendered social relations permeate the Qur'an, and nearly three hundred verses involve specific women or girls. The Qur'an features these figures in accounts of human origins, in stories of the founding and destruction of nations, in narratives of conquest, in episodes of romantic attraction, and in incidents of family devotion and strife. Overall, stories involving women and girls weave together theology and ethics to reinforce central Qur'anic ideas regarding submission to God and moral accountability. Celene Ibrahim explores the complex cast of female figures in the Qur'an, probing themes related to biological sex, female sexuality, female speech, and women in sacred history. Ibrahim considers major and minor figures referenced in the Qur'an, including those who appear in narratives of sacred history, in parables, in descriptions of the eternal abode, and in verses that allude to events contemporaneous with the advent of the Qur'an in Arabia. Ibrahim finds that the Qur'an regularly celebrates the aptitudes of women in the realms of spirituality and piety, in political maneuvering, and in safeguarding their own wellbeing; yet, women figures also occasionally falter and use their agency toward nefarious ends. Women and Gender in the Qur'an outlines how women and girls - old, young, barren, fertile, chaste, profligate, reproachable, and saintly - enter Qur'anic sacred history and advance the Qur'an's overarching didactic aims.

This is an updated and expanded 2015 edition of a classic text on Muslim thinking about war and peace. The new edition includes a new introduction and translations of selected revelatory excerpts from ISIS texts about the treatment of POWs, guidelines on the "management of barbarity," fatwas in opposition to ISIS, and other key topics.

This book analyzes how AKP's embedded intellectuals operate as media spin doctors, exploring their transformation from passionately engaged intellectuals into apparatchiks. This project adapts a post-Soviet geography approach to the media, intelligentsia, and political discourse as derivative of authoritarian regimes to the Turkish context. It offers a fresh look at the Turkish political and intellectual scene and a comparative study of the populist-authoritarian politics of Turkey. Situated in the literature on the post-Soviet authoritarian regimes and their ways of governing, as well as their manipulation of public opinion, the book analyzes AKP-aligned intellectuals as apparatchiks. Gurpinar explores the different constellations of pro-AKP intellectuals vindicating the AKP regime from various angles, including: liberal/progressive intellectuals who initially supported the party for its liberal vistas but continued their support by twisting their progressive rhetoric; Islamist intellectuals blending their Islamism with populism; and national security intellectuals who joined after the AKP came to propagate a national security agenda. The book also provides an overview of the mechanisms of political technology, including the media landscape and its running by the AKP, intellectuals themselves as operators of political technology, and the problem of "cultural power." The book will be of interest to those studying comparative authoritarian politics, populism, political communication, and scholars of Middle East and Eastern Europe.

The past several years have seen many examples of friction between secular European societies and religious migrant communities within them. This study combines ethnographic work in three countries (The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and France) with a new theoretical frame (regimes of secularity). Its mission is to contribute to an understanding of minority identity construction in secular societies. In addition to engaging with academic literature and ethnographic research, the book takes a critical look at three cities, three nation-contexts, and three grassroots forms of Muslim religious collective organization, comparing and contrasting them from a historical perspective. Carolina Ivanescu offers a thorough theoretical grounding and tests existing theories empirically. Beginning from the idea that religion and citizenship are both crucial aspects of the state's understanding of Muslim identities, she demonstrates the relevance of collective identification processes that are articulated through belonging to geographical and ideological entities. These forms of collective identification and minority management, Ivanescu asserts, are configuring novel possibilities for the place of religion in the modern social world.

Will Islam be able to adapt to France's secularity and its strict separation of public and private spheres? Can France accommodate Muslims? In this book, Frank Peter argues that the debate about "Islam" and "Muslims" is not simply caused by ignorance or Islamophobia. Rather, it is an integral part of how secularism is reasoned. Islam and the Governing of Muslims in France shows that understanding religion as separate from other aspects of life, such as politics, economy, and culture, disregards the ways religion has operated and been managed in "secular" societies such as France. This book uncovers the varying rationalities of the secular that have developed over the past few decades in France to "govern Islam," in order to examine how Muslims engage with the secular regime and contribute to its transformation. This book offers a close analysis of French secularism as it has been debated by Islamic intellectuals and activists from the 1990s until the present. It will influence the study of secularism as well as the study of Islam in the French Republic, and reveal new connections between Islamic traditions and secular rationalities.

Motivation--both the act of motivating and the psychological state of being motivated--plays an important role in the education of children. This is a notion that a considerable number of medieval Muslim scholars addressed in their writings, albeit to varying degrees and through a variety of approaches (from literary to legal, and philosophical to psycho-spiritual). This book provides a fresh, original insight into the theory, practice, and rhythms of elementary education in medieval Muslim societies over the course of six centuries. It expands our understanding of the history of Muslim education as well as Islam's intellectual and social history. Its interdisciplinary approach to examining elementary education in medieval Muslim societies is of great importance to scholars of various fields of Islamic studies. It contributes to our wider understanding of Muslim education because it fills a gap in our appreciation of the theories and practices of elementary education in medieval Muslim societies, especially the question of how children were motivated to learn and how their motivation was understood by scholars and their teachers. For the first time, the ideas and practices of medieval Muslim elementary education are linked to their socio-historical context. This book has paved the way to discussing how prevalent social, religious, cultural, linguistic, economic, and political factors in medieval Muslim societies impacted the theory and practice of elementary education. In this pioneering look at motivation in medieval Muslim elementary education, Eeqbal Hassim shows that the Muslim scholars' ideas on the topic were mainly resistant to change. This finding correlates with limited progress in elementary educational practice and the faithful transmission of knowledge in medieval Islamic scholarship. Despite developments in the scholarly approaches to elementary education in line with scientific advancements in the medieval Muslim world, these did not have a significant impact on the essence of the Muslim scholars' views. This is an important book for all Islamic studies collections, particularly in the areas of history, education, psychology, and Arabic literature.

Discover the richness of Rumi s spiritual tradition through
facing-page commentary that brings his writings to life for you.

"This book you are now holding is a selection of what I believe are the best of Rumi s accounts of the compassionate actions, sayings, and qualities of the Prophet, which include Rumi s own inspired comments and explanations. It is my hope that you will be surprised and uplifted by the profound wisdom that Jalaluddin Rumi conveys through these stories and sayings."
from the Preface

This great Sufi poet and teacher can become a companion for your own spiritual journey.

The lyric and wisdom poetry of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi has been an inspiration throughout the Middle East and Asia for over seven hundred years. Recently, it has also become popular in Western countries through translations and interpretive poetic versions in English. But while popular renderings have created the appreciation of Rumi the mystic, there is little understanding today of the religious and spiritual traditions from which the great mystic came. "Rumi and Islam Selections from His Stories, Poems, and Discourses" examines not the popularized Rumi of universal love but the Sufi disciple whose works express deep reverence for the Prophet Muhammad. Ibrahim Gamard focuses on Rumi s place within the Sufi tradition of Islam, as one of the greatest Muslim followers of the Prophet Muhammed, and on the Islamic foundations of his lover-Beloved mystical poetry. By probing verse by verse Rumi s spiritual teachings, Gamard provides insight into the mystical side of the Qur an and Islam, a religion that holds a deep love of God at its core.

Now you can experience the profound and uplifting wisdom of Rumi even if you have no previous knowledge of Sufism or Islam. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents the most important of Rumi s writings, mainly from the Mathnawi, with insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that conveys how his teachings about the nature of love for God and God s love for us can increase our understanding of Islamic wisdom in the West.

Eighteen intriguing stories that give voice to often-overlooked figures from the holy writings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Women?though seldom educated?played key roles in the development of these three great faiths, but their lives and contributions are rarely honored. The men who recorded and copied the sacred Scriptures and other important texts included very little about how women passed on their experiences of God through storytelling, song, and ritual. With the help of imagination and careful research, Daughters of the Desert introduces readers to the lives and loves, personalities and dreams of women who are only hinted at in the Scriptures, but whose faith and strength were vital to the growth of their beliefs, including Sarah, Hagar, Huldah, Esther, Salome, Mary Magdalene, Lydia, Khadija, and Fatima. Taking as starting points passages from the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and the Qur?an, this diverse collection of short stories allows readers to hear the voices of our common female ancestors loud and clear. Ideal for anyone who has ever wondered what life was like for our spiritual foremothers, these stories bring life and breath to the past. What the Scriptures have often only outlined in passing is here fully imagined?from thrilling events that decided the fate of thousands to everyday moments of friendship and love. For complete bios of the authors, please visit our website, www.skylightpaths.com.

The timeless insight of Islam s sacred writings can enrich
your own spiritual journey.

For many in the West, the teachings of the Qur an often are enshrouded in mystery and fear. Yet Islam s holy book gave birth to one of the most powerful and enlightened civilizations the world has ever seen. By the sixteenth century, Muslim culture stretched from India to Africa to Europe, preserving with it the ancient learning that helped spawn the Renaissance. With its interwoven ideas of faith and reason, justice and mercy, the path of Islam which literally means surrendering to God s will offers a uniquely focused and balanced approach to living life with a profound awareness of God.

With gentleness and insight, Sohaib N. Sultan leads you through the central themes of both the Qur an and the collected sayings of Prophet Muhammad, known as "hadith." These teachings dispel common misconceptions about Muslim beliefs and offer practical guidance for your own spiritual journey, from understanding the merciful nature of God; to cultivating peace and justice in the self, family, and society; to answering questions about the afterlife and how to attain it.

Now you can experience the wisdom of Qur anic teachings even if you have no previous knowledge of Islam or Muslim writings. Insightful yet unobtrusive facing-page commentary explains the texts for you, allowing you to enter into the path of surrender to God.

The wisdom of one of the greatest scholars of Islam can be a companion on your own spiritual journey.

Considered by many to be the all-time greatest scholar of Islam, Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058 1111) was also one of the foremost sages of theology, philosophy and Sufism. His writings on the interrelation of law, theology and mysticism were central in establishing Sufism as a core dimension of orthodox Islamic practice. Muslim communities all across the world today still base much of their practice of Islam on Ghazali's writings.

The Forty Foundations of Religion, Ghazali s own summary of his magnum opus, The Revival of the Religious Sciences, serves as a brief and powerful summary of Islamic faith, worship, law and spirituality. It outlines the basis of Islamic belief, the foundational matters of ritual and practice, and the character traits a person must cultivate and avoid in the perfection of faith.

Now you can experience the wisdom of Ghazali even if you have no previous knowledge of The Forty Foundations of Religion or Islam. This SkyLight Illuminations edition the first publication of significant portions of The Forty Foundations of Religion in English provides original translations of selected highlights accompanied by insightful commentary that makes the core message of this great spiritual master relevant to anyone seeking a balanced understanding of Islam."

This is volume 2 of a unique collection, offering a veritable Who's Who of renowned Christian and Muslim scholars that have shaped the course of Christian-Muslim dialogue."Global Christianity in Local Context and Muslim Encounter" is a unique collection of essays in honour of David A. Kerr, well-known for his contributions in the areas of Christian-Muslim dialogue, Ecumenical Studies and Missions. With contributions from recognized experts in these fields, the book provides a platform for examining contemporary Christian-Muslim relations and critical issues facing twenty-first century Christianity.Volume 2 is a veritable Who's Who of renowned Christian and Muslim scholars that have shaped the course of Christian-Muslim dialogue over the last half century. Their contributions in this volume address contemporary and pivotal issues facing Christians and Muslims today, such as Islamophobia, Islamism, Religious Freedom, Inter-religious Challenges and Urbanism, Mission and Economic Globalisation, Suffering and Social Responsibility, and others.

Marketing in the emerging Islamic markets is a challenging business function since international companies must contend with unfamiliar customs, cultural differences, and legal challenges. This book provides marketers who want to reach this emerging and very lucrative consumer base with essential, research-based insights on these aspects and how to deal with them. This book redefines marketing practice and conduct and challenges conventional marketing wisdom by introducing a religious-based ethical framework to the practice of marketing. The framework opens a whole new array of marketing opportunities and describes the behavior of the consumer, community, and companies using a different approach than conventional marketing thought.

This book examines the archaeological implications of Islam as a force which can act upon all areas of life. Islam leaves distinctive material culture remains and distinctive categories of evidence which can be detected and described.

The subject and the geographical area of Islam is vast. The author provides an assessment of the means and the methods of uncovering Islamic material records in the context of a wide range of times and places. Separate chapters examine the mosque, the domestic environment, the Islamic city, death and burial, art, manufacturing and trade. The author draws evidence from the perceived heartlands of the Islamic world (Arabia, the Near East), and from those regions traditionally regarded as the periphery (Africa and the Far East). Coverage extends from the origins of Islam in the seventh century AD up until the present.

A first-of-its-kind combination of the legendary wisdom stories of Islam's great comic foil with spiritual insights for seekers of all traditions or none.

"We would do well to heed the Mulla's wisdom. One day, inevitably, our personal storms will not abate before causing destruction. Something will break our hearts and cause us to ask deeper questions. At that point we will become spiritual seekers, each in our own way.... We will begin to hear deep inside the mysterious calling of our soul to ful ll the purpose for which we were created." from the chapter The Storms in Our Lives

The mythical Mulla Nasruddin is a village simpleton and sage rolled into one. His wisdom stories, timeless and placeless, emanate from a source beyond book learning, and contain several layers of meaning.

In this unique presentation, Imam Jamal Rahman weaves together spiritual insights with the Mulla s humorous teaching stories and connects them to the issues at the heart of the spiritual quest. Addressing such topics as human vulnerability, the rigors of inner and outer spiritual work, the hazards of the ego and more, he roots the Mulla s stories in Islamic spirituality by pairing them with sayings from the Qur an, the Prophet Muhammad, Rumi, Hafiz and other Islamic sages.

Together, these sources combined with spiritual practices will awaken your spirit with laughter and inspire you to transform yourself and the world around you."

Refine your heart and mind with the wisdom of Islamic spirituality

"To live a meaningful life one that brings us joy, contentment and fulfillment we have to do the inner spiritual work of becoming a more complete human being." from the Introduction

Over the centuries, Islamic sages have gleaned timeless spiritual insights and practices from sacred texts, meditation and knowledge of the heart gems that have been passed down from generation to generation. This book invites you no matter what your practice may be to access the treasure chest of Islamic spirituality, particularly Sufism, and use its wealth to strengthen your own journey.

The riches include guidance drawn from the Qur'an, sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and Sufi poets such as the thirteenth-century Rumi on cultivating awareness, intentionality and compassion for self and others. This book also features entertaining wisdom teaching stories, especially those of Mulla Nasruddin, Islam s great comic foil, to expand the mind and heart. It breaks down barriers to accessing this ancient tradition for modern seekers by dispelling myths about the Muslim faith concerning gender bias, inclusivity and appreciation for diversity.

Regardless of where you are on your spiritual journey, you will find these gems worthy additions to your own treasure chest within."

This is the first book of its kind about the Turkish Muslim scholar, Fethullah Gulen, since the July 2016 events in Turkey, the trauma experienced by Gulen, and the disruption to initiatives inspired by his teaching, known as Hizmet. Drawing on primary interviews with Gulen and Hizmet participants and a literature review, this Open Access book locates the clear origins of Gulen's teaching in the Qur'an and Sunnah in dynamic engagement with their geographical, temporal and existential reception, translation, and onward communication. It argues that as Hizmet cannot be understood apart from Gulen and his teaching, Gulen and his teaching cannot be understood apart from Hizmet, while exploring the heritage of both. A more geographically focused case study is set out in author Paul Weller's Hizmet in Transitions: European Developments of a Turkish Muslim-Inspired Movement, also published by Palgrave Macmillan (2022).

This book brings together international scholars of Islamic philosophy, theology and politics to examine these current major questions: What is the place of pluralism in the Islamic founding texts? How have sacred and prophetic texts been interpreted throughout major Islamic intellectual history by the Sunnis and Shi'a? How does contemporary Islamic thought treat religious and political diversity in modern nation states and in societies in transition? How is pluralism dealt with in modern major and minor Islamic contexts? How does modern political Islam deal with pluralism in the public sphere? And what are the major internal and external challenges to pluralism in Islamic contexts? These questions that have become of paramount relevance in religious studies especially during the last three-four decades are answered as critically highlighted in Islamic founding sources, the formative classical sources and how it has been lived and practiced in past and present Islamic majority societies and communities around the world. Case studies cover Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, and Thailand, besides various internal references to other contexts.