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What happens when authorities you venerate condone something you know is wrong? Every major religion and philosophy once condoned or approved of slavery, but in modern times nothing is seen as more evil. Americans confront this crisis of authority when they erect statues of Founding Fathers who slept with their slaves. And Muslims faced it when ISIS revived sex slavery, justifying it with verses from the Quran and the practice of Muhammad. Exploring the moral and ultimately theological problem of slavery, Jonathan A.C. Brown traces how the Christian, Jewish and Islamic traditions have tried to reconcile modern moral certainties with the infallibility of God’s message. He lays out how Islam viewed slavery in theory, and the reality of how it was practiced across Islamic civilization. Finally, Brown carefully examines arguments put forward by Muslims for the abolition of slavery.
AN INDEPENDENT BEST BOOKS ON RELIGION 2014 PICK Few things provoke controversy in the modern world like the religion brought by Prophet Muhammad. Modern media are replete with alarm over jihad, underage marriage and the threat of amputation or stoning under Shariah law. Sometimes rumor, sometimes based on fact and often misunderstood, the tenets of Islamic law and dogma were not set in the religion’s founding moments. They were developed, like in other world religions, over centuries by the clerical class of Muslim scholars. Misquoting Muhammad takes the reader back in time through Islamic civilization and traces how and why such controversies developed, offering an inside view into how key and controversial aspects of Islam took shape. From the protests of the Arab Spring to Istanbul at the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and from the ochre red walls of Delhi’s great mosques to the trade routes of the Indian Ocean world, Misquoting Muhammad lays out how Muslim intellectuals have sought to balance reason and revelation, weigh science and religion, and negotiate the eternal truths of scripture amid shifting values.
Contrary to popular opinion, the bulk of Islamic law does not come from the Quran but from hadith, first-hand reports of the Prophet Muhammad’s words and deeds, passed from generation to generation. However, with varying accounts often only committed to paper a century after the death of Muhammad, Islamic scholars, past and present, have been faced with complex questions of historical authenticity. In this wide-ranging introduction, Jonathan A. C. Brown explores the collection and criticism of hadith, and the controversy surrounding its role in modern Islam. This edition, revised and updated with additional case studies and attention to the very latest scholarship, also features a new chapter on how hadiths have been used politically, both historically and in the Arab Spring and its aftermath. Informative and accessible, it is perfectly suited to students, scholars and general readers interested in this critical element of Islam.
Drawing on traditional Muslim sources, Michael Cook describes Muhammad's life and teaching. He also attempts to stand back from this traditional picture to show how far it is historically justified.
This ebook is a selective guide designed to help scholars and students of Islamic studies find reliable sources of information by directing them to the best available scholarly materials in whatever form or format they appear from books, chapters, and journal articles to online archives, electronic data sets, and blogs. Written by a leading international authority on the subject, the ebook provides bibliographic information supported by direct recommendations about which sources to consult and editorial commentary to make it clear how the cited sources are interrelated related. A reader will discover, for instance, the most reliable introductions and overviews to the topic, and the most impo...
Kecia Ali delves into the many ways the Prophet’s life story has been told from the earliest days of Islam to the present, by both Muslims and non-Muslims. Emphasizing the major transformations since the nineteenth century, she shows that far from being mutually opposed, these various perspectives have become increasingly interdependent.
How can we win in a turbulent world that is changing faster than our rate of evolution? Winning is tough and competition is intensifying. Conventional stress management won t tackle the types of stress we face today. Instead of merely surviving a tough month or year, we need battle-tested approaches to anticipate and recover from turbulent situations so that we are even stronger tomorrow. We don t want stress management, we need Stress Leadership. In spite of how challenging things may seem, it is possible to accelerate the progress you and your organisation are making today. Stress and Success will help you to avoid stress induced viral stupidity the mental condition that makes you do fooli...
Argentina has a population that ranks among the most educated and skilled in Latin America, and its middle class has historically been large and politically engaged. Yet Argentina remains mired in economic instability, chronic unemployment, strict class divisions, and political corruption. Still, Argentines refuse to accept their current conditions. There has been a continuous effort to address the injustices and tyranny that occurred during the Dirty War (1976-83) and the two-decade silence that followed the military dictatorship. Additionally, in a significant demonstration of progress, October 2007 marked the first time a woman was elected president. Continuing where the first edition end...
Known primarily as a great painter, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) was also one of the best draftsmen of the 17th century. Although his devotional paintings seem to have been created effortlessly, they are the result of careful thought and study, a process that comes alive in the preparatory drawings. Murillo used a variety of techniques, favoring pen and ink and brown wash and red-and-black chalk. Like painters schooled in Italian Renaissance practice, the Spaniard developed his paintings in stages, starting with sketches of the full composition and then focusing on details that posed specific problems. Occasionally, Murillo used drawings as a medium for original compositions; these are highly finished pieces, usually enhanced by the use of wash and unmistakably stamped with the artist's personality. This sumptuous book is a thoroughly revised edition of the 1976 publication Murillo & His Drawings. Twenty sheets have been added to the catalogue of authentic works, the bibliography has been brought up to date, and the entries have been revised.
In an editorial essay, Ovamir Anjum reflects on the current moment of (and literature on) de-globalization, considering in turn conservative and liberal arguments. He concludes by raising several questions which de-globalization opens, key among them the challenges posed by ongoing ecological degradation. In the first research article, Timothy Gutmann offers the term “propaedeutic” to refer to the critical pedagogy necessary for teaching unfamiliar material to audiences whose sensibilities and expectations are already structured by distinctive anxieties and concerns. Gutmann addresses common caricatures of Islamic law and suggests that Islamic traditions may themselves contain a propaede...