Since 2011, with the British Government's counter-radicalisation strategy, Prevent, non-violent Islamist groups have been considered a security risk for spreading a divisive ideology that can lead to radicalisation and violence. More recently, the Government has expressed concerns about their impact on social cohesion, entryism, and women's rights. The key protagonists of non-violent Islamist 'extremism' allegedly include groups and individuals associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Jama'at-i-Islami. They have been described as part of the 'global Muslim Brotherhood', but do they constitute a singular phenomenon, a social movement? This book shows that such groups and individuals do indeed comprise a movement in Britain, one dedicated to an Islamic 'revival'. It shows how they are networked organisationally, bonded through ideological and cultural kinship, and united in a conflict of values with the British society and state. Using original interviews with prominent revivalist leaders, as well as primary sources, the book also shows how the movement is not so much 'Islamist' in aspiring for an Islamic state, but concerned with institutionalising an Islamic worldview and moral framework throughout society. The conflict between the Government and the global Muslim Brotherhood is apparent in a number of different fields, including education, governance, law, and counterterrorism. But this does not simply concern the direction of Government policy or the control of state institutions. It most fundamentally concerns the symbolic authority to legitimise a way of seeing, thinking and living. By assessing this multifaceted conflict, the book presents an exhaustive and up-to-date analysis of the political and cultural fault lines between Islamic revivalists and the British authorities. It will be useful for anyone studying Islam in the West, government counter-terrorism and counter-extremism policy, multiculturalism and social cohesion.

Holy war ideas appear among Muslims during the earliest manifestations of the religion. This work locates the origin of Jihad and traces its evolution as an idea with the intellectual history of the concept of Jihad in Islam as well as how it has been misapplied by modern Islamic terrorists and suicide bombers.

This book is a valuable and methodologically consistent learning and teaching academic resource for universities worldwide in this intriguing new discipline.

The Third Edition of Brill s Encyclopaedia of Islam 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. This Part 2009-4 of the Third Edition of Brill s Encyclopaedia of Islam contains 60 new articles, reflecting the great diversity of current scholarship in the fields of Islamic Studies.

Nasir al-Din Tusi, the renowned Shi'i scholar of the 13th century, produced a range of writings in different fields of learning under Ismaili patronage and later under the Mongols. This is a new English translation of his Rawda-yi taslim - the single most important Ismaili text from the Alamut period. Here the Persian and English texts are published together for the first time to produce a work of enormous value to students of Islamic theology and philosophy. The book contains an introduction by Professor Hermann Landolt and philosophical commentary by Professor Christian Jambet, who has produced a French translation of this text.

The Third Choice provides a compelling introduction to Islam on the basis of its primary sources, the Quran and the life of Muhammad. Topics covered include the sharia; interpretation of the Quran; abrogation; women's rights (including female genital mutilation); lawful deception (taqiyya); Muhammad's responses to opposition; Islamic antisemitism; religious freedom; and prospects for reforming Islam. After this critical introduction of Islam, there follows an explanation and critique of Islam's policy for non-Muslims living under Islamic conditions. The doctrine of the three choices (conversion, the sword, or the dhimma pact of surrender to Islam) is explained, including an analysis of the meaning of tribute payments (jizya) made by non-Muslims (dhimmis) to their Muslim conquerors. Durie describes the impact of dhimmitude on the human rights of non-Muslims in Islamic contexts around the world today, in the light of global Islamic resurgence and advancing Islamization, including pressure being exerted through the United Nations for states to conform to sharia restrictions on freedom of speech. The worldview of dhimmitude, Durie argues, offers indispensable keys for understanding current trends in global politics, including the widening impact of sharia revival, deterioration of human rights in Islamic societies, jihad terrorism, recurring patterns of Western appeasement, interfaith dialogue initiatives, and the increasingly fraught relationship between migrant Muslim communities in the West and their host societies.

Education and Muslim Identity During a Time of Tension explores life inside an Islamic Center and school in present-day America. Melanie Brooks' work draws on in-depth discussions with community and school leaders, teachers, parents and students to present thoughtful and contemporary perspectives on many issues central to American-Muslim identities. Particularly poignant are the children's voices, as they discuss their developing identities and how they navigate the choice of being American, Muslim, or both. The book covers topics ranging from establishing the community and the considerations involved, the management of diversity within the community, and approaches to modern opinions on and experiences of gender and extremism in the western world. Based on focus groups, interviews and observations collected over a two-year period, this book serves as a fascinating and informative insight into the culture and experiences of modern American Muslims. This is essential reading for students and researchers interested in education, religion, politics, sociology, and most particularly in contemporary Islamic studies.

This study challenges the conventional image of the tenth-century Sufi mystic Al-Husayn Ibn Mansur al-Hallag (d. 929) as an anti-philosophical mystic. Unlike the predominantly theological or text-historical studies which constitute much of the scholarly literature on Hallag, this study is completely philosophical in nature, placing Hallag within the tradition of Graeco-Arabic philosophy and emphasizing, in a positive light, his continuity with the pagan Neoplatonism of Plotinus and Proclus.

Islamic powers in secular countries have presented a challenge for states around the world, including Indonesia, home to the largest Muslim population as well as the third largest democracy in the world. This book explores the history of the relationships between Islam, state, and society in Indonesia with a focus on local politics in Madura. It identifies and explains factors that have shaped and characterized the development of contemporary Islam and politics in Madura and recognizes and elucidates forms and aspects of the relationships between Islam and politics; between state and society; between conflicts and accommodations; between piety, tradition and violence in that area, and the forms and characters of democratization and decentralization processes in local politics. This book shows how the area's experience in dealing with Islam and politics may illuminate the socio-political trajectory of other developing Muslim countries at present living through comparable democratic transformations. Madura was chosen because it has one of the most complex relationships between Islam and politics during the last years of the New Order and the first years of the post-New Order in Indonesia, and because it is a strong Muslim area with a history of a very strong religious as well as cultural tradition than is commonly understood and is largely ignored in literature on Islam and politics. Based on extensive sets of anthropological fieldwork and historical research, this book makes an important contribution to the analysis of Islam and politics in Indonesia and future socio-political trajectory of other developing Muslim countries experiencing comparable democratic transformations. It will be of interest to academics in the field of Religion and Politics and Southeast Asian Studies, in particular Southeast Asian politics, anthropology and history.

Early Ibad i Theology presents the critical edition of six Arabic theological texts recently discovered in two manuscripts in Mzab in Algeria dating from the middle of the 8th century. The texts were sent by their author, the prominent Kufan Ibad i kalam theologian 'Abd Allah b. Yazid al-Fazari to North Africa where he had a large following in the Ibad i community later known as the Nukkar. They constitute the earliest extant body of Muslim kalam theology and are vital for the study of the initial development of rational theology in Islam. The sophisticated treatment of the divine attributes in these texts indicates that this subject developed considerably earlier in Islamic theology than previously accepted in modern scholarship.

During the second half of the nineteenth century, a group of prominent Muslim theologians began to critically examine classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence and devised a new approach to Islamic theology. This new approach was nothing short of an outright rebellion against Islamic orthodoxy, displaying an astonishing compatibility with nineteenth century Enlightenment-era thought. In the 20th century this modernist movement declined, to be replaced by another cultural episode, characterized by the growing power of Islamic fundamentalism. This volume looks at these two very different approaches to Islam. The editors have selected the most prominent Islamic thinkers of modernist and fundamentalist viewpoints, diverse nationalities, and from both the late decades of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the 20th century. The writers discuss their own views with regard to such issues as philosophical and political perceptions of democracy, the state, the history of Islam, women’s rights, personal lifestyle, education, and the West.

Aysha A. Hidayatullah offers the first comprehensive examination of contemporary feminist Qur'anic interpretation, exploring its dynamic challenges to Islamic tradition and contemporary Muslim views of the Qur'an. She analyzes major feminist readings of the Qur'an beginning in the late twentieth century, synthesizing their common concepts and methods and revealing their vital part in the development of the nascent field of Qur'anic tafsir (exegesis). Hidayatullah contributes her own critical assessment of feminist ''impasses'' in the Qur'anic text and the field's appeals to the principles of equality and justice. She expands these observations into a radical critique of feminist approaches to the Qur'an, arguing that the feminist exegetical endeavor has reached a point of irresolvable contradiction by making claims about the Qur'an that are not fully supported by the text. Hidayatullah outlines major challenges to the authority of feminist interpretations of the Qur'an and interrogates the feminist premises on which they have relied, questioning the viability of current strands of feminist Qur'anic interpretation and proposing a major revision of its exegetical positions. An innovative work of Muslim feminist theology, this volume offers an essential contribution to conversations about feminist tafsir and asking bold questions at the ''edge'' of Qur'anic interpretation.

With 1.4 billion practicing Muslims in the world it is necessary for all to better understand the culture and belief system. In The Restless Wind and Shifting Sands, author and Islamic scholar Harry J. Sweeney explains the intricacies and tenets of Islam. The educational discourse provides insight into the religion practiced by one out of five people worldwide.

The Restless Wind and Shifting Sands explores the Islamic culture through a series of fictionalized private conversations between three friends-Modi, Mani, and Radi-who each represents the moderate, mainstream, and radical factions. Through their daily talks, the friends tackle all phases of Muslim life including arranged marriages, Islamic law, female genital mutilation, predestination, honor killing, Palestine, shariah, and the Qur'an.

The men discuss how each belief drives Islamic culture and relations with non-believers. Filled with a wealth of information, the exchanges between friends seek to impart a better understanding of Islam and the challenges it poses for Western civilization.

The Restless Wind and Shifting Sands communicates that the Islamic religion can contain its fundamentalist elements and work toward a peaceful future.

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."

Long popular in Arabic, as well as Swahili and Malay, this classic text offers a complete guide to Muslim devotions, prayers and practical ethics. There are many books in English which present Sufi doctrine, but few which can be used as practical travel guides along the Path. Originally written in Classical Arabic, the aptly-named Book of Assistance is today in widespread use among Sufi teachers in Arabia, Indonesia and East Africa. The author, Imam al-Haddad (d. 1720), lived at Tarim in the Hadramaut valley between the Yemen and Oman, and is widely held to have been the "spiritual renewer" of the twelfth Islamic century. He spent most of his life in Kenya and Saudi Arabia where he taught Islamic jurisprudence and classical Sufism according to the order (tariqa) of the BaAlawi sayids.

This book examines how the process of nation-building in Egypt helped transform Egypt from an Ottoman province to an Arabic speaking national community. Through the discussion of the life and works of the prominent writer A'isha Taymur, Hatem gives insight into how literature and the changing gender roles of women and men contributed to the definition and development of a sense of community.""

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya on Divine Wisdom and the Problem of Evil is a translation of selections from two of Ibn Qayyim's books Key to the Blissful Abode and Remedy for Those who Question on Matters Concerning Divine Decree, Predestination, Wisdom and Causality. As with all his other writings, Ibn al-Qayyim's foremost goal is to establish the wisdom of God, the primacy of the Qur'an and Sunna, and the congruity between reason and revelation. In the present selections, Ibn al-Qayyim focuses on the application of the wisdom of God to the existence of evil.Ibn al-Qayyim first discusses twenty-six wise purposes behind God creating humanity and settling them on Earth. His perspective is that whatever exists in this world is either purely or preponderantly good, or indirectly leads to a greater good. Ibn Qayyim then explores how the presence of evil allows the manifestation of many of God's Beautiful Names, glorious attributes and compassionate actions. While for humanity, the existence of the evil provides the righteous with opportunities to strive against it; for Paradise can only be reached by 'traversing a bridge of hardships and tribulations'.The discussions of the existence of evil is followed by thirty wise purposes and secrets in God allowing people to sin. Prominent among them are that God loves repentance and loves to manifest His Attributes of forgiveness and mercy. Here, Ibn al-Qayyim also debates at length whether the punishment of Hellfire will be eternal or whether it will come to an end. He favours the the latter position in accordance with the Qur'anic verse 107 of the Chapter Hud and because of God's mercy.

Cosmopolitanism, as an intellectual and political project, has failed. The portrayal of human rights, especially European, as evidence of cosmopolitanism in practice is misguided. Cosmopolitan theorists point to the rise of claims-making to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) among Europe's Muslims to protect their right to religious freedom, mainly concerning the hijab, as evidence of cosmopolitan justice. However, the outcomes of such claims-making show that far from signifying a cosmopolitan moment, European human rights law has failed Europe's Muslims. Human Rights, Islam and the Failure of Cosmopolitanism provides an empirical examination of claims-making and government policy in Western Europe focusing mainly on developments in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands. A consideration of public debates and European law of conduct in the public sphere shows that cosmopolitan optimism has misjudged the magnitude of the impact claims-making among Europe's Muslims. To overcome this cul-de-sac, European Muslims should turn to a new 'politics of rights' to pursue their right to religious expression. This book is a theoretically challenging re-evaluation of cosmopolitan arguments through a rigorous discussion of rights-making claims by Europe's Muslims to the European Court of Human Rights. It combines sociological and legal case analysis which advances understanding of one of the most pressing topical issues of the day.