The Iranian city experienced a major transformation when the Pahlavi Dynasty initiated a project of modernization in the 1920s. The Rite of Urban Passage investigates this process by focusing on the spatial dynamics of Muharram processions, a ritual that commemorates the tragic massacre of Hussein and his companions in 680 CE. In doing so, this volume offers not only an alternative approach to understanding the process of urban transformation, but also a spatial genealogy of Muharram rituals that provides a platform for developing a fresh spatial approach to ritual studies.

This study examines and clarifies the relationship between Islam and modernization in the Muslim world. Through a comparative analysis of Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey, the author analyzes the ideas and conceptions which are inculcated and propagated in Islamic countries as Islamic religious thought, practice, orientation, tradition, and ways-of-life. Saeed explains that the chaotic conditions existing in the Muslim world are largely a result of a crisis of thought, that the grossly distorted and misunderstood Islam, as presently practiced, is a major obstacle to the development of Muslim countries--but that Muslim countries can develop and progress only through Islam.

In a time in which Islamophobia has become common, and many public discussions have focused upon either terrorist activities of Muslims or the implementation of shar'ia in the United States, little attention has been given to actual inter-faith engagement and practice among Christian and Muslim communities. Anglicans and Lutherans have a long history, and a wide variety of experiences from which to draw and reflect in responding to both simplistic interpretations of Islam and vitriolic rhetoric against Muslims. This work seeks to provide vignettes of Muslim-Christian engagement within the Anglican and Lutheran experiences from around the world. This work does not look to reduce Christian-Muslim relationships to a least common denominator of religious pluralism or civic religion. Rather, it provides thoughtful Anglican and Lutheran responses to these relationships from a variety of perspectives and contexts, and lays the groundwork for ongoing thoughtful, faithful, sensitive, and sincere engagement between Christians and Muslims.

This work of research by Taj Hashmi puts the issue of women's position in society in historical as well as Islamic perspectives to relate it to the objective conditions in Bangladesh. In eight chapters, he narrates how Quranic edicts about women have through the ages been misinterpreted by the power elites and the "mullahs" to suppress women. Even NGOs are not immune from exploiting them. Hope, according to the author, lies in the literacy and economic self reliance of the Bangladeshi women.

This volume provides an ethnographic description of Muslim merit-making rhetoric, rituals and rationales in Thailand's Malay far-south. This study is situated in Cabetigo, one of Pattani's oldest and most important Malay communities that has been subjected to a range of Thai and Islamic influences over the last hundred years. The volume describes religious rhetoric related to merit-making being conducted in both Thai and Malay, that the spiritual currency of merit is generated through the performance of locally occurring Malay "adat," and globally normative "amal 'ibadat. "Concerning the rationale for merit-making, merit-makers are motivated by both a desire to ensure their own comfort in the grave and personal vindication at judgment, as well as to transfer merit for those already in the grave, who are known to the merit-maker. While the rhetoric elements of Muslim merit-making reveal Thai influence, its ritual elements confirm the local impact of reformist activism."

What was the name of Noah's son who did not survive the Flood? Why do Pharaoh and Haman build the Tower of Babel? For what reasons does Moses travel to the ends of the Earth? Who is the 'Horned-One' who holds back Gog and Magog until the Day of Judgement? These are some of the questions answered in the oral sources and Quran commentaries on the stories of the prophets as they are understood by Muslims. Designed as an introduction to the Quran with particular emphasis on parallels with Biblical tradition, this book provides a concise but detailed overview of Muslim prophets from Adam to Muhammad. Each of the chapters is organized around a particular prophet, including an English translation of the relevant verses of the Quran and a wide selection of classical, medieval and modern Muslim commentaries on those verses. Quran commentaries include references to Sunni and Shi'i sources from Spain, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. An extensive glossary provides an annotated list of all scholarly transmitters and cited texts with suggestions for further reading.This is an excellent book for undergraduate courses, and students in divinity and seminary programmes. Comparisons between the Quran and Bible, and among Jewish, Christian and Islamic exegesis are highlighted. Oral sources, references adapted from apocryphal and pseudepigraphical works, and inter-religious dialogue are all evident throughout these stories of the prophets. This material shows how the Quran and its interpretation are integral to a fuller and more discerning understanding of the Bible and its place in the history of Western religion.

How does the Qur'an depict the religious 'other'? Historically, this question has provoked extensive debate among Islamic scholars about the identity, nature, and status of the religious 'other.' Today, this debate assumes great importance because of the pervasive experience of religious plurality, which prompts inquiry into convergences and divergences in belief and practice as well as controversy over appropriate forms of interreligious interaction. The persistence of religious violence and oppression give rise to difficult questions about the relationship between the depiction of religious 'others,' and intolerance and oppression. Scholars have traditionally accounted for the coexistence of religious similarity and difference by resorting to models that depict religions as isolated entities or by models that arrange religions in a static, evaluative hierarchy. In response to the limitations of this discourse, Jerusha Tanner Lamptey constructs an alternative conceptual and hermeneutical approach that draws insights from the work of Muslim women interpreters of the Qur'an, feminist theology, and semantic analysis. She employs it to re-evaluate, re-interpret, and re-envision the Qur'anic discourse on religious difference. Through a close and detailed reading of the Qur'anic text, she distinguishes between two forms of religious difference-hierarchical and lateral. She goes on to explore the complex relationality that exists among Qur'anic concepts of hierarchical religious difference and articulates a new, integrated model of religious pluralism.

The book is the history of reform attempts in the Ottoman Empire and the internal and external difficulties in implementing them. Imperialist aggression towards the Empire and bloody janissary revolts hampered the reforms, and although some successes in governance were achieved, there were many failures, and these contributed to the demise of the Empire at the end of the First World War.

The Hojjatiyeh Society is one of the most fascinating religious groups in modern Iran. The society started its way in the 1950s as an anti-Baha'i movement but found itself fighting Khomeini's Velayat-i Faqih and leading an anti-Khomeini and messianic agenda. Despite the Hojjatiyeh's fight against Khomeini, the Hojjatiyeh became, unwillingly and unintentionally, a leading faction in the Islamic Revolution, with its members coming to occupy some of the highest echelon posts in Iranian politics. The Hojjatiyeh was dismissed in 1983 by Khomeini, but it seems it never truly left the political sphere until today, when its traces can still be found on Iranian politics. Even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his mentor the Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi are reported to be Hojjatiyeh members.

After living for more than two decades in the Middle East, pastor, author and college Arabic instructor Mike Kuhn wonders if there can be a fresh vision for the Muslim world--one not rooted in media lies or personal fears but in the values of Christ's kingdom. Is the only option to fight, to eradicate, to judge? Or can the mindset of confrontation give way to one of incarnation? InFresh Vision for the Muslim World, Kuhn challenges readers to love the Muslims down the street and across the world with the love of Christ. Kuhn's vast experience and research show readers that Muslims today have the same hopes and spiritual needs as any of us. With practical suggestions, Kuhn helps readers leave the path of isolation, fear and self-preservation and choose a less-traveled road: a path of self-awareness, empathy, and deep listening. Choosing the latter path is radical. It is difficult. And it is a step toward seeing Jesus Christ receive his rightful place of honor among a people longing to know him.

Exploring and understanding how medieval Christians perceived and constructed the figure of the Prophet Muhammad is of capital relevance in the complex history of Christian-Muslim relations. Medieval authors writing in Latin from the 8th to the 14th centuries elaborated three main images of the Prophet: the pseudo-historical, the legendary, and the eschatological one. This volume focuses on the first image and consists of texts that aim to reveal the (Christian) truth about Islam. They have been taken from critical editions, where available, otherwise they have been critically transcribed from manuscripts and early printed books. They are organized chronologically in 55 entries: each of them provides information on the author and the work, date and place of composition, an introduction to the passage(s) reported, and an updated bibliography listing editions, translations and studies. The volume is also supplied with an introductory essay and an index of notable terms.

There is a cognitive deficit between the holistic vision for human and societal development in Islam and the results achieved by Muslim societies. The authors begin by looking at the Western concept of development, which in recent years has recognized the wider dimensions of human development and the role of institutions. Thus Western thinking has moved toward the Islamic vision and path of development, emphasizing human solidarity, belonging, wellbeing, sharing, concern for others, basic human entitlements, and modest living. The authors illuminate the Quranic vision and the experience of the society organized by the Prophet, which together represent the Islamic paradigm.

Turkish Islamic leader Fethullah Gulen offers a distinctive view of responsibility, which is explored here for the first time. Simon Robinson shows how Gulen's writings, influenced by both orthodox Islam and the Sufi tradition, contribute a dynamic, holistic and interactive view of responsibility which locates personal identity, agency and freedom in plural relationships. The Spirituality of Responsibility also explores the practice of responsibility in Gulen's life and in the Hizmet movement which he founded. Gulen has been at the centre of many controversies, including in his Movement's relationship with the Turkish government. Charting Gulen's response, from the Israeli Gaza blockade through to more recent crises, the book critiques aspects of both this practice and underlying ideas, and argues that responsibility, focused in dialogue and peace-building, is continuing to evolve in the leadership and practice of the movement, providing a challenge to conventional views of governance and responsibility. This book is an important contribution both to the theological and philosophical debate about responsibility but also to the practice of responsibility focused in creative action, debates in business and contemporary society about responsible governance and enterprise.

The book offers an examination of issues, institutions and actors that have become central to Muslim life in the region. Focusing on leadership, authority, law, gender, media, aesthetics, radicalization and cooperation, it offers insights into processes that reshape power structures and the experience of being Muslim. It makes room for perspectives from the region in an academic world shaped by scholarship mostly from Europe and America.

How can Muslims strike a balance between religious commitments and their civic identity as citizens in Western liberal states? Hassan examines the development of a contemporary internal Muslim debate on the production of a new form of Islamic jurisprudence, Fiqh al-Aqalliyyat, or the jurisprudence of Muslim minorities. Three key trends are identified in this debate: the puritan literalist trend, the traditionalist trend and the renewal trend. The literalists argue that Muslim minorities should disassociate themselves from non-Muslims and confine their loyalty to their fellow Muslims. The traditionalists maintain that Muslim minorities can live in non-Muslim lands but via exceptional rules and conditional fatwas. The renewal trend asserts the need for a new category of jurisprudence with a new methodological framework that normalizes and empowers Muslim minority life in non-Muslim society. The study delineates these trends in detail and investigates their background, development and current conditions with special focus on the renewal trend and the discourse of Fiqh al-Aqalliyyat.

As Islamic states struggle to modernize and, in some cases, democratize, the issue of women's rights continues to elicit strong feelings and controversy and there are many paradoxes surrounding the idea of Islamic Feminism. Why are conservative Islamists winning elections? Why are educated and professional Muslim women still choosing to wear the veil? Many of the populist revolutions we are witnessing in the Middle East focus on the legitimate grievances of marginalized groups and populations. This book highlights the voices of cultural elites in the oil-rich State of Kuwait, where we have been witness to a modern suffrage movement since when women were given their political rights in 2005. The result is a new brand of feminism, one born out of a traditional and culturally conservative climate, which gives Islamic Feminists in Kuwait the edge they need to soar to new heights.

This book is a unique collection of alternative Muslim voices, predominantly from Europe, who come from a variety backgrounds--academia, theology, acting, activism--and who make a transformational contribution to the debate of the future of Islam and Muslims in the West. They are a selection, representing the silent majority voices many in the West so desperately want to hear.Contributors are based in a variety of European and American cities, mainly in areas where there are large number of Muslim immigrant populations. Some discuss theological issues, while others talk about their personal struggles of being a Muslim in a non-Muslim setting and hearing conflicting messages about how one is supposed to behave as a "true Muslim." They come from different ethnicities and different social and academic backgrounds.

There is a long and rich history of opinion centred on female prayer leadership in Islam that has occupied the minds of theologians and jurists alike. It includes outright prohibition, dislike, permissibility under certain conditions and, although rarely, unrestricted sanction, or even endorsement. This book discusses debates drawn from scholars of the formative period of Islam who engaged with the issue of female prayer leadership. Simonetta Calderini critically analyses their arguments, puts them into their historical context, and, for the first time, tracks down how they have informed current views on female imama (prayer leadership). In presenting the variety of opinions discussed in the past by Sunni and Shi'i scholars, and some of the Sufis among them, the book uncovers how they are, at present, being used selectively, depending on modern agendas and biases. It also reviews the roles and types of authority of current women imams in diverse contexts spanning from Asia, Africa and Europe to America. The research offers readers the opportunity to gain nuanced answers to the question of female imama today that may lead to informed discussions and to change, if not necessarily in practices then at the very least in attitudes. This ground-breaking book interrogates the cases of women who are reported to have led prayer in the past. It then analyses the voices of current women imams, many of whom engage with those women of the past to validate their own roles in the present and so pave the way for the future.