Demonstrating the vibrancy of an Early Modern Muslim society through a study of the natural sciences in seventeenth-century Morocco, Revealed Sciences examines how the natural sciences flourished during this period, without developing in a similar way to the natural sciences in Europe. Offering an innovative analysis of the relationship between religious thought and the natural sciences, Justin K. Stearns shows how nineteenth and twentieth-century European and Middle Eastern scholars jointly developed a narrative of the decline of post-formative Islamic thought, including the fate of the natural sciences in the Muslim world. Challenging these depictions of the natural sciences in the Muslim world, Stearns uses numerous close readings of works in the natural sciences to a detailed overview of the place of the natural sciences in scholarly and educational landscapes of the Early Modern Magreb, and considers non-teleological possibilities for understanding a persistent engagement with the natural sciences in Early Modern Morocco.

In Islam, philanthropy is a spectrum of activity, and these activities differ in their purpose and in the principles on which they operate. To fully understand philanthropy, it is vital to examine not only its purpose but its motive and outcomes. This book identifies three types of philanthropy within this spectrum: Philanthropy as relief (zakat), which seeks to alleviate human suffering; philanthropy as an improvement (waqf), which seeks to maximize individual human potential and is energized by a principle that seeks to progress individuals and their society; and philanthropy as reform (sadaqah), which seeks to solve social problems. Philanthropy as civic engagement seeks to build better community structures and services and is directed by civic responsibility. This book explores philanthropy in Islam that covers the three primary spectra of activity: zakat, waqf, and sadaqah. Combining contributions from the Conference on Philanthropy for Humanitarian Aid under the joint organization of Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University and the International Research Centre of Islamic Economics and Finance, International Islamic University College in collaboration with the Islamic Research and Training Institute, this book will be of interest to students, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in the areas of Islamic finance and Islamic economics.

A trial lawyer by trade, a Christian by heart - author Mark Lanier has trained in biblical languages and devoted his life to studying and living the Bible. Living daily with the demands of his career and the desire for a godly life, Lanier recognizes the importance and challenge of finding daily time to spend in God's Word. His study of the first five books of the Bible - the Torah, the Law - has brought Life to his life. In Torah for Living, Lanier shares a year's worth of devotionals - one for each day of the year. In each devotional, Lanier reflects on the biblical text, relates the text to the struggles facing faithful readers of the Bible, and concludes with a prayer for the day.