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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian religions > Islam
Intricately weaving Quranic verse, psychology, and the hip-hop
soundtrack of their childhood, Sanah's poems reach for divinity in the
body; an archive that refuses erasure.
These poems traverse unruly emotional and physical landscapes,
Whiteness, islamophobia, homophobia, intergenerational suffering, and
the politics of therapeutic processes. In these pages, belief and
unbelief, goodness and badness, the material and spiritual are
intertwined, reclaiming queer love and desire as holy.
How are we incarcerated by others' gazes? Who gets to be good in a
society built upon hierarchy? How might we embrace each other's
madnesses? Sanah Ahsan asks questions that travel to the heart of our
humanness, bending the lines between psychologist and client to show us
the sacred nature of our wounds. These poems kneel to the messiness of
being alive, building altars to complication and presence.
Refusing binaries of gender or religious doctrine, I cannot be good
until you say it finds what is to be revered in the grey spaces of
morality, advancing imagination and self-compassion as sites of
communion.
This debut collection is a call to prayer, fearlessly complicating what
is good, and what is god.
Sufis and Salafis in the Contemporary Age explores the dynamics at
play between what are usually understood as two very different
forms of Islam, namely Sufism and Salafism. Sufism is commonly
understood as the peaceful and mystical dimension of Islam whereas
Salafism is perceived as strictly pietistic and moralist, and for
some it conjures up images of violent manifestations of Islam. Of
course these generalisations require more nuanced investigation,
and this book provides a number of case studies from around the
Islamic world to unpack the intricate relationship between the two.
The diversity of the case studies that focus on Islamic groups in
India, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey and South East Europe reflect
the multiplicity of relationships that exist between the Salafis
and Sufis. The specific case studies are framed by an introduction
that provides essential historical background and definitions of
the terms, and also by general studies of the Sufi-Salafi
relationship which enable the reader to focus on the large picture.
This will be the first book to investigate the relationship between
Sufism and Salafism in such a wide fashion, and includes chapters
on "traditional" Sufis, as well as from those who consider that
Sufism and Salafism are not necessarily contradictory.
Responsible Management in Theory and Practice in Muslim Societies
delineates principles of responsible management from an Islamic
perspective, exploring the concept of responsibility in Islamic
religious texts, and how the understanding of responsibility
evolved in Islamic jurisprudence. He explains aspects of individual
and group responsibility in Islam and the dissonance between
theoretical discourse and practical application. Yusuf M. Sidani
focuses on the factors that have both facilitated and hampered the
application of responsible management principles in practice in
this unique context. Themes explored across the book include
Islamic texts and responsible leadership, responsibility in Islamic
jurisprudence, individual and group responsibilities, and bridging
the gap divide between theory and practice in Muslim societies.
Sidani also poses proactive questions, including 'Who is a
responsible manager?' and 'what does it take to reaffirm both
individual and collective responsibilities', and 'whether things
can be put back on track again in Muslim societies, and how?'
Nazar, literally 'vision', is a unique Arabic-Islamic term/concept
that offers an analytical framework for exploring the ways in which
Islamic visual culture and aesthetic sensibility have been shaped
by common conceptual tools and moral parameters. It intertwines the
act of 'seeing' with the act of 'reflecting', thereby bringing the
visual and cognitive functions into a complex relationship. Within
the folds of this multifaceted relationship lies an entangled web
of religious ideas, moral values, aesthetic preferences, scientific
precepts, and socio-cultural understandings that underlie the
intricacy of one's personal belief. Peering through the lens of
nazar, the studies presented in this volume unravel aspects of
these entanglements to provide new understandings of how vision,
belief, and perception shape the rich Islamic visual culture.
Contributors: Samer Akkach, James Bennett, Sushma Griffin, Stephen
Hirtenstein, Virginia Hooker, Sakina Nomanbhoy, Shaha Parpia, Ellen
Philpott-Teo, Wendy M.K. Shaw.
Fatima, daughter of the Prophet of Islam, did not enjoy this life
for long and passed away only few days after the demise of her
father. She was not sick; rather, grief and sorrow snatched his
soul away. This book sheds light on certain historic circumstances
as well as on the individuals who were bitter enemies of her
husband, Ali ibn Abu Talib, and who were jealous of his merits and
accomplishments. The author wrote this book initially in response
to another written by someone who cast doubts about certain very
serious and shameful facts which the author of this book details.
He cites numerous references (more than three hundred and fifty)
written by historians and biographers from both branches of the
Islamic faith and throughout the Islamic history. One who reads
this book with an open mind will conclude that Fatima died
prematurely, and that, ironically, those who were responsible for
her early death have since the very first Islamic century been
glorified by the vast majority of the Muslims, that even the
whereabouts of her grave remain unknown, something which she
herself desired and planned. Who were those people? Why did they
disrespect the "Head of the Women of the World," the mother of the
two masters of the youths of Paradise and wife of the Prophet's
right hand, the people who even confiscated her inheritance from
her revered father? This book answers all these questions and many
more.
Faith and the State offers a comprehensive historical development
of Islamic philanthropy--zakat (almsgiving), sedekah (donation) and
waqf (religious endowment)-- from the time of the Islamic monarchs,
through the period of Dutch colonialism and up to contemporary
Indonesia. It shows a rivalry between faith and the state: between
efforts to involve the state in managing philanthropic activities
and efforts to keep them under control of Muslim civil society.
Philanthropy is an indication of the strength of civil society.
When the state was weak, philanthropy developed powerfully and was
used to challenge the state. When the state was strong, Muslim
civil society tended to weaken but still found ways to use
philanthropic practices in the public sphere to promote social
change.
Over the past three decades, scholars, government analysts and
terrorism experts have examined the relationship between Islam and
politics. But specialists have tended to limit their analysis to a
specific country or focus. Few works have provided a geographically
comprehensive, in-depth analysis. Since 9/11, another wave of
literature on political Islam and global terrorism has appeared,
much of it superficial and sensationalist. This situation
underscores the need for a comprehensive, analytical, and in-depth
examination of Islam and politics in the post-9/11 era and in an
increasingly globalizing world. The Oxford Handbook of Islam and
Politics, with contributions from prominent scholars and
specialists, provides a comprehensive analysis of what we know and
where we are in the study of political Islam. It enables scholars,
students, and policymakers to understand the interaction of Islam
and politics and the multiple and diverse roles of Islamic
movements, as well as issues of authoritarianism and
democratization, religious extremism and terrorism regionally and
globally.
This title offers an insight into key contemporary global issues
relating to the lives and experiences of young Muslims. Many Muslim
societies, regardless of location, are displaying a 'youth bulge',
where more than half their populations are under the age of 25. An
increasingly globalized western culture is rapidly eroding
'traditional' ideas about society, from the family to the state. At
the same time, there is a view that rampant materialism is creating
a culture of spiritual emptiness in which demoralization and
pessimism easily find root. For young Muslims these challenges may
be compounded by a growing sense of alienation as they face
competing ideologies and divergent lifestyles. Muslim youth are
often idealized as the 'future of Islam' or stigmatized as
rebelling against their parental values and suffering 'identity
crises'. These experiences can produce both positive and negative
reactions, from intellectual engagement and increasing spiritual
maturity to emotional rejectionism, narrow identity politics and
violent extremism. This book addresses many of the central issues
currently facing young Muslims in both localized and globalized
contexts through engaging with the work of academics, youth work
practitioners and those working in non-governmental organizations
and civic institutions.
In Islam Is a Foreign Country, Zareena Grewal explores some of the
most pressing debates about and among American Muslims: what does
it mean to be Muslim and American? Who has the authority to speak
for Islam and to lead the stunningly diverse population of American
Muslims? Do their ties to the larger Muslim world undermine their
efforts to make Islam an American religion? Offering rich insights
into these questions and more, Grewal follows the journeys of
American Muslim youth who travel in global, underground Islamic
networks. Devoutly religious and often politically disaffected,
these young men and women are in search of a home for themselves
and their tradition. Through their stories, Grewal captures the
multiple directions of the global flows of people, practices, and
ideas that connect U.S. mosques to the Muslim world. By examining
the tension between American Muslims' ambivalence toward the
American mainstream and their desire to enter it, Grewal puts
contemporary debates about Islam in the context of a long history
of American racial and religious exclusions. Probing the competing
obligations of American Muslims to the nation and to the umma (the
global community of Muslim believers), Islam is a Foreign Country
investigates the meaning of American citizenship and the place of
Islam in a global age. Zareena Grewal is Assistant Professor of
American Studies and Religious Studies at Yale University and
Director for the Center for the Study of American Muslims at the
Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.
From a renowned historian who writes with "maximum vividness"
("The New Yorker") comes the most authoritative, readable
single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the holy land
Nine hundred years ago, a vast Christian army, summoned to holy
war by the Pope, rampaged through the Muslim world of the eastern
Mediterranean, seizing possession of Jerusalem, a city revered by
both faiths. Over the two hundred years that followed, Islam and
Christianity fought for dominion of the Holy Land, clashing in a
succession of chillingly brutal wars: the Crusades. Here for the
first time is the story of that epic struggle told from the
perspective of both Christians and Muslims. A vivid and fast-paced
narrative history, it exposes the full horror, passion, and
barbaric grandeur of the Crusading era, revealing how these holy
wars reshaped the medieval world and why they continue to influence
events today.
This volume is a collection of essays on transregional aspects of
Malay-Indonesian Islam and Islamic Studies, based on Peter G.
Riddell's broad interest and expertise. Particular attention is
paid to rare manuscripts, unique inscriptions, Qur'an commentaries
and translations, textbooks, and personal and public archives. This
book invites readers to reconstruct the ways in which
Malay-Indonesian Islam and Islamic studies have been structured.
Contributors are Khairudin Aljunied, Majid Daneshgar, R. Michael
Feener, Annabel Teh Gallop, Mulaika Hijjas, Andrew Peacock, Johanna
Pink, Gregorius Dwi Kuswanta, Michael Laffan, Han Hsien Liew,
Julian Millie, Ervan Nurtawab, Masykur Syafruddin, Edwin P.
Wieringa and Farouk Yahya.
This book offers a welcome solution to the growing need for a
common language in interfaith dialogue; particularly between the
three Abrahamic faiths in our modern pluralistic society. The book
suggests that the names given to God in the Hebrew Bible, the New
Testament and the Quran, could be the very foundations and building
blocks for a common language between the Jewish, Christian and
Islamic faiths. On both a formal interfaith level, as well as
between everyday followers of each doctrine, this book facilitates
a more fruitful and universal understanding and respect of each
sacred text; exploring both the commonalities and differences
between the each theology and their individual receptions. In a
practical application of the methodologies of comparative theology,
Maire Byrne shows that the titles, names and epithets given to God
in the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam contribute
towards similar images of God in each case, and elucidates the
importance of this for providing a viable starting point for
interfaith dialogue.
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