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During much of the twelfth century the Crusaders dominated the military scene in the Levant. The unification of Egypt and Syria by Saladin gradually changed the balance of power, which slowly begun to tilt in favour of the Muslims. This book examines the development and role of Muslim fortresses in the Levant at the time of the Crusaders and the Mongol invasion, situating the study within a broad historical, political and military context. Exploring the unification of Egypt with a large part of Syria and its effect on the balance of power in the region, Raphael gives a historical overview of the resulting military strategies and construction of fortresses. A detailed architectural analysis i...
Generating precise comprehension of the Quran and the true meaning of its verses is arguably the essence of the most important of the Islamic sciences, Qur’anic exegesis or tafsÏr. Since the passing of the Prophet many scholars have worked hard to bring a proper understanding of the meaning of the Qur’an to Muslims, and indeed to the world at large, as fully as possible, in an attempt to widen knowledge of the guidance contained therein, and how to live life in accordance with its principles. The result has been a wealth of historical Muslim literature on the subject which has come to be known as Ulum al-Tafsir or the sciences of tafsir, a systematic exegesis of the Qur’an following s...
This publication examines art, the human sciences, science, philosophy, mysticism, language and literature. For this task, UNESCO has chosen scholars and experts from all over the world who belong to widely divergent cultural and religious backgrounds.--Publisher's description.
The first comparative grammar of the Semitic languages, by H. Zimmern, was published a hundred years ago and the last original work of this kind was issued in Russian in 1972 by B.M. Grande. The present grammar, designed to come out in the centenary of the completion of Zimmern's work, fills thus a gap. Besides, it is based on both classical and modern Semitic languages, it takes new material of these last decades into account, and situates the Semitic languages in the wider context of Afro-Asiatic. The introduction briefly presents the languages in question. The main parts of the work are devoted to phonology, morphology, and syntax, with elaborate charts and diagrams. Then follows a discussion of fundamental questions related to lexicographical analysis. The study is supplemented by a glossary of linguistic terms used in Semitics, by a selective bibliography, by a general index, and by an index of words and forms. The book is the result of twenty-five years of research and teaching in comparative Semitic grammar.
The Translator’s Preface Among the religious traditions of mankind the Shi‘ah tradition within Islam is unmatched in its rich corpus of devotional texts (duc¡ and ziy¡rah literature) handed down from the original teachers and leaders of the faith, the Prophet Mu¦ammad and the Imams of his family, the Ahl al-Bayt. This tradition begins with the Qur’¡n—its opening s£rah being an essential part of the Muslim ritual prayer (that is, ¥al¡h, as opposed to duc¡ in the sense of supplication and petition-ary texts)—which, besides citing many prayers made by the former prophets, beginning with Adam, suggests several supplications for the devout. In accordance with the Qur’¡nic teaching, Islam views itself not as a novel and insular phenomenon in the religious history of mankind, but as the culmi-nating link in a prophetic chain that began with Adam, the first man and recipi-ent of Divine revelations, and, after a cataclysmic phase marked by the ministry of Noah, which signified the end of an era and beginning of a new, culminated in the figure of Abraham, whom the Qur’¡n describes as a follower of Noah...
Divine oneness as the principle of beauty is perhaps quintessentially Islamic artistic expression and experience and what it celebrates. Why has Islamic art evolved as it has, what forms does it take, what is the logic underlying it? What message is the Muslim artist attempting to convey, what emotion is he seeking to evoke? This work views Islamic art as a subject of archeological study and treats its evolution as part of the historical study of art in the broader sense. At the same time, it paves the way for an epistemological shift from viewing Islamic art as a material concept having to do with beautiful rarities and relics that have grown out of Islamic cultural and artistic creativity,...
For the Muslim faithful, the familiar sound of the Qurʾanic recitation is the predominant and most immediate means of contact with the Word of God. Heard day and night, on the street, in taxis, in shops, in mosques, and in homes, the sound of recitation is far more than the pervasive background music of daily life in the Arab world. It is the core of religious devotion, the sanctioning spirit of much cultural and social life, and a valued art form in its own right. Participation in recitation, as reciter or listener, is itself an act of worship, for the sound is basic to a Muslim’s sense of religion and invokes a set of meanings transcending the particular occasion. For the most part, Wes...
This bibliography - intended to be as complete as possible - provides information on written material in 22 languages about "muwassa?" and "zajal" (poetical strophic forms in al-Andalus during the Middle Ages) and the "kharja" (final segment of "muwassa?" and some "zajals"), and about their popularity in East and West.
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