Muslim Spain Reconsidered (New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys)
by Emeritus Professor Richard Hitchcock
What made Muslim Spain a unique and successful society? Richard Hitchcock explores the background to its powerful legacy in the formation of modern Spain, using a chronological framework while constantly keeping in view the shifting social patterns caused by the changing balance between town and country, major and minor dynasties, foreign groupings and repeated invasions from North Africa. You'll learn about the main historical developments in depth, such as the self-defeating independence of th...
Two major events occurred in the early centuries of Islam that determined its historical and spiritual development in the centuries that followed: the formation of the sacred scriptures, namely the Qur'an and the Hadith, and the chronic violence that surrounded the succession of the Prophet, manifesting in repression, revolution, massacre, and civil war. This is the first book to evaluate the writing of Islam's major scriptural sources within the context of these bloody, brutal conflicts. Conduc...
Theological Rationalism in Medieval Islam (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, Volume 258)
The present volume comprises substantially revised and enlarged versions of papers read at a conference convened in June 2010 by the ERC-Project at the German Orient-Institut in Istanbul. Under the title "Theological Rationalism in Medieval Islam: New Texts and Perspectives", a group of leading international scholars was invited to introduce important new kalam-texts that have not been the subject of previous studies or to explore new trajectories in stu...
Six Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of His Time
by Muhammad Ibn 'Abd Allah
Ibn Sina’s Remarks and Admonitions: Physics and Metaphysics
Al-Isharat wal-Tanbihat (Remarks and Admonitions) is one of the most mature and comprehensive philosophical works by Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 980-1037). Grounded in an exploration of logic (which Ibn Sina described as the gate to knowledge) and happiness (the ultimate human goal), the text illuminates the divine, the human being, and the nature of things through a wide-ranging discussion of topics. The sections of Physics and Metaphysics deal with the nature of bodies and souls as well as existence,...
?ik?yat Abu al-Q?sim, probably written in the 11th century by the otherwise unknown al-Azd?, tells the story of a gate-crasher from Baghdad named Ab? al-Q?sim, who shows up uninvited at a party in Isfahan. Dressed as a holy man and reciting religious poetry, he soon relaxes his demeanour, and, growing intoxicated on wine, insults the other dinner guests and their Iranian hometown. Widely hailed as a narrative unique in the history of Arabic literature, ?ik?yah also reflects a much larger tradit...
Islam, Women, and Violence in Kashmir: Between India and Pakistan
by Nyla Ali Khan
This book provides an overview of the theological views on takfir in classical and medieval Islamic thought, explores the Islamic context of the concept, and considers the following questions: In what context does the term appear in the Qur'an and hadiths (the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad)? In what circumstances did Muslim theologians engage in takfir, and what were the social, religious, theological, and political implications on the society? How did the meaning of takfir evolve in classical...
Maurice Lombard portrays the Islamic world as the center of civilization at a time when the West was primitive and backward. Its reach extended from Cordoba to Samarkand, and it maintained and developed the tradition of wealth, cultural and artistic achievement, and thriving urban life which it had absorbed from its predecessors, the civilizations of Greece, Egypt, and Persia and the ancient cities of the Middle East. It is this Islamic economy and civilization which the author portrays at its h...
History of Islamic Philosophy (Routledge History of World Philosophies)
Islamic philosophy has often been treated as being largely of historical interest, belonging to the history of ideas rather than to philosophical study. This volume successfully overturns that view. Emphasizing the living nature and rich diversity of the subject, it examines the main thinkers and schools of thought, discusses the key concepts of Islamic philosophy and covers a vast geographical area. This indispensable reference tool includes a comprehensive bibliography and an extensive index.
Based on years of research conducted mostly in Arabic sources, Meir Litvak and Ester Webman track the evolution of post-World War II perceptions of the Holocaust and their parallel emergence in the wake of the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1948. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, Arab attitudes toward the Holocaust became entangled with broader anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic sentiments. Litvak and Webman track this discourse through the work of leading intellectuals and turn to repres...
How Christian leaders adapted the governmental practices and political thought of their Muslim rulers in the Abbasid caliphateThe Imam of the Christians examines how Christian leaders adopted and adapted the political practices and ideas of their Muslim rulers between 750 and 850 in the Abbasid caliphate in the Jazira (modern eastern Turkey and northern Syria). Focusing on the writings of Dionysius of Tel-Mahre, the patriarch of the Jacobite church, Philip Wood describes how this encounter produ...
Muhammad, the prophet-founder of Islam, is one of the most influential and misunderstood figures of history. The religion he founded in mid-seventh century Arabia now has over 1.5 billion followers and his impact on world affairs is immense. In this small volume, a Muslim and non-Muslim come together to tell the story of Muhammad's life and teachings in straightforward language that will appeal to all who seek an easy to read primer on the Prophet and his teachings.
In his remarkable book, Jonathan Phillips explores the conflict of ideas, beliefs and cultures and shows both the contradictions and diversity of holy war. He draws on contemporary writings - on chronicles, songs, sermons, travel diaries and peace treaties - to throw a brilliant new light on people and events we thought we knew well. Although the notion of fighting for one's faith fell into disrepute in the Enlightenment, Phillips traces the crusading impulse from the bloody conquest of Jerusale...
The text of the Qur’an appears to many to be desperately muddled and lacking any coherence. The Composition of the Qur’an provides a systematic presentation of the writing processes (or rhetoric) and argues that there is indeed a coherence to the Qur’anic text. Michel Cuypers shows that the ancient Semitic texts, of which the Qur’an is a part, do not obey the Greek rhetoric and that their basic principle is therefore not progressive linearity, but symmetry which can take several forms, following...
The [European] Other in Medieval Arabic Literature and Culture
by Nizar F Hermes
1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization
by Salim T S Al-Hassani