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This brief article aims to give a thorough overview of Islamic beliefs and practices for those unfamiliar with the religious tradition. It also aims to allow the opportunity for further reading on the subject, citing a wide variety of scholarly texts written for non-specialist audiences. The article is divided into sections giving a brief overview of early Islamic history and Muhammad's lifetime, the primary Islamic religious sources, namely, the Qur'an and Sunna, the Five Pillars of Islamic practice, foundational Islamic creedal beliefs, the Shari'a, and finally, Sufism. The pre-edited version of the paper is included here.
General Introduction to The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Islamic Spirituality
The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Islamic Spirituality, 2023
Over the last fifty years, and especially since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001, literally hundreds of books on Islam and the Islamic world have appeared in print in European languages, including numerous introductions to Islam. Yet most Americans and Europeans remain largely uninformed about Islam. In the third decade of the twenty-first century, scholars of Islam in the Americas and Europe still feel the need to humanize Muslims, to demonstrate that Muslims are rational human beings, their beliefs worthy of consideration. The situation is the same-or perhaps even worse-with regard to Islamic spirituality. Apart from the field of Sufism, no aspect of Islamic thought and practice has been more overlooked in studies of Islam than spirituality. Because of creedal and secular prejudices that have persisted for centuries, the religion of Islam (much like Judaism) has been regarded as traditionalistic or legalistic but not deeply spiritual. As such, it is often described as a "nomocentric" or law-centered religion, in which adherence to the Sharī'a is seen as the central criterion of faith (see Pill 2014). Adding to this problem is the fact that proofs of Islam's alleged obsession with legalism can be found among today's Muslims in the doctrines of the Taliban in Afghanistan, among Wahhabiinspired extremist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS, and in a political Islam that advocates the creation of a more socially conscious "Sharī'a state." As a result, Islam is widely seen to embody three traits that are antithetical to liberal notions of free expression: political authoritarianism, paternalistic traditionalism, and soulless legalism. As Edward W. Said observed, the view of the Middle East and the Islamic world in the West is based on the notion of exteriority, reducing complex cultural phenomena to stereotypical "essences" (Said 1994, 20-21). Yet the spirituality of Muslims is as much a matter of interiority as exteriority. Because spiritual feelings cannot be seen, they cannot be empirically observed, measured, and subjected to regimes of control. If Islam
The heart of the Qurʾan : an introduction to Islamic spirituality
2003
The Heart of the Qur'an: An Introduction to Islamic Spirituality Lex Hixon "Neither as Christians or Jews, nor simply as intellectually responsible individuals," says Hixon, "have members of Western civilization been sensitively educated or even accurately informed about Islam." As tensions between America and the Middle East grow, we should promote cross-cultural understanding, not violence. This new edition, with a new foreword and commentary by Neil Douglas-Klotz, allows the reader to drink from the illuminating fountain of the Holy Qur'an-the foundation of Islamic culture. First published in 1988, Hixon's poetic meditations on over nine-hundred passages from the Qur'an show that they are not relics from the past but exist in a timeless present, communicating as vividly as when they were first uttered. Through clear and accessible language, Hixon illustrates how the teachings of Islam can be applied to contemporary everyday life issues such as love, relationships, justice, work, and self-knowledge. In addition to the selections themselves, the book contains readable, lively introductions to the tradition of Islam, its basic precepts, and what it says about other religions. As the first such work in English to be written by a Muslim, The Heart of the Qur'an continues to show that Islam is among the great wisdom traditions of humanity.
Living Faith: A Comprehensive Introduction To The Qur'an For The Young Western Muslim
Quran for the Young Western Muslim, 2016
A rising dilemma in modern times, particularly for the young western Muslim from the ages of 12-26, is the ability to find relevance within their scripture. Shabbir Akhtar states in his groundbreaking work The Qur'an and the Secular Mind: A Philosophy of Islam, that the aim of his book is to "investigate the rationality and plausibility of traditional Muslim conviction, a conviction inspired by the Qur'an, the founding document and scripture of Islam." The major 1 point from this statement of which I plan to emphasize in the following proposal is the idea of the foundation of a Muslim's conviction. I will argue with reference to Akhtar's statement that this conviction, and the path to it, must be inspired by the Qur'an, as it is the foundational document of the Muslim faith. Unfortunately, there has been no attempt in any of the scholarly literature to build a comprehensive means for which a young Muslim can attain this conviction, especially in the context of the western mind, grounded in God's words. This is an especially painful dilemma, primarily because the root of this problem is not that avenues for an authentic conviction in one's faith are not available, it is that none are accessible enough to address a young person's frame of mind. Scholarly academic works do little to penetrate the anguish and struggles that govern the life of the modern young person, and in fact, its inaccessible jargon only makes the journey more daunting and unappealing. Works such as Theodor Nöldeke's The Qur'an: An Introductory Essay or Richard Bell's Introduction to the Qur'an may provide meaningful content, although for the average young person, they are too intimidating and dense to have any real impact. Not to mention, there is a distrust "that many Muslim scholars [and Muslims in general] have toward Euro-American scholarship regarding the
A COLLECTION OF ISLAMIC WRITINGS
This book contains a collection of religious discussions written as articles over a period of time during the author's stay in Melbourne. its main objective is to present Islam in an objective possible way and to give further understanding of it to Muslims ans well as non-Muslims.
Islam is considered as the youngest and the largest religion, among other major religions of the world. According to the census of 2021, there are more than 1.9 billion adherents of Islam in the world, which makes up-to 26% of the world’s population. It is also the dominant religion of third world nations in Middle East, such as Africa, and Asia. These factors make Islam as one of the most interesting and important religion which calls for our attention as theological students to study and know about this religion, and its sacred scriptures known as Quran. Therefore, in this paper, we will make an attempt to survey about the introduction of Quran, by asking few questions to find answers about the origin and background of Islam. When did this religion came into existence? How was it formed? And what are the contents of Quran? How, and to whom it was revealed and how was it complied in a book form? And what are the beliefs, observances, traditions and festivals they celebrate and the law they observe? Are there any divisions in Islam and what are schools of thoughts exists in Islam?
2022
The faith and practice of Islam is strictly grounded on its foundational Scripture, Qur’an. Qur’an has played a vital role in the formation of identity and theology of the Islamic community. For an orthodox Muslim, no other book in the world is as important as Qur’an. It is the absolute divine word, spoken through the mouth of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad. The revelations he received over the course of 22 years i.e., 610-632, were remembered, recited, written down, compiled and canonized as Qur’an. From private to the social life, every dimension of the Muslim community owes to the Qur’an. This paper is a detailed study of Qur’an, outlining its historical development, its place in the Islam, its theology and various approaches to it.