This book goes beyond the media presentation of the impact of Islam in the Middle East to consider the reality that lies behind it. The author considers the West's understanding of of the Islamic revival, the development of Islamic politics and the attempts of some Islamic intellectuals to modernize Islamic society. A feature of much of the recent writing has been a focus on the violent aspects of the Islamic phenomenon. This book presents the opportunity to look beyond these surface issues to the more fundamental and conceptual aspects of the Islamic revival. At the same time, it informs us more realistically about our current world and Islam's role within it.

Series Information:
Routledge International Studies in Money and Banking

Making European Muslims provides an in-depth examination of what it means to be a young Muslim in Europe today, where the assumptions, values and behavior of the family and those of the majority society do not always coincide. Focusing on the religious socialization of Muslim children at home, in semi-private Islamic spaces such as mosques and Quran schools, and in public schools, the original contributions to this volume focus largely on countries in northern Europe, with a special emphasis on the Nordic region, primarily Denmark. Case studies demonstrate the ways that family life, public education, and government policy intersect in the lives of young Muslims and inform their developing religious beliefs and practices. Mark Sedgwick's introduction provides a framework for theorizing Muslimness in the European context, arguing that Muslim children must navigate different and sometimes contradictory expectations and demands on their way to negotiating a European Muslim identity.

This book goes beyond the media presentation of the impact of Islam in the Middle East to consider the reality that lies behind it. The author considers the West's understanding of of the Islamic revival, the development of Islamic politics and the attempts of some Islamic intellectuals to modernize Islamic society. A feature of much of the recent writing has been a focus on the violent aspects of the Islamic phenomenon. This book presents the opportunity to look beyond these surface issues to the more fundamental and conceptual aspects of the Islamic revival. At the same time, it informs us more realistically about our current world and Islam's role within it.

Series Information:
Islamic Studies Series

Challenging Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia is one of the first substantial comparative studies of contemporary Indonesia and Malaysia, homes to the world's largest Muslim population. Following the collapse of New Order rule in Indonesia in 1998, this book provides an in-depth examination of anti-authoritarian forces in contemporary Indonesia and Malaysia, assessing their problems and prospects. The authors discuss the roles played by women, public intellectuals, arts workers, industrial workers as well as environmental and Islamic activists. They explore how different forms of authoritarianism in the two countries affect the prospects of democratization, and examine the impact and legacy of the diverse social and political protests in Indonesia and Malaysia in the late 1990s.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203208005

Islam and Political Legitimacy explores one of the most challenging issues facing the Muslim world: the Islamisation of political power. It presents a comparative analysis of Muslim societies in West, South, Central and South East Asia and highlights the immediacy of the challenge for the political leadership in those societies. Contributors to this volume examine the evolving relationship between Islam and political power in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. Researchers and students of political Islam and the growth of radicalism in the Muslim world will find Islam and Political Legitimacy of special interest. This is a welcome addition to the rich literature on the politics of the contemporary Muslim world.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203503805

There are two main trends distinguishable amongst Muslim reformists - revivalists and modernists. This book charts and analyses the main trends of Muslim reformist political thought in Bukhara. It is the first to utilize original sources preserved in Soviet archives that were previously inaccessible to western scholars. The author has translated numerous original documents from Tajiki and Russian into English. This book thus serves as a useful resource for students of Islam, Central Asia, the former Soviet Union, and of law, politics and philosophy.

This is the only volume dedicated to the Alevis available in English and is based on sustained fieldwork in Turkey. The Alevis now have an increasingly high profile for those interested in the diverse cultures of contemporary Turkey, and in the role of Islam in the modern world. As a heterodox Islamic group, the Alevis have no established doctrine. This book reveals that as the Alevi move from rural to urban sites, they grow increasingly secular, and their religious life becomes more a guiding moral culture than a religious message to be followed literally. But the study shows that there is nothing inherently secular-proof within Islam, and that belief depends upon a range of contexts.

eBook available with sample pages: 020341750X

This book is a comprehensive analysis of the major intellectual positions in the philosophical debate on Islamic law that is occuring in contemporary Iran. In light of the relationship between global modernity and the religion of Islam, the purpose is to analyze to what extent these positions and their understanding of questions of epistemology, methodology and hermeneutics are engendered by the cognitive and ontological structures of modernity. Among the pivotal figures who are considered in this respect are primarily Abdullah Jawadi-Amuli (traditionalism), Muhammad Mujtahid-Shabistari (modernism) and Abd al-Karim Surush (postmodernism), but other individuals who belong to the intellectual elite of Iran are also included.

Islamic Philosophy has unusual origins. Originally a hybrid of Greek philosophy and early Islamic theology, its technical language consisted of a number of words translated from the Greek. This book studies how Islamic philosophers of the ninth century AD, such as al-Kindi, al-Farabi and Ibn Sina, developed an indigenous set of terms and concepts. Their Books of Definition influenced the revision of the Arabic language to incorporate these new fields of knowledge.
Books of Definition in Islamic Philosophy: The Limits of Words uses the work of these philosophers as a basis from which a comparison with their Greek precedents is enabled. The book presents a framework for incorporating an Islamic and historically contextualised philosophy into a continuum of world philosophers. At the core of this framework is Ibn Sina's Kitab al-hudud which the author has translated into English and situates it in its correct geopolitical framework. In establishing a historical and literary context for the writing and circulation of Ibn Sina's definitions, the book breaks new ground in the integration of Islamic philosophy within a general history of philosophies.
This fascinating and comprehensive study will be of interest to scholars and postgraduate students of Islamic Philosophy.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203221370

This important contribution to the literature on development economics analyses the effectiveness of programme aid - i.e. aid that is given in the form of projects. Using real world examples from countries such as Nicaragua, Tanzania, and Vietnam this book deals with one of the core issues in development economics today.

This book, based on extensive original research in the field, analyses the political, social and cultural implications of the rise of Islam in post-Soviet Russia. Examining in particular the situation in Tatarstan and Dagestan, where there are large Muslim populations, the authors chart the long history of Muslim and orthodox Christian co-existence in Russia, discuss recent moves towards greater autonomy and the assertion of ethnic-religious identities which underlie such moves, and consider the actual practice of Islam at the local level, showing the differences between "official" and "unofficial" Islam, how ceremonies and rituals are actually observed (or not), how Islam is transmitted from one generation to the next, the role of Islamic thought, including that of radical sects, and Islamic views of men and women's different roles. Overall, the book demonstrates how far Islam in Russia has been extensively influenced by the Soviet and Russian multi-ethnic context.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203217691

Relating the Muslim understanding of Moses in the Qur'an to the Epic of Gilgamesh, Alexander Romances, Aramaic Targums, Rabbinic Bible exegesis, and folklore from the ancient and medieval Mediterranean, this book shows how Muslim scholars authorize and identify themselves through allusions to the Bible and Jewish tradition. Exegesis of Qur'an 18:60-82 shows how Muslim exegetes engage Biblical theology through interpretation of the ancient Israelites, their prophets, and their Torah. This Muslim use of a scripture shared with Jews and Christians suggests fresh perspectives for the history of religions, Biblical studies, cultural studies, and Jewish-Arabic studies.

Exploring the mainstream American Muslim community up close, this guide briefly traces the history of Islam in the US and Canada, while it offers a fascinating and informative introduction to Islamic values and institutions. It assesses such issues as American Muslims' perception of themselves, their differences from and similarities to Muslims in Islamic countries, and how they have adapted to life and work in the secular societies of the US and Canada. This book also depicts the responses of Muslim media organizations, charities and community support structures in the wake of 9/11.
Packed with data designed to serve researchers and Muslims alike, this unique resource includes useful tables and analyses of population statistics, immigration, and participation in the political process as well as an extensive directory of more than 130 pages that lists both websites and local contact details for the organizations that support today's mainstream US and Canadian Muslim community.

The term 'Swahili' describes the Muslim peoples of the East African coast, speakers of Kiswahili or closely related languages, who have historically filled roles as middlemen and merchants, the cosmopolitan products of a trading economy between Africa and the Indian Ocean world. This collection brings together anthropologists working on the greater Swahili world and the issues it confronts, dealing with societies from southern Somalia, northern Mozambique and the Comoro Islands, to Zanzibar and Mafia. The authors discuss a range of contemporary issues such as the shifting roles of Islam on the mainland coast; consumerism, conservation, memory and belonging in Zanzibar; how a Muslim society deals with HIV/AIDS; social change, development and political strategies in the Comoros; and Swahili women in London. The diversity of these themes reflects the diversity of the Swahili world itself: despite a cohesive cultural identity built upon shared practices, religious beliefs and language, the challenges facing Swahili people are multiple and complex. This book comprises articles originally published in the Journal of Eastern African Studies along with some new chapters.

The prohibition of interest is the feature of Islamic banking which most distinctly sets it apart from conventional banking. To Western eyes, this seems a strange restriction, but Christian countries themselves maintained such a ban for 1,400 years. Islamic Banking asks why Islam has been able to maintain its stand. The book explores the intricacies of Islamic law and the religious and ethical principles underpinning Islamic banking. It then considers the analytical basis of Islamic banking and financing in the light of modern theories of financial intermediation, and identifies the conceptual issues to be overcome. Following case studies of the operations of Islamic banks in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia and Australia, along with Iran, Pakistan and Sudan, the volume concludes that many of the criticisms of their activities seem misplaced. It argues that the factors governing success are the distinctive system of corporate governance and continued product innovation. The book ends by considering four such innovations - Islamic investment banking and project finance, Islamic insurance, Islamic securities and the formation of a pan-Islamic international financial centre. This pathbreaking volume - the first to consider Islamic banking and finance from a global perspective - will be of great interest to scholars of money and banking, international finance and Middle Eastern studies.

One of the greatest dilemmas facing Muslims today is the fact that Muslim culture, which originated many centuries ago, is often seemingly incompatible with the culture of the modern Western world, and the features associated with it - technological progress, consumerism, and new electronic communication, all of which have the potential for a homogenizing effect on any culture. This book explores many key aspects of the globalisation process, discussing how Muslim countries are coping with the encounter with globalisation, as well as considering how the West is responding to Islam.

The two theories of divine love that are examined in this book have their foundations in Greek, Jewish, Christian and Muslim ideas. Al-Ghazâlî (12th century) was influenced mainly by Plato and Ibn Sina's teachings, while al-Dabbâgh (13th century), who accepted some Ghazâlîan notions, developed a theory of divine love that can be traced back to Neoplatonism. Both scholars created complete theories of divine love that include definitions of love, its causes and signs, the ways to love God, God's love for man, and kinds of love. The book will interest students of theology, philosophy and mysticism in general, and students of Islam in particular.

Americans' awareness of Islam and Muslims rose to seemingly unprecedented heights in the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001, but this is not the first time they have dominated American public life. Once before, during the period of the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis of 1979 to 1981, Americans found themselves targeted as a consequence of a militant interpretation of Islam. Daniel Pipes wrote In the Path of God in response to those events, and the heightened interest in Islam they generated. His objective was to present an overview of the connection between in Islam and political power through history in a way that would explain the origins of hostility to Americans and the West. Its relevance to our understanding of contemporary events is self evident.

Muslim antagonism toward the West is deeply rooted in historical experience. In premodern times, the Islamic world enjoyed great success, being on the whole more powerful and wealthier than their neighbors. About two hundred years ago, a crisis developed, as Muslims became aware of the West's overwhelming force and economic might. While they might have found these elements attractive, Muslims found European culture largely alien and distasteful. The resulting resistance to Westernization by Muslims has deep roots, has been more persistent than that of other peoples, and goes far to explain the deep Muslim reluctance to accept modern ways. In short, Muslims saw what the West had and wanted it too, but they rejected the methods necessary to achieve this. This, the Muslim trauma, has only worsened over the Years.

One of the greatest dilemmas facing Muslims today is the fact that Muslim culture, which originated many centuries ago, is often seemingly incompatible with the culture of the modern Western world, and the features associated with it - technological progress, consumerism, and new electronic communication, all of which have the potential for a homogenizing effect on any culture. This book explores many key aspects of the globalisation process, discussing how Muslim countries are coping with the encounter with globalisation, as well as considering how the West is responding to Islam.

This new 4 volume collection will bring together the key literature on Islam and Society. In four broad themes the collection will cover Islam and power; minorities and pluralism; everyday life, ethics and community building; subjectivation, discipline and piety. Fully indexed and including a newly written introduction by the editor, this is an essential reference resource for student and scholar.

Ibn al-Athir, who died in the 13th century, is one of the most important historians of Islam. His major chronicle, the Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh, is one of the greatest achievements of Muslim historiography for the range and comprehensiveness of the sources it assembled and for its narrative, covering the whole sweep of Islamic history up to his own lifetime. This volume of D.S. Richards' translation covers the early years of conquest and the period of the 'great sultanate'. With its copious annotations, the translation will open a direct window into this period of history for non-Arabic readers and will be an invaluable aid and resource for students and scholars.

Series Information:
Culture and Civilization in the Middle East