Studying Muslim fundamentalisms, this book compares key movements, examining their commonalities, differences, and intricate relations, as well as their achievements and failures. Muslim fundamentalisms have the sympathy of approximately half of the Muslim population in the world. Yet, they are divided among themselves and are in a constant state of controversy. The research dwells on the leading fundamentalist movements, such as the Muslim Brothers, Tablighi-Jama'at, al-Qaeda, and ISIS, and illustrates how differently they think about the West and its culture, democracy, and women's presence in the public sphere. By identifying these trends, and studying them comparatively, the book enables the interested reader to make sense of the plethora of fundamentalist movements, which are otherwise lumped together by the media and are barely discernible for the reader. Whereas most studies of Muslim fundamentalism focus on organizational or militant actions that the movements perform, this study concentrates on their efforts to Islamize society through everyday life in a peaceful manner. Identifying the different strands of Muslim fundamentalisms, the book will be a key resource to a wide range of readers including researchers and students interested in politics, religious, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (d. 855) was the eponymous founder of a school of law, and an influential intellectual who led the Baghdadi masses during the Inquisition. Owing to his status as a jurist, to the religious ideas he propounded and to his model way of life, he is perceived as one of the pivotal figures in the history of Islam and a revered hero to this day. The ninth-century juror Ahmad Ibn Hanbal was a central figure in early Islam whose influence on succeeding generations is widely recognized. Drawing on historical anthropology and micro-history, this study moves beyond conventional biography to integrate the story of Ibn Hanbal's life with the main events during a crucial formative period in Islamic history. The main theme of this study is Ibn Hanbal's prestige, the disciples he drew to his study circle and the political power that evolved from it. It proposes new approaches and novel interpretations that call into question prevalent views about moral outlook, school formation and the dynamics of the Inquisition. In the inquiry into the formation of the Hanbali school of law, it takes into consideration a wide variety of issues such as jurisprudence, theology and social networks.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855) was the eponymous founder of a school of law, and an influential intellectual who led the Baghdadi masses during the Inquisition. Owing to his status as a jurist, to the religious ideas he propounded and to his model way of life, he is perceived as one of the pivotal figures in the history of Islam and a revered hero to this day.
The ninth-century juror Ahmad ibn Hanbal was a central figure in early Islam whose influence on succeeding generations is widely recognized. Drawing on historical anthropology and micro-history, this study moves beyond conventional biography to integrate the story of ibn Hanbal's life with the main events during a crucial formative period in Islamic history. The main theme of this study is ibn Hanbal's prestige, the disciples he drew to his study circle and the political power that evolved from it. It proposes new approaches and novel interpretations that call into question prevalent views about moral outlook, school formation and the dynamics of the Inquisition. In the inquiry into the formation of the Hanbali school of law, it takes into consideration a wide variety of issues such as jurisprudence, theology and social networks.

Studying Muslim fundamentalisms, this book compares key movements, examining their commonalities, differences, and intricate relations, as well as their achievements and failures. Muslim fundamentalisms have the sympathy of approximately half of the Muslim population in the world. Yet, they are divided among themselves and are in a constant state of controversy. The research dwells on the leading fundamentalist movements, such as the Muslim Brothers, Tablighi-Jama'at, al-Qaeda, and ISIS, and illustrates how differently they think about the West and its culture, democracy, and women's presence in the public sphere. By identifying these trends, and studying them comparatively, the book enables the interested reader to make sense of the plethora of fundamentalist movements, which are otherwise lumped together by the media and are barely discernible for the reader. Whereas most studies of Muslim fundamentalism focus on organizational or militant actions that the movements perform, this study concentrates on their efforts to Islamize society through everyday life in a peaceful manner. Identifying the different strands of Muslim fundamentalisms, the book will be a key resource to a wide range of readers including researchers and students interested in politics, religious, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.

Conversion to Islam is a phenomenon of immense significance in human history. At the outset of Islamic rule in the seventh century, Muslims constituted a tiny minority in most areas under their control. But by the beginning of the modern period, they formed the majority in most territories from North Africa to Southeast Asia. Across such diverse lands, peoples, and time periods, conversion was a complex, varied phenomenon. Converts lived in a world of overlapping and competing religious, cultural, social, and familial affiliations, and the effects of turning to Islam played out in every aspect of life. Conversion therefore provides a critical lens for world history, magnifying the constantly evolving array of beliefs, practices, and outlooks that constitute Islam around the globe. This groundbreaking collection of texts, translated from sources in a dozen languages from the seventh to the eighteenth centuries, presents the historical process of conversion to Islam in all its variety and unruly detail, through the eyes of both Muslim and non-Muslim observers.

One Land, Two States is a bold restructuring of an idea that remains at the heart of international diplomacy after generations of conflict. A pioneering effort to preserve the two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, the book imagines new paradigms in policy designed to disrupt the turmoil and disharmony that have gripped the region. This groundbreaking book is authored by a group of leading Palestinian and Israeli scholars and officials who deliver an innovative framework for viewing and providing solutions to the region's conflict. "If the land cannot be shared by geographical division, and if a one-state solution remains unacceptable," they ask, "can the land be shared in some other way?" The contributors seek to unravel these questions by examining a utopian world where seemingly irreconcilable constructs allow Israel to remain in the West Bank and maintain its military dominance and security position while Palestinians are given a right of return. By radically transforming the nature and stakes of the Israel-Palestine conflict and envisioning a Jerusalem that is transformed into a capital of full equality and independence, this book explores themes related to security, resistance, sovereignty, diaspora, globalism, religion, and new forms of political and economic power that are not dependent on land ownership. Written to inform policy makers, scholars, and researchers interested in the Middle East and related areas, this book and its solutions and presentation could be used as a practical model for resolution of conflicts worldwide.

One Land, Two States is a bold restructuring of an idea that remains at the heart of international diplomacy after generations of conflict. A pioneering effort to preserve the two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, the book imagines new paradigms in policy designed to disrupt the turmoil and disharmony that have gripped the region. This groundbreaking book is authored by a group of leading Palestinian and Israeli scholars and officials who deliver an innovative framework for viewing and providing solutions to the region's conflict. "If the land cannot be shared by geographical division, and if a one-state solution remains unacceptable," they ask, "can the land be shared in some other way?" The contributors seek to unravel these questions by examining a utopian world where seemingly irreconcilable constructs allow Israel to remain in the West Bank and maintain its military dominance and security position while Palestinians are given a right of return. By radically transforming the nature and stakes of the Israel-Palestine conflict and envisioning a Jerusalem that is transformed into a capital of full equality and independence, this book explores themes related to security, resistance, sovereignty, diaspora, globalism, religion, and new forms of political and economic power that are not dependent on land ownership. Written to inform policy makers, scholars, and researchers interested in the Middle East and related areas, this book and its solutions and presentation could be used as a practical model for resolution of conflicts worldwide.

Conversion to Islam is a phenomenon of immense significance in human history. At the outset of Islamic rule in the seventh century, Muslims constituted a tiny minority in most areas under their control. But by the beginning of the modern period, they formed the majority in most territories from North Africa to Southeast Asia. Across such diverse lands, peoples, and time periods, conversion was a complex, varied phenomenon. Converts lived in a world of overlapping and competing religious, cultural, social, and familial affiliations, and the effects of turning to Islam played out in every aspect of life. Conversion therefore provides a critical lens for world history, magnifying the constantly evolving array of beliefs, practices, and outlooks that constitute Islam around the globe. This groundbreaking collection of texts, translated from sources in a dozen languages from the seventh to the eighteenth centuries, presents the historical process of conversion to Islam in all its variety and unruly detail, through the eyes of both Muslim and non-Muslim observers.