Muslim Institutions of Higher Education in Postcolonial Africa examines the colonial discriminatory practices against Muslim education through control and dismissal and discusses the education reform movement of the post-colonial experience.

Islam prides itself on being "the religion of facility". Muslim sources are unanimous in assigning to Judaism the role of counterweight in this regard, pronouncing it a system of "burdens and shackles" by which the Jews "oppressed their souls". This neat polarity both fueled, and was the product of, a fascinating reciprocal process: at the same time that shari'a was being created in the negative image of halakha, halakha was being retroactively re-imagined by Muslim jurists and exegetes as the antipode of shari'a . Although scholarly studies of the intertexture of Islam and Judaism abound, few have touched upon the Muslim tradition's perception and utilization of Jewish law, and none has done so in depth. This book aims to fill that lacuna and further our understanding of the age-old embrace and grapple between the two faiths.

The book analyzes attitudes to people with various disabilities based on Muslim juristsa (TM) works (fiqh) in the Middle Ages and the modern era.

In the Islamic legal literature people with disabilities are mentioned sporadically, and often within broad topics such as religious duties, jihad, marriage, etc., but seldom as a subject by its own right. Very little has been written so far on people with disabilities in a general Islamic context, much less in reference to Islamic law. This is the innovation of the book.

The main contribution of Disabilities in Islamic Law is that it focuses on people with disabilities and depicts the place and status that Islamic law has assigned to them, as well as how the law envisions their participation in religious, social, and communal life.

All in all, the laws concerning people with disabilities demonstrate a very advanced social outlook, to judge from the considerations and arguments of the Muslim jurists.

Scholars of Islamic law, medicine and ethics, Islamic studies, sociology, social work, and law, and anyone interested in comparative research of people with disabilities in various cultures and religions, will find an abundance of helpful information in the book.

We can classify the whole of mankind into two main groups: one group would include those people who sincerely think about others in the same way as they think about themselves; the other group would include those people who place importance only on their own status, and are always striving to serve their own selfish ends.

This book examines, in greater depth than the existing literature, the history of Islamic economic thought. It seeks to introduce Islamic views to debates surrounding critical economic concepts, such as scarcity, wealth, poverty, charity, usury, self-interest, rationality, and markets. It does so through a comparative analysis with the views of Judaic, Christian, and secular economic thought. "Prophecy" is meant to signify the theoretical dimension of religion, while "piety" represents its practical element; neither part is feasible without the other. Together, prophecy and piety inform the Islamic view of economic concepts and phenomena. This view seeks to adjust our approach to profits, both in this world and the next, and seeks to reexamine what is truly profitable and worthy of sacrifice.

Acclaimed worldwide as the definitive biography of the Prophet Muhammad in the English language, Martin Lings' "Muhammad: His Life Based to the Earliest Sources" is unlike any other. Based on Arabic sources of the eighth and ninth centuries, of which some important passages are translated here for the first time, "Muhammad: His Life Based to the Earliest Sources" owes the freshness and directness of its approach to the words of men and women who heard Muhammad speak and witnessed the events of his life.---Martin Lings' gift for narrative, and his adoption of a style which is extremely readable, allows both the simplicity and grandeur of the story to shine through. The result is a book which will be read with equal enjoyment by those already familiar with Muhammad's life and those coming to it for the first time. "Muhammad: His Life Based to the Earliest Sources" was selected as the best biography of the Prophet in English at the National Seerat Conference in Islamabad in 1983.

A unique collection of studies, the present volume sheds new light on central themes of Ibn Taymiyya's (661/1263-728/1328) and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's (691/1292-751/1350) thought and the relevance of their ideas to diverse Muslim societies. Investigating their positions in Islamic theology, philosophy and law, the contributions discuss a wide range of subjects, e.g. law and order; the divine compulsion of human beings; the eternity of eschatological punishment; the treatment of Sufi terminology; and the proper Islamic attitude towards Christianity. Notably, a section of the book is dedicated to analyzing Ibn Taymiyya's struggle for and against reason as well as his image as a philosopher in contemporary Islamic thought. Several articles present the influential legacy of both thinkers in shaping an Islamic discourse facing the challenges of modernity. This volume will be especially useful for students and scholars of Islamic studies, philosophy, sociology, theology, and history of ideas.

• Muslim expansion into the western Mediterranean in the Early Middle Ages had a great influence on Italy. Without minimizing the extent of the destruction that occurred in those centuries, this book presents the annotated sources translated into English for postgraduate and upper level undergraduate students about the way Muslims and Christians perceived each other. • Providing students with primary sources about the circulation of news about them, and their knowledge of their opponents, this book clarifies the relationship between Muslims and Christians in early medieval Italy. • This book allows students provides students with a fuller picture, not currently offered on the market. It enables them to see the dynamic between Muslims and Christians in early medieval Italy in a time of invasion and peace to better understand the relationship between the two religions.

First published in 1991, this title explores the myths and misperceptions that have underpinned Muslim-Christian relations throughout history, and which endure to the current day. William Montgomery Watt describes how the myths originated and developed, and argues that both Muslims and Christians need to have a more accurate knowledge and positive appreciation of the other religion. Chapters discuss the Qur'anic perception of Christianity, attitudes to Greek philosophy and the relationship between Islam and Christianity in medieval Europe. Written by one of the leading authorities on Islam in the West, Muslim-Christian Encounters remains a relevant and vivid study and will be of particular value to students of Islam, religious history and sociology.

The widespread conversion to Islam in East Africa during the colonial period is well known, but the reasons have remained obscure. This volume examines Muslim communities in Southeast Tanzania that originated in the early twentieth century and have recently become divided between radical Islamists and defenders of a local orthodoxy.
This volume asks why did Tanzanian converts turn to Islam under a Christian colonial regime? How did they learn how to live as Muslims in the isolation of rural villages, and how did they reconcile their Muslim allegiance with the continuation of local religious practices? How did gender relations change as they became Muslim? How did Tanzanian Muslims move from enthusiastic support for independence from colonial rule in the 1950s, to intense mistrust and sometimes violent opposition towards their independent government by the 1990s?
Making extensive use of first-hand accounts with a combination of government and mission records, this volume examines the intellectual and social forces behind these transitions.

Accession negotiations are underway and Turkey is preparing to become a full member of the EU. Turkey and the EU makes a scholarly contribution in the debate over Turkey's participation in the European integration process and the EU's future enlargement. It explores the recent history of ups and downs in EU-Turkish relations and looks at the prospects and challenges that Turkey's membership presents to both the EU and Turkey. The central question is how the internal economic and sociopolitical dynamics, and external orientations of Turkey, will meet the challenges of EU membership. Turkey's regional role and relations with the US are also examined.

G.I. Gurdjieff (d. 1949) remains an important, if controversial, figure in early 20th-century Western Esoteric thought. Born in the culturally diverse region of the Caucasus, Gurdjieff traveled in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere in search of practical spiritual knowledge. Though oftentimes allusive, references to Sufi teachings and characters take a prominent position in Gurdjieff's work and writings. Since his death, a discourse on Gurdjieff and Sufism has developed through the contributions as well as critiques of his students and interlocutors. J.G. Bennett began an experimental Fourth Way' school in England in the 1970s which included the introduction of Sufi practices and teachings. In America this discourse has further expanded through the collaboration and engagement of contemporary Sufi teachers. This work does not simply demonstrate the influence of Gurdjieff and his ideas, but approaches the specific discourse on and about Gurdjieff and Sufism in the context of contemporary religious and spiritual teachings, particularly in the United States, and highlights some of the adaptive, boundary-crossing, and hybrid features that have led to the continuing influence of Sufism.

Is belief in God justified? This question has been examined numerous times, but never from the angle taken by this book: that of the 'reflective Muslim'. The reflective Muslim describes a person of Islamic faith who acknowledges that people of other religious and non-religious persuasions are as concerned with seeking truth and avoiding error as they themselves are.
This work begins with the assumption of religious ambiguity - i.e., that the total relevant evidence neither shows belief in God to be true nor false. Accordingly, the central question of this work is whether a person can be entitled to hold and act on their belief in God when there is religious ambiguity?
The author contends that belief in God can be justified under the condition of religious ambiguity, and he defends this view by employing an account of faith inspired by the pioneering work of the American intellectual, William James.

For many years Malise Ruthven has been at the forefront of discerning commentary on the Islamic world and its relations with the predominantly secularised and Christian societies of the West. Well known for his bold interventions on such issues as the Rushdie affair and publication of "The Satanic Verses"; the many unresolved questions relating to the Lockerbie bombing; and the globe-changing terrorist attack of 9/11, Ruthven's perceptive writings, particularly those that have appeared in the "New York Review of Books", reliably re-frame difficult issues and problems so that his readers are prompted to look at the challenges afresh. Ruthven is here at his most compelling: he offers astute and topical insights across the whole spectrum of Middle East and Islamic studies. Whether questioning the involvement of Libyan agents in the downing of Pan Am Flight 103; exploring the contested place of women in Islam; or discussing the disputed term 'Islamofascism' (his own), the author's probing, searchlight intelligence aims always to get at the truth of things, regardless of attendant controversy. Representing the 'best of Ruthven', these lucid essays will be widely appreciated by students, specialists and general readers. They transform our understandings of contemporary society.

"The Fatigue of the Shari'a" places on a continuum two kinds of debates: debates in the Islamic tradition about the end of access to divine guidance and debates in modern scholarship in Islamic legal studies about the end of the Shari'a. The resulting continuum covers what access to divine guidance means and how it relates to Shari'a, whether the end of this access is possible, and what should be done in this case. The study is based on textual analysis of medieval legal and theological texts as well as analysis of recent arguments about the death of the Shari'a.

The eruption of violent sectarianism in Iraq following the US invasion in 2003 brought the question of Sunni-Shi'i relations in the country to the forefront of the international public agenda. It also strengthened the popular belief that contemporary Shi'ism is inherently sectarian. Yet several decades earlier, Ayatollah Khomeini had declared an Islamic revolution and downplayed its Shi'i origins and links. So what is the true orientation of Shi'i Islam in the contemporary era and how did modernisation alter its sectarian affiliation? This book contends that early Shi'i reformist thought set the foundations for a more universal-oriented Shi'ism. Prominent reformists in the first half of the twentieth century from the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf in Iraq and from the Shi'i centres in Southern Lebanon played a significant role in the renewal of Shi'ism and laid the groundwork for its reinvention in the modern era. Exploring this shift towards a more ecumenical perception of Islam, Elisheva Machlis here provides a fresh perspective on inter-sectarian relations in contemporary Iraq and illuminates the intellectual roots of the Islamic revolution, by examining networks of Shi'i scholars such as Mu?ammad ?usayn K?shif al-Ghi??' and Mu?sin al-Am?n al-'?mil?, operating within a more globalised Muslim world. Drawing on the experiences of early Shi'i reformists, such as 'Abd al-?usayn Sharaf al-D?n al-M?saw? in Lebanon and Mu?ammad Jaw?d Mughniyya in Damascus, this book gives new insight on the future of inter-Muslim relations at a time of growing inter-sectarian contention, from the Iran-Iraq war to the post-2003 Sunni-Shi'i conflict in Iraq and al-Qa'ida's anti-Shi'i message, taking into account questions of theology, historiography, jurisprudence and politics which all played a vital role in the transition to the contemporary era. The author here analyses the broad scholarly connections between Iran, Iraq and Lebanon in the twentieth century, while debating paramount questions of leadership, identity and group membership in the development of modern Shi'ism. Examining the relationship between intellectual thought and socio-political development in the region, this book provides a new perspective concerning the future of an increasingly globalised Muslim world and will prove essential reading for students and specialists.

'Bold, addictive and brilliant.' Stylist, best fiction 2021 A Times Bestseller A Times & Sunday Times Best Crime Books of 2021 A Waterstones Best Crime & Thriller of 2021 Be twice as good as men and four times as good as white men. Jia Khan has always lived like this. Successful London lawyer Jia Khan is a long way from the Northern streets she knew as a child, where her father, Akbar Khan, led the Pakistani community and ran the local organised crime syndicate. Often his Jirga rule - the old way - was violent and bloody, but it was always justice of a kind. Now, with her father murdered, Jia must return to take his place. Justice needs to be restored, and Jia is about to discover that justice always comes at a cost. 'A fascinating glimpse into a world rarely portrayed in fiction.' Guardian, best crime and thrillers 'A once-in-a-generation crime thriller.' A.A.Dhand, author of Streets of Darkness

To be a Muslim is to be a part of a culture with distinct beliefs, ideas, institutional forms and prescriptive roles. Yet there is a complex inter-relationship between a system of knowledge and belief, such as Islam, and the immediate political, economic and social context of its adherents. This book aims to improve understanding of Muslim social and political action by examining a broad spectrum of Muslim discourse, both written and spoken, to see how meaning is formed by context. It is a broad comparative study and examines discourses produced in opposition to government as well as those produced, in Iran or Pakistan for example, under an authoritarian Islamic state. Through cogent analyses of socio-historical contexts and textual materials from East Java, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maghreb and Egypt, this book shows how to 'read' a familiar Islamic movement, period of change or textual source in a newer and better light. First published in 1987.