A frank academic study of the Muslim holy scripture, the Qur'an, comparing it to the early extra-Qur'anic literature of Islam - and highlighting the differences and contrasts between the two. This exhaustive study goes on to analyse the Muslim holy book from a linguistic perspective, exploring some unconventional interpretations based upon the principle that in all Islamic matters, the last and definitive word is that of the Qur'an. It is the author's contention however, that the traditional Muslim view of Islam (based upon the infallibility of Hadith and Muslim scholars of early Islam) does not accurately reflect the reality of the Qur'an. In compiling this study, the author not only offers genuine insights into the sacred texts of Islam, but also pleads with Muslims to recognise some problems in their religious literature, and exercise more self-restraint in the face of objective criticism. To the Western world, the author asks that all Muslims should not be tarred with the same brush. "A few thousand - or more - militants who believe in terrorism do not represent the entire billion-strong Muslim community of today's world anymore than the few thousand slave traders of 18th century colonialism represent the entire Judeo-Christian world. Indeed, Islam has sprung from the same original source of Semitic monotheism of Abraham as have Judaism and Christianity; and, strangely enough, suffers from the very same problems of misrepresentations perpetuated through the centuries since its appearance."

This book is the first work that comprehensively presents the accounts of Lia Eden, a former flower arranger who claims to have received divine messages from the Archangel Gabriel and founded the divine Eden Kingdom in her house in Jakarta. This book places Lia Eden's prophetic trajectory in the context of diverse Indonesian spiritual and religious traditions, by which hundreds of others also claimed to have been commanded by God to lead people and to establish religious groups. This book offers a fresh approach towards the rich Indonesian religious and spiritual traditions with particular attention to the accounts of the emergence of indigenous prophets who founded some popular religions. It presents the history of prophetic tradition which remains alive in Indonesian society from the colonial to reform period. It also explores the ways in which these prophets rebelled against two hegemonies: colonial power in the past and Islamic orthodoxy in the present. The discussion of this book focuses on Lia Eden including her biography, claims to prophethood and divinity, the development of her group Eden Kingdom, her challenge to Islamic orthodoxy under the banner of the MUI (Indonesian Ulama Council), her persecution by radical groups, her experiences in court trials and imprisonment, and public responses to her emergence. The discussion also covers other themes currently drawing public attention in Indonesia, such as pluralism, religious freedom, tolerance, discrimination against minorities, and secularisation.

The Mobilization of Political Islam in Turkey explains why political Islam, which has been part of Turkish politics since the 1970s but on the rise only since the 1990s, has now achieved governing power. Drawing on social movement theory, the book focuses on the dominant form of Islamist activism in Turkey by analyzing the increasing electoral strength of four successive Islamist political parties: the Welfare Party; its successor, the Virtue Party; and the successors of the Virtue Party: the Felicity Party and the Justice and Development Party. This book, which is based on extensive primary and secondary sources as well as in-depth interviews, provides the most comprehensive analysis currently available of the Islamist political mobilization in Turkey.

The war on terror has been raging for many years now, and subsequently there is a growing body of literature examining the development, motivation and effects of this US-led aggression. Virtually absent from these accounts is an examination of the central role that gender, race, class and sexuality play in the war on terror. This lack of attention reflects a continued resistance by analysts to acknowledge and engage identity-related social issues as central elements within global politics. As this conflict spreads and deepens, it is more important than ever to examine how diverse international actors are using the war on terror as an opportunity to reinforce existing gendered, raced, classed and sexualized inter/national relations. This book examines the official war stories being told to the international community about why and against whom the war on terror is being waged. The book will benefit students, scholars and practitioners in the areas of international relations, women's studies and cultural studies.

This book presents a historical overview of the Indonesian film industry, the relationship between censorship and representation, and the rise of Islamic popular culture. It considers scholarship on gender in Indonesian cinema through the lens of power relations. With key themes such as nationalism, women's rights, polygamy, and terrorism which have preoccupied local filmmakers for decades, Indonesia cinema resonates with the socio-political changes and upheavals in Indonesia's modern history and projects images of the nation through the debates on gender and Islam. The text also sheds light on broader debates and questions about contemporary Islam and gender construction in contemporary Indonesia. Offering cutting edge accounts of the production of Islamic cinema, this new book considers gendered dimensions of Islamic media creation which further enrich the representations of the 'religious' and the 'Islamic' in the everyday lives of Muslims in South East Asia.

This book addresses contemporary debates on civil disobedience in Islam within the rich Sunni tradition, especially during the height of the non-violent people revolution in various Arab countries, popularly known as the Arab Spring. It illustrates the Islamic theological and jurisprudential arguments presented by those who either permit or prohibit acts of civil disobedience for the purpose of changing government, political systems or policy. The book analyses the nature of the debate and considers how a theological position on civil disobedience should be formulated in contemporary time, and makes the case for alternatives to violent political action such as jihadism, terrorism and armed rebellion.

The Greek pandocheion, Arabic funduq, and Latin fundicum (fondaco) were ubiquitous in the Mediterranean sphere for nearly two millennia. These institutions were not only hostelries for traders and travelers, but also taverns, markets, warehouses, and sites for commercial taxation and regulation. In this highly original study, Professor Constable traces the complex evolution of this family of institutions from the pandocheion in Late Antiquity, to the appearance of the funduq throughout the Muslim Mediterranean following the rise of Islam. By the twelfth century, with the arrival of European merchants in Islamic markets, the funduq evolved into the fondaco. These merchant colonies facilitated trade and travel between Muslim and Christian regions. Before long, fondacos also appeared in southern European cities. This study of the diffusion of this institutional family demonstrates common economic interests and cross-cultural communications across the medieval Mediterranean world, and provides a striking contribution to our understanding of this region.

This third volume in the new series of supplements to the Journal of Semitic Studies is a survey of the historical and religious problems involved in the interconnection between the Sabians of the Qur'an, the Mandeans of southern Iraq, and the "Sabians" of Harran in northern Mesopotamia. It offers an important examination of traditional assertions by some that the Mandaeans and by others that the Harranians should be recognized as the "Sabians" of the Qur'an, the people granted protected status in Islamic law.

Anyone who wants to understand what militant Muslims think has to understand what they read-and they read Sayyid Qutb, the intellectual father of Islamic fundamentalism. Qutb, an Egyptian literary critic and philosopher who was appalled by American decadence, gained prominence in the Muslim Brotherhood, was imprisoned by Nasser, and hanged in 1966. Through his death and prolific writings he became a martyr for the cause of political Islam. His work is virtually unknown outside the Muslim world, but Qutb is at the heart of the intellectual rationale for jihad and violence in the name of Islam.

The Sayyid Qutb Reader is the first collection of his selected works available to the general public. As such, this valuable introduction to Qutb's core intellectual ideas should be read by anyone who wants to understand one of the most important conflicts of our age.

This is a comprehensive and original study of madness in the medieval Islamic world. Using a wide variety of sources from history, literature, and art, the late Michael Dols explores beliefs about madness in Islamic society and examines attitudes towards individuals afflicted by mental illness or disability. The book demonstrates the links between Christian and Muslim medical beliefs and practices, and traces the influence of certain Christian beliefs, such as miracle-working, on Islamic practices. It breaks new ground in analysing the notions of the romantic fool, the wise fool, and the holy fool in medieval Islam within the framework of perceptions of mental illness, and shows that the madman was not regarded as a pariah, an outcast, or a scapegoat. This is a comprehensive and original work, whose insights into magic, medicine, and religion combine to open up our understanding of medieval Islamic society.

This volume offers up-to-date insights into the state of library and information science (LIS) in the Middle East and North Africa. Covered topics include information literacy, intellectual property, LIS education and research, publishing and more. This timely contribution thus presents vital areas of research on a region that receives relatively little coverage and is currently experiencing rapid and significant changes.

This book provides an engaging and insightful look into the definitions, discourse and experiences of Islamophobia and its steady rise since 9/11. It analyses concepts and binaries that are drawn around discussions on civilization, religious dogma, violence, and race. Is there a link between Islam and violence? Why does the West feel threatened by it? The author critically examines these questions and the birth of hate politics which packages hate in a marketable format and often demonizes victims. It also looks at the role of the media in the West in perpetuating stereotypes and its consequences and the nature of war reportage in Islamic countries while deconstructing the narrative of the clash of civilizations. Topical and lucid, this book is a must-read for students and scholars of sociology, international relations, peace and conflict studies, political science, Islamic studies and for other readers interested in these topics.

This book provides an engaging and insightful look into the definitions, discourse and experiences of Islamophobia and its steady rise since 9/11. It analyses concepts and binaries that are drawn around discussions on civilization, religious dogma, violence, and race. Is there a link between Islam and violence? Why does the West feel threatened by it? The author critically examines these questions and the birth of hate politics which packages hate in a marketable format and often demonizes victims. It also looks at the role of the media in the West in perpetuating stereotypes and its consequences and the nature of war reportage in Islamic countries while deconstructing the narrative of the clash of civilizations. Topical and lucid, this book is a must-read for students and scholars of sociology, international relations, peace and conflict studies, political science, Islamic studies and for other readers interested in these topics.

Sufism is typically thought of as the mystical side of Islam. In recent years, it has been held up as a supposedly peaceful alternative to the spread of forms of Islam associated with violence, an embodiment of democratic ideals of tolerance and pluralism. Are Sufis in fact as otherworldy and apolitical as this stereotype suggests? Modern Sufis and the State brings together a range of scholars, including anthropologists, historians, and religious-studies specialists, to challenge common assumptions that are made about Sufism today. Focusing on India and Pakistan within a broader global context, this book provides locally grounded accounts of how Sufis in South Asia have engaged in politics from the colonial period to the present. Contributors foreground the effects and unintended consequences of efforts to link Sufism with the spread of democracy and consider what roles scholars and governments have played in the making of twenty-first-century Sufism. They critique the belief that Salafism and Sufism are antithetical, offering nuanced analyses of the diversity, multivalence, and local embeddedness of Sufi political engagements and self-representations in Pakistan and India. Essays question the portrayal of Sufi shrines as sites of toleration, peace, and harmony, exploring cases of tension and conflict. A wide-ranging interdisciplinary collection, Modern Sufis and the State is a timely call to think critically about the role of public discourse in shaping perceptions of Sufism.

The Isma'ilis represent the second largest Shii Muslim community after the Twelvers, and are today scattered throughout more than twenty-five countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America. This 2007 second edition of this authoritative book traces the history and doctrinal development of the Isma'ilis from their origins in the formative period of Islam to the present day, a period of more than twelve centuries. All the major phases of Isma'ili history are covered, including the pre-Fatimid period, the Fatimid 'golden age', the Tayyibi-Mustali period and the history of the Nizari Isma'ilis of Persia and Syria before the Mongol invasions. The final part traces the history of the modern Isma'ilis, particularly the socio-economic progress of the Nizari communities. The new edition is a thorough revision and incorporates new material, an expanded bibliography and new illustrations. It will be invaluable reading for students of Islamic and Middle Eastern history.

The Bible and the Qur'an provides an overview of all the figures and groups who are mentioned in both the Bible and the Qur'an. Principal focus centres on the similarities and differences between the presentations of these characters in the two texts, with special emphasis placed on how they appear in the Islamic text. References are also included to how many of the individuals/groups discussed are treated in other Islamic sources. Each figure or group includes: (1) a list of relevant Qur'an passages; (2) a description of how the individual/group is presented in the Islamic Texts; (3) questions and issues to consider; (4) suggestions for further readings. An introductory section provides a basic orientation to the Qur'an and other Islamic sources.

Examining the connection between the concept of authority and the transformation of the Ismaili imamate, Authority without Territory is the first study of the imamate in contemporary times with a particular focus on Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary leader of Shi?a Imami Ismaili Muslims.

The role of Islam in public spaces is one of the most prevalent political questions in Europe. Contestations around the construction of mosques, the ban of Islamic veils and populist rhetoric about "problematic" neighbourhoods indicate Europe's struggles with the place of its second largest religion. This book advocates for an analytical turn in the study of Islam in Europe using space as a central conceptual lens. While spatial approaches are gaining traction in the study of religion, migration, ethnicity, race, and politics, the chapters in this book argue that the critical potential of a spatialised analysis in the field of Islam in Europe remains largely unexplored. This volume presents a collection of nine empirical studies that offer insights into how scholars might exploit the category of space when analysing both current political issues and broader conceptual questions in the social sciences. And more specifically, how does a spatial perspective on Islam contribute to a deeper understanding of the formations of the state, ethnicity, race, secularism, gender, and colonial structures? Rethinking Islam and Space in Europe is a significant new contribution to racial and ethnic studies in Europe, and will be a great resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Politics, Sociology, Social and Political Geography, Anthropology and Religious Studies. The chapters in this book were originally published as a 2021 special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

This book considers the ways in which Muslims view the way they are being viewed, not viewed, or incorrectly viewed, by the West. The book underscores a certain "will-to-visibility" whereby Muslims/ Arabs wish just to be "seen" and to be marked as fellow human beings. The author relates the failure to achieve this visibility to a state of desperation that inextricably and symmetrically ties visibility to violence. When Syrian and Palestinian refugees recently started refusing to be photographed, they clearly ushered the eventual but inevitable collapse of the image and its final futility. The photograph has been completely emptied of its last remaining possibility of signification. The book attempts to engage with questions about the ways in which images are perceived within cross cultural contexts. Why and how do people from different cultural backgrounds view the same image in opposing ways; why do cartoon, photographs, and videos become both the cause and target of bloody political violence - as witnessed recently by the deadly attacks against Charlie Hebdo in France and in the swift military response by the US, Jordan, France, and others to videotaped violence by ISIS.

In Muslim countries, apostasy and blasphemy laws are defended on the grounds that they are based on Islamic Shari'a and intended to protect religion. But blasphemy and apostasy laws can be used both to suppress thought and debate and to harass religious minorities, both inside and outside Islam. This book - comprising contributions from Muslim scholars, experts and activists - critically and constructively engages with the theological, historical and legal reasoning behind the most restrictive state laws around the world to open up new ways of thinking. The book focuses on the struggle within Muslim societies in Iran, Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia where blasphemy and apostasy laws serve powerful groups to silence dissent and stifle critical thought. The first part of the book covers the development of the law in shifting historical circumstances and surveys the interpretations of Qur'anic verses that seem to affirm freedom of religion. The second part examines the present politics and practices of prosecuting alleged blasphemers and/or apostates in Muslim countries. The third part looks to the future and where reforms of the law could be possible. Debates on Islam and freedom of expression are often cast in polarizing terms of rights versus religion, East versus West. This volume avoids such approaches by bringing together a diverse group of Muslim scholars and activists with the knowledge, commitment and courage to contest repressive interpretations of religion and provide a resource for reclaiming the human rights to freedom of expression and belief.

How do modern Muslims adapt their traditions to engage with today's world? Charles Tripp's erudite and incisive book considers one of the most significant challenges faced by Muslims over the last sixty years: the challenge of capitalism. By reference to the works of noted Muslim scholars, the author shows how, faced by this challenge, these intellectuals devised a range of strategies which have enabled Muslims to remain true to their faith, whilst engaging effectively with a world not of their own making. The work is framed around the development of their ideas on Islamic socialism, economics and the rationale for Islamic banking. While some Muslims have resorted to confrontation or insularity to cope with the challenges of modernity, most have aspired to innovation and ingenuity in the search for compromise and interaction with global capitalism in the twenty-first century.

The extent of Islamicity, or what Islam demands, is measured to confirm that self-declared Muslim countries have not adopted foundational Islamic teachings for rule-compliant Muslim communities. Western countries, on the other hand, are demonstrated to have better implemented fundamental Islamic teachings for a thriving society.

The renaissance of Shi'i Islam began in the 9th/15th century when the Ismailis experienced the Anjudan revival and Twelver Shi'i traditions were also renewed. This renaissance gained further strength when the Safavids succeeded in establishing a state in the early decades of the 10th/16th century, making Ithna'ashari Shi'i Islam their official religion. The chapters in this open access book represent the most recent scholarship on the intellectual and spiritual life of the age and discuss what prepared the ground for its appearance as well as its achievements. Although the political and artistic developments of the Safavid era of the 10th-12th/16th-18th centuries have been extensively studied, the complexities of the different groups, movements and strands of thought in the renaissance of Shi'i Islam still remain largely unexplored. The major themes that characterised the Shi'i renaissance are explored, including: popular reactions to messianic movements; the development of legal theories and concepts; the investigation of theological and philosophical problems, above all by the 'School of Isfahan'; Shi'i-Sufi interactions and intra-Shi'i relations; the collection of Shi'i hadith and its application in Shi'i exegesis; and the interplay between political considerations and religious beliefs. The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by The Institute of Ismaili Studies.