This is the first biography of Lord Headley, who made international headlines in 1913 when he defied convention by publicly converting to Islam. Drawing on previously unpublished archival sources, this book focuses on Headley's religious beliefs, conversion to Islam, and work as a Muslim leader during and after the First World War. Lord Headley slipped into obscurity following his death in 1935, but there is growing recognition globally that he is a pivotal figure in the history of Western Islam and Muslim-Christian relations; this book evaluates the strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures of the man and his work, and considers his significance for contemporary understandings of Islam in the Global West.

Tuan Guru – founder of South Africa’s first mosque and madrasah – had been in his grave for half a century. The Cape Muslim population had exploded in size, but was sliding into decline. Many of the imams, lacking education, had become ignorant and entitled. There was unending conflict in the community, which was fought out in the Cape High Court.

In the same year, a group of concerned community elders made a call for a teacher to be sent to the Cape from Istanbul. No-one knows who these people were, but it was their intervention that saw the arrival of Shaykh Abu-Bakr Effendi, an Ottoman scholar, in early 1863.

Welcomed by those keen to learn, he faced abuse from a coterie of imams who felt threatened by him. Sadly, it is their malcontent that has so jaundiced his story for over 140 years. In this well-researched biography, Shafiq Morton reveals for the first time the true story of Shaykh Abu-Bakr Effendi, one of the stand-out historical figures in the growth of Islam at the foot of Africa.

Sunni Islam has played an ambivalent role in Turkey's Kurdish conflict-both as a conflict resolution tool and as a tool of resistance. Under the Banner of Islam uses Turkey as a case study to understand how religious, ethnic, and national identities converge in ethnic conflicts between co-religionists. Gulay Turkmen asks a question that informs the way we understand religiously homogeneous ethnic conflicts today: Is it possible for religion to act as a resolution tool in these often-violent conflicts? In search for answers to this question, in Under the Banner of Islam, Turkmen journeys into the inner circles of religious elites from different backgrounds: non-state-appointed local Kurdish meles, state-appointed Kurdish and Turkish imams, heads of religious NGOs, and members of religious orders. Blending interview data with a detailed historical analysis that goes back as far as the nineteenth century, she argues that the strength of Turkish and Kurdish nationalisms, the symbiotic relationship between Turkey's religious and political fields, the religious elites' varying conceptualizations of religious and ethnic identities, and the recent political developments in the region (particularly in Syria) all contribute to the complex role religion plays in the Kurdish conflict in Turkey. Under the Banner of Islam is a specific story of religion, ethnicity, and nationalism in Turkey's Kurdish conflict, but it also tracks a broader narrative of how ethnic and religious identities are negotiated when resolving conflicts.

Does Islamic law allow Muslims to live under the rule of non-Muslims? Can there be an authentic Islam where the Shari`ah cannot be enforced? This anthology includes translations of some of the key Islamic voices on these issues from the fourteenth century to the present, from medieval Spanish Christians and the Mongol world in the medieval period to the African territories of European empires in the nineteenth century. It ends with a fatwa addressed to Muslims living in the United States at the end of the twentieth century.

Too often we are tempted into thinking how wrong other people's religions and scriptures are, rather than focusing on what's right about our own.

We act like some of our politicians during election campaigns rather than following the teachings of our own holy books. Breaking the trend, author Dr. Ejaz Naqvi provides an objective, topic-by-topic review of the two most read books in the world-the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran.

"The Quran: With or Against the Bible? "addresses the key themes of the Quran and answers commonly asked questions in search of finding common ground: Who wrote the Quran?
Who is the "God" of the Quran?
What is the Quranic view of the prophets, especially Moses and Jesus?
What does the Quran teach about interfaith relations?
Does the Quran promote peace and harmony between Muslims and the People of the Book, or does it promote violence?
How does the Quran compare to the Bible on important themes like worshipping God, the prophets, human rights, moral values, and fighting for justice and human dignity?
Does the Quran render women as second-class citizens?

Dispelling major myths, "The Quran: With or Against the Bible?" systematically analyzes and compares the similarities in the paths of guidance the two scriptures have bestowed upon mankind.

This book, which is written by a well known scholar, a graduate of the Sorbonne, who switched from one Muslim school of thought to another, attempts to prove that the Muslims who truly follow the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet of Islam are actually none other than those referred to as the Shias. It details how these Shias (or Shiites) learn this Sunnah from the closest people to the Prophet of Islam: his immediate family members. It traces the history of the Muslims of the first Islamic century and how they split into two camps, thus setting the foundations for both of these major sects. It also deals with the persecution to which the immediate family members of the Prophet of Islam were subjected and the politicians who played a major role in widening the gap between the followers of this sect and those of that. As for its style, the author restricts himself to quoting major authentic Sunni works to prove his point, relying on an in-depth study of the Islamic history in general and of that of the first century in particular. Many controversial themes are discussed in this book, including that of the infallibility of the Prophet of Islam and of the Twelve Imams who descended from Ali and Fatima, cousin and daughter of the Prophet respectively. Finally, the book concludes with an Appendix containing an Arabic poem in one thousand lines in praise of Commander of the Faithful Ali composed by an Iraqi poet for the Arabic speaking readers.

This book captures Malaysia's foreign policy over the first fifty years and beyond since the date of the country's formal independence in 1957. The author provides "macro-historical" narratives of foreign policy practices and outcomes over distinct time periods under the tenures of the five prime ministers. One chapter delves into relations with immediate neighbouring states and another chapter analyses the political economy of foreign policy. A postscript deals with the transition of foreign policy beyond the fifth decade. The concluding chapter suggests that Malaysian middlepowermanship has been in the making in foreign policy practice being particularly evident since the Mahathir years. Employing a critical-constructivist approach throughout the study, the author posits that foreign policy should be appreciated as outcomes of socio-political-economic processes embedded within a Malaysian political culture. In terms of broad policy orientations, Malaysian foreign policy over five decades has navigated over the terrains of neutralism, regionalism, globalization and Islamism. However, the critical engagement of civil society in foreign policy construction remains a formidable challenge.

This Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion contributes cases of encounters, diversities and distances to an emerging Jewish-Muslim Studies field. The scholarly essays address both discourses about and lived experiences of minorities in contemporary French, German and UK cities. The authors explore how particular modes of governance and secularism shape individual and collective identities while new technologies re-make interfaith encounters. This volume shows that Middle Eastern and North African pasts and presents weigh on European realities, examines how the pull of Jewish intellectual history is felt by a new generation of Muslim scholars and activists, and uncovers how Orthodox communities negotiate living side by side.

The first accessible and broad-ranging sourcebook of key Sufi writings, Essential Sufism draws together more than 300 stories, fables, aphorisms, short writings, and poems that reveal the heart of Islamic mysticism. Each selection has been chosen for the beauty and emotional impact that have made the work of Sufi writers such as Rumi so popular. The poets and writers chosen here – including Ibn Arabi, Al-Ghazzali, Hafiz, Attar, Koranic writers, and, of course, Rumi – will fascinate newcomers to Sufism, delight old hands, and provide a matchless overview of a mystical tradition that has touched a dozen cultures and endured for more than 1,500 years.

This new volume of essays marks eighty years since the death of Marmaduke Pickthall. His various roles as translator of the Qur'an, traveller to the Near East, political journalist writing on behalf of Muslim Turkey, and creator of the Muslim novel are discussed. In later life Pickthall became a prominent member of the British Muslim community in London and Woking, co-worker with Muslims in the Indian subcontinent, supporter of the Khilafat movement, and editor of the journal Islamic Culture under the patronage of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Marmaduke Pickthall: Islam and the Modern World makes an important contribution to the field of Muslims in Europe in the first half of the twentieth century. Contributors are: Humayun Ansari, Adnan Ashraf, James Canton, Peter Clark, Ron Geaves, A.R. Kidwai, Faruk Kokoglu, Andrew C. Long, Geoffrey P. Nash, M. A. Sherif and Mohammad Siddique Seddon.

The Third Edition of Brill's Encyclopaedia of Islam is an entirely new work, with new articles reflecting the great diversity of current scholarship. It appears in four substantial segments each year, both online and in print. The new scope includes comprehensive coverage of Islam in the twentieth century and of Muslim minorities all over the world.

The author, Dr. Nader Pourhassan, has researched the Koran and the Bible in depth for the last twenty years. God's Scripture is the result of his personal disillusionment with Islam as it is manifested in the modern world. The message of the Koran is resoundingly simple. We should believe in God, which would encourage us to love our neighbor. If we do, we will go to Heaven: "Those who do good to men or women and have faith (in God), we will give them life, a pure life, and their reward will be greater than their actions." This message, which is stated clearly over sixty times in the Koran, has been perverted by those who seek to promote themselves as spiritual leaders, with appalling results, most shockingly the attacks on America on September 11, 2001. His disillusionment grew as he learned about the disparity between the holy book and Islam as it is practiced today. Now, more than ever, there is an urgent need for Muslims and non Muslims alike to understand the truth about Islam, and to return to the original message of the Prophet Muhammad, and that of Jesus, that humankind should strive to be good, to love God and one another.