The World in a Book

The World in a Book
Author: Elias Muhanna
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2019-05-28
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 069119145X

Based on the author's dissertation (doctoral)-- Harvard University, 2012.

Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn

Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn
Author: Amira El-Zein
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2009-10-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0815650701

According to the Qur’an, God created two parallel species, man and the jinn, the former from clay and the latter from fire. Beliefs regarding the jinn are deeply integrated into Muslim culture and religion, and have a constant presence in legends, myths, poetry, and literature. In Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn, Amira El-Zein explores the integral role these mythological figures play, revealing that the concept of jinn is fundamental to understanding Muslim culture and tradition.

Mirror of Realization

Mirror of Realization
Author: Mashhad Al-ʻAllāf
Publisher: Mashhad Al-Allaf
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2003
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780972272223

Mirror of Realization is a comprehensive and yet an accurate introduction to the religion of Islam. It explores the fundamentals of Islam beginning from the story of creation, going into spirituality and then to the establishment of the Islamic State. For those seeking an objective view, this book explains and clarifies complex topics into clear language by referring to the Qur'an and Sunnah. Mirror of Realization takes the reader through a journey of Islamic spirituality, jurisprudence (Fiqh), theology (Kalam), science, and philosophy. A variety of topics is covered, including the Qur'anic story of creation, revelation, the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the five pillars of Islam, the articles of faith (Iman), sufism (mysticism), Islamic Divine Law (Shari'ah), the objectives of Shari'ah, the existence of God, actual infinity and creation, Islamic sciences (including algebra and dream interpretation), Islamic State, and finally a small portion on Islamic stories and poetry. Book jacket.

Al-Biruni

Al-Biruni
Author: Bridget Lim
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2016-07-15
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1508171394

Al-Biruni was an Islamic scholar who served on the courts of more than six caliphs. Like many of the great thinkers of the Islamic world’s Golden Age, his quest for truth motivated him to seek knowledge through research and innovation. He did this in the name of Allah. Al-Biruni set himself apart from his peers through his sheer range of expertise and drive for perfection. His considerable progress in astronomy, mathematics, geography, comparative religion, physical sciences, and history earned the respect of his colleagues, influenced countless academic followers, and remains as an inspiration to all who study his work today.

Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement

Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement
Author: Daniel Byman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2015
Genre: History
ISBN: 019021726X

Founded as the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, Al Qaeda achieved a degree of international notoriety with a series of spectacular attacks in the 1990s; however, it was the dramatic assaults on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11 that truly launched Al Qaeda onto the global stage. The attacks endowed the organization with world-historical importance and provoked an overwhelming counterattack by the United States and other western countries. Within a year of 9/11, the core of Al Qaeda had been chased out of Afghanistan and into a variety of refuges across the Muslim world. Splinter groups and franchised offshoots were active in the 2000s in countries like Pakistan, Iraq, and Yemen, but by early 2011, after more than a decade of relentless counterterrorism efforts by the United States and other Western military and intelligence services, most felt that Al Qaeda's moment had passed.

Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought

Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought
Author: Roxanne L. Euben
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 536
Release: 2021-06-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1400833809

The most authoritative anthology of Islamist texts This anthology of key primary texts provides an unmatched introduction to Islamist political thought from the early twentieth century to the present, and serves as an invaluable guide through the storm of polemic, fear, and confusion that swirls around Islamism today. Roxanne Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman gather a broad selection of texts from influential Islamist thinkers and place these figures and their writings in their multifaceted political and historical contexts. The selections presented here in English translation include writings of Ayatollah Khomeini, Usama bin Laden, Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna, and Moroccan Islamist leader Nadia Yassine, as well as the Hamas charter, an interview with a Taliban commander, and the final testament of 9/11 hijacker Muhammad Ata. Illuminating the content and political appeal of Islamist thought, this anthology brings into sharp relief the commonalities in Islamist arguments about gender, democracy, and violence, but it also reveals significant political and theological disagreements among thinkers too often grouped together and dismissed as extremists or terrorists. No other anthology better illustrates the diversity of Islamist thought, the complexity of its intellectual and political contexts, or the variety of ways in which it relates to other intellectual and religious trends in the contemporary Muslim world.

The Islamic Law of Nations

The Islamic Law of Nations
Author: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan Shaybānī
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 344
Release: 1966
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780801869754

From its origins Islam has been an expansionist religion, understanding itself as a matter of faith to be in a permanent state of war with the non-Muslim world. After the initial consolidation of the Islamic caliphate, however, it soon became apparent that constant military hostilities could not be sustained and that other forms of relationship with non-Muslim nations would be necessary. To reconcile the imperatives of faith with the limits of military power, Islamic scholars developed elaborate legal doctrines. In the second century of the Muslim era (eighth century C.E.), hundreds of years before the codification of international law in Europe by Grotius and others, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, an eminent jurist of the Hanafite school in present-day Iraq, wrote the first major Islamic treatise on the law of nations, Kitab al-Siyar al-Kabir. Translated with an extensive commentary by Majid Khadduri, Shaybani's Siyar describes in detail conditions for war (jihad) and for peace, principles for the conduct of military action and of diplomacy, and rules for the treatment of non-Muslims in Muslim lands. A foundational text of the leading school of law in Sunni Islam, it provides essential insights into relations between Islamic nations and the larger world from their earliest days up to the present.

Muslim Extremism in Egypt

Muslim Extremism in Egypt
Author: Gilles Kepel
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2003-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780520239340

"Perhaps more than any other, this book gives the background necessary to understand the purpose and mindset of today’s religious radicals. In this classic study of the roots of Islamic extremism, Gilles Kepel demonstrates the pivotal role of the Egyptian connection. He skillfully traces the story of Islamic anti-modernism in Egypt from the early part of the 20th century to its tragic involvement in some of the most violent incidents in recent years, including the terrifying attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 and 2001. Kepel’s treatment is even-handed and sensitive, though the world he uncovers is the dark side of today’s global culture."—Mark Juergensmeyer, author of Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence