Sources – Muslim Perspectives
Overview
Classic Texts
Role of Women
Islamic Culture
Interfaith Dialogue
Overview
The Berkley Center Knowledge Resources provide an overview of the world’s religious traditions and their impact on society, politics, and world affairs. This is the Center’s page on Islam.
The Koran, transl. by J. M. Rodwell, Foreword and Introduction by Alan Jones. London: Phoenix, 1994.
THE KORAN, the holy scripture of Islam, is the record of Muhammad’s oral teaching delivered between the years immediately preceding the Hegira in AD 622 and the Prophet’s death in AD 632. It has exerted untold influence upon the history of mankind. Apart from it’s specifically religious content, inspiring the triumphant arms of Islam throughout vast areas of Asia, Africa and southern Europe, it was the starting point of a new literary and philosophical movement which powerfully affected the most cultivated minds among both Christian and Jews in the Middle Ages; and the movement inaugurated has resulted in some of the finest products of genius and learning. Alan Jones has restored the traditional ordering of the Sutras, enabling the reader to trace the development of the Prophet’s mind from the early flush of inspiration to his roles of warrior, politician and founder of an empire.
The Essential Koran: The Heart of Islam, transl. by Thomas Cleary. Edison, NJ: Castle Books, 1998.
For too long the realities of Islam have been a mystery to the Christian West. In this introductory selection of Islamic readings, the essence of the Koran is presented and explained in an accessible and illuminating manner.
Bayat, Mojdeh and Mahammad Ali Jamnid. Tales from the Land of the Sufis. Boston & London, Shambhala Publications, 1994.
Take a magic carpet ride into the delightful world of Sufi storytelling with these best-loved tales from Persian literature and lore, in which images of madness, passionate love, and self-sacrifice convey the inner experiences of the soul that has surrendered to the Divine Beloved. The tales are retold from the celebrated works of Sufi poets and spiritual masters such as Rumi, Attar, Nizami, and Jami, as well as anecdotes about these famous masters.
Haddawy, Husain, transl., based on the text ed. by Muhsin Mahdi. The Arabian Nights. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1990.
This work is based on Muhsin Mahdi’s reconstruction of the original Nights. The tales portray a world of magic, wish-fulfillment and pleasure, depicting the marriage of the supernatural to the ordinary and the sacred to the profane.
Haleem, Muhammad Abdel. Understanding the Qur’an: Themes and Style. London and New York: I. B. Taulis & Co., Ltd., 1999.
The tenets of Islam cannot be grasped without a proper understanding of the Qur’an. In this important new introduction, Muhammad Haleem examines its recurrent themes — life and eternity, marriage and divorce, peace and war, water and nourishment — and for the first time sets these in the context of the Qur’an’s linguistic style. Professor Haleem examines the background to the development of the surahs (chapters) and the ayahs (verses) and the construction of the Qur’an itself. He shows that popular conceptions of Islamic attitudes to women, marriage and divorce, war and society, differ radically from the true teachings of the Qur’an.
Helminski, Camille Adams. Women of Sufism: A Hidden Treasure – Writings and Stories of Mystic Poets, Scholars & Saints. Boston & London, Shambhala Publications, 2003.
The luminous presence of women who follow theSufi Way—the mystical path of Islam—is brought to life here through their sacred songs and poetry, their dreams and visions, and stories of their efforts as they witness the Truth in many realms. These writings reflect the honor and respect for the feminine in the Sufi worldview, and they are shared in the spirit of inspiration and hope for the flourishing contributions of women to the spiritual development of humanity. Spanning the centuries, from the time of the Prophet Muhammad to the present day, the selections are by or about an array of Sufi traditions in different parts of the world, from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East to Europe andAmerica—from beloved members of the Prophet’s family to the mystic Rabi’a al-Adawiyya to the modern scholar Annemarie Schimmel. Biographical anecdotes and personal memoirs provide a glimpse into the experience of great saints and contemporary practitioners alike, while providing an introduction to the principles and practices of Sufism.
Role of women
Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992.
Leila Ahmed adds a new perspective to the current debate about women and Islam by tracing what Islamic texts throughout history have had to say about women and gender. Using the analytical tools of contemporary gender studies, Ahmed surveys Islamic discourse on women and places debates and places it in its social and historical context, focusing on Arabia during the period in which Islam was founded, Iraq during the classical age, and Egypt during the modern era.
Ali, Ayaan Hirsi. Infidel. New York: Free Press, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2007.
In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West. One of today’s most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist’s murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie Submission. Infidel is the eagerly awaited story of the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished — and sometimes reviled — political superstar and champion of free speech. With a gimlet eye and measured, often ironic, voice, Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion.
Brooks, Geraldine. Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women. New York: Random House, 1995.
Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women is the story of Brook’s intrepid journey toward an understanding of the women behind the veils, and of the often contradictory political, religious, and cultural forces that shape their lives. In fundamentalistIran, Brooks finagles an invitation to tea with the ayatollah’s widow – and discovers that Mrs. Khomeini dyes her hair. InSaudi Arabia, she eludes the severe segregation of the sexes and attends a bacchanal, laying bare the hypocrisy of this austere, male-dominated society. In war-tornEthiopia, she watches as a female gynecologist repairs women who have undergone genital mutilation justified by a distorted interpretation of Islam. In villages and capitals throughout theMiddle East, she finds that a feminism of sorts has flowered under the forbidding shroud of the chador as she makes other startling discoveries that defy our stereotypes about the Muslim world. Nine Parts of Desire is much more than a captivating work of firsthand reportage; it is also an acute analysis of the world’s fastest-growing religion, deftly illustrating how Islam’s holiest texts have been misused to justify the repression of women. It was, after all, the Shiite leader Ali who proclaimed that “God created sexual desire in ten parts, then gave nine parts to women.”
Fernea, Elizabeth Warnock. In Search of Islamic Feminism: One Woman’s Global Journey. New York: Random House, 1998.
“Islamic feminism” would seem a contradiction in terms to most Westerners. We are taught to think of Islam as a culture wherein social code and religious law alike force women to accept male authority and surrender to the veil. How could feminism emerge under such a code, let alone flourish? Now, traveling throughout Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, as well as Islamic communities in theUnited States, acclaimed Arab Studies scholar and bestselling author Elizabeth Fernea sets out to answer that question. Fernea’s dialogue with friends, colleagues, and acquaintances prompts a range of diverse and unpredictable responses, but in every country she visits, women demonstrate they are anything but passive. InIraq, we see an 85 percent literacy rate among women; inEgypt, we see women owning their own farms; and inIsrael, we see women at the very forefront of peacemaking efforts. Poor or rich, educated or illiterate, these women define their own needs, solve their own problems, and determine the boundaries of their own very real, very viable feminism. In Search of Islamic Feminism offers a groundbreaking new interpretation of the status and vision of Muslim women that will open up a new world to its readers, even as it challenges our own sense of what feminism means.
Al-Hibri, Azizah ed. Women and Islam – Women’s Studies International Forum, vol. 5, Number 1. Oxford, New York: Pergamon Press, 1982.
Mernissi, Fatima. Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society. Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1987, revised edition.
In this expanded and updated edition, with a new introduction on Muslim women and fundamentalism, Mernissi argues that Islamic fundamentalism is in part a defense against recent changes in sex roles and perceptions of sexual identity.
——, Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1994.
”I was born in a harem in 1940 inFez,Morocco…” So begins Fatima Mernissi in this exotic and rich narrative of a childhood behind the iron gates of a domestic harem. In Dreams of Trespass, Mernissi weaves her own memories with the dreams and memories of the women who surrounded her in the courtyard of her youth—women who, deprived of access to the world outside, recreated it from sheer imagination. Dreams of Trespass is the provocative story of a girl confronting the mysteries of time and place, gender and sex in the recent Muslim world.
——, Scheherazade Goes West: Different Cultures, Different Harems. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2002.
So recalls Fatima Mernissi at the outset of her mesmerizing new book. Of all the lessons she learned from her grandmother — whose home was, after all, a type of prison — the most central was that the opportunity to cross boundaries was a sacred privilege. Indeed, in journeys both physical and mental, Mernissi has spent virtually all of her life traveling — determined to “use her wings” and to renounce her gender’s alleged legacy of powerlessness. Bursting with the vitality of Mernissi’s personality and of her rich heritage, Scheherazade Goes West reveals the author’s unique experiences as a liberated, independent Moroccan woman faced with the peculiarities and unexpected encroachments of Western culture. Her often surprising discoveries about the conditions of and attitudes toward women around the world — and the exquisitely embroidered amalgam of clear-eyed autobiography and dazzling meta-fiction by which she relates those assorted discoveries — add up to a deliciously wry, engagingly cosmopolitan, and deeply penetrating narrative.
Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. New York: Random House, 2003.
Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold and inspired teacher named Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. As Islamic morality squads staged arbitrary raids inTehran, fundamentalists seized hold of the universities, and a blind censor stifled artistic expression, the girls in Azar Nafisi’s living room risked removing their veils and immersed themselves in the worlds of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. In this extraordinary memoir, their stories become intertwined with the ones they are reading. Reading Lolita inTehranis a remarkable exploration of resilience in the face of tyranny and a celebration of the liberating power of literature.
Schimmel, Annemarie. My Soul is a Woman: The Feminine in Islam. New York & London: Continuum Books, 1997.
An internationally acclaimed scholar, who has dedicated more than fifty years of her life to understanding the Islamic world. Annemarie Schimmel examines a much-misunderstood feature of Islam: the role of women. Schimmel is critical of those–especially Western feminists–who take Islam to task without taking the time to comprehend the cultures, language, and traditions of the many societies in which Islam is the majority religion. Shattering stereotypes, Schimmel reconstructs an important but little-known chapter of Islamic spirituality. With copious examples, she shows the clear equality of women and men in the conception of the Prophet Muhammad, the Quran, the feminine language of the mystical tradition, and the role of holy mothers and unmarried women as manifestations of God. This work is studded with luminous texts from Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and particularly Indo-Muslim cultures, which reveal how physical love can give expression to the highest forms of mysticism.
Paglia, Camille. Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. New York: Random House, 1991.
From ancientEgyptthrough the nineteenth century, Sexual Personae explores the provocative connections between art and pagan ritual; between Emily Dickinson and the Marquis de Sade; between Lord Byron and Elvis Presley. It ultimately challenges the cultural assumptions of both conservatives and traditional liberals.
Stowasser, Barbara Freyer. Women in the Qur’an, Traditions, and Interpretation. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Islamic ideas about women and their role in society spark considerable debate – both in the Western world and in the Islamic world itself. Despite the popular attention surrounding Middle Eastern attitudes toward women, there has been little systematic study of the statements regarding women in the Qur’an. Barbara Stowasser fills this void with this study on the women of Islamic sacred history. Women in the Qur’an, Traditions, and Interpretation presents the Qur’anic revelations on female figures associated with God’s prophets from Adam to Muhammad. Revealed narratives and legislation are then pursued through their medieval, modern, and contemporary interpretations. The theological exegetic sources here chosen, all Sunni, include the major classical works as well as, for the modern period, examples of modernist, traditionalist, and fundamentalist exegesis. For Hadith materials beyond the theological tafsir, Stowasser analyzes both popular narratives of the “tales of the prophets” genre and representative samples of the classical historical and legal Hadith. A close reading of modern sources, including those by lay writers, shows the waning influence of these traditional materials in present-day Islamic thought. By telling the stories of the women of sacred history in Qur’an and interpretation, this book presents an introduction to past and present Islamic paradigms of doctrine and their socio-economic and political applications. Stowasser establishes the link between the female figures as cultural symbols, and Islamic self-perceptions from the beginning to the present time.
Wadud-Muhsin, Amina. Qur’an and Woman. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd., 1994.
This is an analysis of the concept of woman drawn directly from the Qur’an. An explicit attempt to return to the original source–the Qur’an–when the tendency has been to confuse the works of Islamic scholars with the Qur’an, it demonstrates that in order to maintain its relevance, the Qur’an must be continually reinterpreted; that the importance of the Qur’anic text is its transcendence of time and its expression of eternal values. It is not the text which restricts women, but the interpretations of the text which have come to be held in greater importance than the text. The significance of this analysis of the Qur’anic concept of woman is measured within the perspective of the text using it both as a force in history, politics, language, culture, intellect, and spirit, and as a divine text that presents guidance to humankind. This book sheds new light on the role of woman through reviewing the Qur’an itself with its principles of social justice and human equality and its objective of justice.
Walther, Wiebke. Women in Islam: From Medieval to Modern Times. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1995.
This book does not pretend that the society of Islam was dominated by women, but illustrates that the world from the classical period to modern times is also a woman’s world. Here we have tales of A’isha, who joined the forces of early followers of Muhammad in the disastrous Camel Battle; the fighter Umm Omara, who lost a hand in battle; the scholar of mysticism and freed slave Rabi’a al-Adawiyya; Khayzuran, the richest and most powerful woman; the poet Wallada, daughter of the Spanish Khalif. It interweaves the history of Islam with the role of Muslim women in traditional Islamic countries.
Islamic Culture
Ahmed, Akbar. Journey into America. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2010.
To shed light on this increasingly important religious group and counter mutual distrust, renowned scholar Akbar Ahmed conducted the most comprehensive study to date of the American Muslim community. Journey intoAmericaexplores and documents how Muslims are fitting into US. society, placing their experience within the larger context of American identity. This eye-opening book also offers a fresh and insightful perspective on American history and society. Following up on his critically acclaimed Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization (Brookings, 2007), Ahmed and his team of young researchers traveled for a year through more than seventy-five cities across the United States from New York City to Salt Lake City; from Las Vegas to Miami; from the large Muslim enclave in Dearborn, Michigan, to small, predominantly white towns like Arab, Alabama. They visited homes, schools, and over one hundred mosques to discover what Muslims are thinking and how they are living every day inAmerica. In this unprecedented exploration of American Muslim communities, Ahmed asked challenging questions: Can we expect an increase in homegrown terrorism? How do American Muslims of Arab descent differ from those of other origins (for example,SomaliaorSouth Asia)? Why are so many white women converting to Islam? How can a Muslim become accepted fully as an “American,” and what does that mean? He also delves into the potentially sticky area of relations with other religions. For example, is there truly a deep divide between Muslims and Jews inAmerica? And how well do Muslims get along with other religious groups, such as Mormons inUtah? Journey intoAmericais equal parts anthropological research, listening tour, and travelogue. Whereas Aluned’s previous book took the reader into homes, schools, and mosques in the Muslim world, his new quest takes us into the heart ofAmericaand its Muslim communities. It is absolutely essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of America today.
Coulson, Noel J. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1964.
Continuously reprinted and updated since its first publication in 1964, Professor Coulson’s classic introduction to Islamic law remains as relevant today as ever. It is the only complete description of the history of Islamic jurisprudence from its origins, through the Medieval period to the present, and will appeal to both the general and specialist reader.
Curtis, Edward E, ed. The Columbia Sourcebook of Muslims in the United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.
Since September 11, 2001, Muslims in theUnited Stateshave become the subject of genuine curiosity and compassion as well as increased government surveillance and harassment. Who are these Muslims? What is their history, and where do they come from? Do they share a common culture? Do they vary in their beliefs?
Bringing together an unusually personal collection of essays and documents from an incredibly diverse group of Americans who call themselves Muslims, Edward E. Curtis “finds Islam” in the American experience from colonial times to the present. Sampling from speeches, interviews, editorials, stories, song lyrics, articles, autobiographies, blogs, and other sources, Curtis presents a patchwork narrative of Muslims from different ethnic and class backgrounds, religious orientations, and political affiliations. He begins with a history of Muslims in theUnited States, featuring the voices of an enslaved African Muslim, a Syrian Muslim sodbuster, and a South Asian mystic-musician, along with the words of such well-known Muslims as Malcolm X. Then he follows with an examination of such contemporary issues as Islam and gender, the involvement of Muslims in American politics, and emerging forms of Islamic spirituality.
In constructing his history, Curtis draws on the work of Muslim feminists, social conservatives, interfaith activists, missionaries, and politicians, as well as Muslim rappers and legal experts. He also includes records from the large-scale migrations of the 1880s; racial, ethnic, and religious trends of the 1960s; writings from second-generation and African American Muslims; and discussions of Islam in the public square. With this highly informed, real-life portrait, Curtis provides a crucial corrective to the rhetoric of suspicion and fear surrounding current discussions of Muslims in the United States and emphasizes Muslims’ continuing impact on American society and culture.
Gregg, Gary S. The Middle East: A Cultural Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
For over a decade theMiddle Easthas monopolized news headlines in the West. Journalists and commentators regularly speculate that the region’s turmoil may stem from the psychological momentum of its cultural traditions or of a “tribal” or “fatalistic” mentality. Yet few studies of the region’s cultural psychology have provided a critical synthesis of psychological research on Middle Eastern societies. Drawing on autobiographies, literary works, ethnographic accounts, and life-history interviews, The Middle East: A Cultural Psychology, offers the first comprehensive summary of psychological writings on the region, reviewing works by psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists that have been written in English, Arabic, and French. Rejecting stereotypical descriptions of the “Arab mind” or “Muslim mentality,’ Gary Gregg adopts a life-span- development framework, examining influences on development in infancy, early childhood, late childhood, and adolescence as well as on identity formation in early and mature adulthood. He views patterns of development in the context of recent work in cultural psychology, and compares Middle Eastern patterns less with Western middle class norms than with those described for the region’s neighbors: Hindu India, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Mediterranean shore ofEurope. The research presented in this volume overwhelmingly suggests that the region’s strife stems much less from a stubborn adherence to tradition and resistance to modernity than from widespread frustration with broken promises of modernization–with the slow and halting pace of economic progress and democratization.
Guppy, Shusha. The Secret of Laughter: Magical Tales from Classical Persia. London: I.B. Tauris & Co., 2008.
Shusha Guppy, editor of The London Paris Review and prize winning author, narrates this unique collection of Persian stories that have been handed down through the generations. Although their sources have been lost over the ages, their memory runs through the collective psyche of the Iranian people and each tale reflects a deep cultural and psychological insight into the attitudes, values and structures which constitute Iranian society.
Malik, Jamal, ed. Muslims in Europe: From the Margin to the Centre. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2004.
This volume embodies an up-to-date and sensitive set of studies exploring the ongoing negotiation of European Muslim identities inEurope. The editor argues there has been hitherto a three-fold response on the part of Muslims inEurope(some of whom are now third generation Europeans): integration, isolation, and escapism. Today the latter two responses are giving way, it is argued, to an active shaping of Muslim European identities. The central issue remains: What degree of freedom and what potential for cultural and religious diversity can minorities have in an outwardly secular and plural European society?
Patai, Raphael. The Arab Mind. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1973.
An in-depth analysis of Arab society discusses the impact of Arab cultural and psychological characteristics on women’s rights, literacy, economics, relations between Arab nations, and the ability to integrate western knowledge and skills
Price-Jones, David. The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.
This important book explains how Arabs are closed in a circle defined by tribal, religious, and cultural traditions. David Pryce-Jones examines the tribal forces which, he believes, drive the Arabs in their dealings with each other and with the West. In the postwar world, he argues, the Arabs reverted to age-old tribal and kinship structures, a closed circle from which they have been unable to escape, and in which violence is systemic. A healthy corrective, a thought-provoking study.
Safi, Omid. Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism. Oxford: Oneworld, 2003.
Safi, a ColgateUniversityprofessor, assembles a diverse set of essays by and about “progressive” Muslims. The essays vary in topic and in effectiveness, but generally seek to challenge the images of Islam held by both xenophobic Westerners and extremist Muslims. Safi’s introduction, though showing insight into many problems today’s Muslims face but rarely discuss publicly, is clunky, citing sources from Gandhi to Bob Dylan. Part I offers hard-hitting essays that are sure to be controversial in their discussion of what scholar Tazim Kassam claims is a “curtailment… of civil liberties such as freedom of inquiry and the expression of dissenting opinions” in the U.S. after September 11. There are also some triumphant essays. Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle superbly analyzes Islam’s categorization of homosexuality as a sin in an essay that is long overdue and probably the only scholarly work of its kind. Gwendolyn Simmons’s piece demands the establishment of feminism as Islamic in a touching essay-cum-memoir that connects her growth as a Muslim female to her experience as a young African-American during the Civil Rights era. The incomparable Amina Wadud offers an excellent article on racial tensions between immigrant and indigenous Muslims, while Marcia Hermansen pens the volume’s bravest and most honest contribution, addressing the increasing conservatism of her American Muslim students-a topic previously not discussed outside the Muslim community. This collection is recommended for those who yearn for realistic information about Muslims, and for Muslims who are disgruntled with current Islamic leadership.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc
Schimmel, Annemarie. And Muhammad is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety. Chapel Hill, N.C.: 1985.
The important role of the Prophet Muhammad in the everyday lives of Muslims is usually overlooked by Western scholars and has consequently never been understood by the Western world. Using original sources in the various Islamic languages, Annemarie Schimmel explains the central place of Muhammad in Muslim life, mystical thought, and poetry. She sees the veneration of Muhammad as having many parallels in other major religions. In order to understand Muslim piety it is necessary to take into account the long history of the veneration of Muhammad. Schimmel discusses aspects of his life, birth, marriage, miracles, and heavenly journey, all of which became subjects for religious devotions. By using poetic texts and artistic expressions and by examining daily Muslim religious practices, Schimmel shows us the gentler side of Islamic religious culture, providing a much-needed understanding of religion as it is experienced and practiced in the Islamic world. This is the first book in English to deal with all aspects of the veneration of the Prophet Muhammad.
Shah-Kazemi, Reza. The Other in the Light of the One: The Universality of the Qur’an and Interfaith Dialogue. Islamic Texts Society, 2006.
Based on a profound study of Sufi spiritual teachers that includes Ibn al-Arabi, Rumi, and Ghazali, this book attempts to answer questions about the place of the Qur’an in the world today, such as Does the Qur’an promote peace and harmony or discord and conflict? Does it contribute to pluralism or exclusivism? and Is its message spiritual or fanatical? As an invitation to study the universality that is undoubtedly present in the Qur’an, the book’s aim is to relate some of the most profound interpretations of the Qur’an to philosophical and spiritual questions concerning interfaith dialogue. Rather than merely reproducing the ideas of the Sufis, it builds upon principles, takes advantage of insights, and applies them creatively to contemporary conditions, illustrating how a universalist perspective based on Sufi hermeneutics provides a third path between liberal pluralism and conservative exclusivism.
Interfaith Dialogue
Abu-Nimer, Mohammed and Muhammad Shafiq. Interfaith Dialogue: A Guide for Muslims. International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2007.
Islam recognizes a plurality of faiths and asks Muslims to respect others, and Muslims are responding to this call enthusiastically. Like their predecessors, many contemporary Muslims are eager to promote interfaith dialogue. But in order to do so effectively, they need to understand the challenges that face them in relating to other faith groups. This guide is an educational initiative to clarify misconceptions by introducing interfaith dialogue as it is defined in its contemporary usage.
Abu-Nimer, Mohammed, Abdul Said, and Meena Sharify-Funk, eds. Contemporary Islam: Dynamic, Not Static. New York: Routledge, 2006.
Contemporary Islam provides a counterweight to the prevailing opinions of Islamic thought as conservative and static with a preference for violence over dialogue. It gathers together a collection of eminent scholars from around the world who tackle issues such as intellectual pluralism, gender, the ethics of political participation, human rights, non-violence and religious harmony. This is a highly topical and important study which gives a progressive outlook for Islam’s role in modern politics and society.
Abu-Nimer, Mohammed. Nonviolence and Peacebuilding in Islam: Theory and Practice. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2003.
Written by a Muslim scholar, lecturer, and trainer in conflict resolution, this book examines the largely unexplored theme of nonviolence and peace building in Islamic religion, tradition, and culture. After comprehensively reviewing the existing studies on this topic, Abu-Nimer presents solid evidence for the existence of principles and values in the Qur’an, Hadith, and Islamic tradition that support the application of nonviolence and peace building strategies in resolving disputes.
He addresses the challenges that face the utilization of peace building and nonviolent strategies in an Islamic context and explores these challenges on both local and global levels. Through a discussion of the structural and cultural obstacles to peace building and nonviolence, the author explains the gap between Islamic values and ideals and their applications in day-to-day reality.
To illustrate the actual practice of these values and principles of peace building, the book analyzes three case studies, drawing from the political, sociocultural, and professional arenas. The initial case study discusses the First Palestinian Intifada; it is analyzed as a nonviolent political movement in which Islamic cultural and religious values and rituals played an important role in mobilizing communities to join the movement. The second case study focuses on the role that such values play in traditional Arab dispute-resolution practices such as Sulha (mediation, arbitration, and reconciliation); it extracts lessons and principles used by Arab traditional elders who peacefully resolve family, interpersonal, and community disputes. The third case study discusses the obstacles and challenges facing professionals who provide peace-building and conflict-resolution training and initiatives within the Islamic world.
Combining theory with practical applications of peace building, conflict resolution, and nonviolent initiatives in Islamic communities, Abu-Nimer provides a framework for further developing and utilizing these principles in an Islamic context.
Boase, Roger. Islam and Global Dialogue: Religious Pluralism and the Pursuit of Peace. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005.
At a time when the world is becoming increasingly interdependent, multi-cultural and multi-religious, the concept of religious pluralism is under assault as a result of hatred, prejudice and misunderstanding from both religious exclusivists and dogmatic secularists. In this important and timely book, twenty internationally acclaimed scholars and leading religious thinkers respond to contemporary challenges in different ways. Some discuss the idea of a dialogue of civilisations; others explore the interfaith principles and ethical resources of their own spiritual traditions. All of them reject the notion that any single religion can claim a monopoly of wisdom; all are committed to the ideal of a just and peaceful society in which people of different religions and cultures can happily coexist. More space is here given to Islam than to Judaism and Christianity because, as a result of negative stereotypes, it is the most misunderstood of the major world religions. HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan contributes the Foreword.
Bukhari, Zahid H., ed. Muslims’ Place in the American Public Square: Hope, Fears, and Aspirations. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2004.
This, the first volume from the Muslims in theAmerican Public Squareresearch project, gives theoretical and demographic portraits of Muslims in the American civil landscape.
Esposito, John L. and John O. Voll. Makers of Contemporary Islam. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
In this timely and important work, John Esposito and John Voll explore the development of contemporary Islamic movements and thought through the biographies of nine major activist intellectuals who represent a wide range of Muslim societies. Many Muslims have combined revivalist activism with intellectual efforts, but only a few have achieved significant international visibility and influence. By examining the lives and work of nine such internationally recognized figures, Esposito and Voll provide a new understanding of the intellectual foundations of contemporary Islamic awareness and politics.
Gulen, M. Fethullah. The Necessity of Interfaith Dialogue: A Muslim Perspective. Tughra, 2004.
Presenting the logic and framework of interfaith dialogue, this guide explains why such a dialogue can be difficult for Muslims and how this challenge can and should be met.
Pratt, Douglas. The Challenge of Islam: Encounters in Interfaith Dialogue. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005.
Addressing challenges arising from Christian-Muslim encounter, this book engages with the primary challenge – enabling outsiders to understand the religion of Islam. Douglas Pratt offers distinctive perspectives that complement much other literature in the study of Islam and in particular of Christian-Muslim relations and the relation of Islam and the West. Whilst in recent years there have been many introductions to Islam, a book that combines introductory material with issues of the relationship of Islam to Christianity and Judaism, and issues of dialogical engagement, is rare and offers an important complementary perspective to other texts.
Register, Ray G. Dialogue and Interfaith Witness with Muslims. Dayton, TN: Global Educational Advance, Inc., 2007.
At last, a book that attempts to understand and overcome the difficulties that block communication with Muslims with guidelines for sharing faith in dialogue rather than monologue. It faces squarely the thorny questions of the Cross, the Son of God, The Gospel of Barnabas, and Intermarriage with Muslims, plus many others. This book shares the common ground needed to overcome the communications barrier with Muslims.
Ridgeon, Lloyd and Perry Schmidt-Leukel, eds. Islam and Inter-faith Relations: The Gerald Weisfeld Lectures 2006. London: SCM Press, 2007.
In this succinct, clarifying volume, five world-renowned Muslim theologians meet with scholars of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism to engage in a vivid dialogue. The Muslim realm once stretched fromSpaintoChina. Islam encountered and connected with a vast spectrum of different cultures and today is obviously an incredibly significant influence across the globe. What can Islam give to and what might Islam receive from other great faiths? What are the major points of conflict and how can these be resolved? Each chapter follows a similar pattern of presenting an Islamic view, followed by the view of another world religion. Then both contributors to each chapter reflect on the shared values as well as the conflicting areas, looking to possible resolutions for the future. Each chapter features suggested further reading to point students and other readers in the right direction for further study.
Swidler, Leonard. Muslims in Dialogue: The Evolution of a Dialogue. Lewiston, NY: E. Mellen Press, 1992.
This volume presents in “empirical” fashion the development of the entrance of Islam into dialogue. “Dialogue” is defined as the approach to encounters with other religions and ideologies not primarily in the teaching mode – as holding alone the secret of life – but primarily in the learning mode – seeking to find more of the secret of the meaning of life. Gathered here are almost all the articles dealing with Islam that appeared in the Journal of Ecumenical Studies or books spun off it from over the past generation, tracing Islam’s slow, painful, and at times quite reluctant move to dialogue.
