Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

This book will be immensely helpful to those who wish to orient themselves to what has become a very large body of literature on medieval Islamic history. Combining a bibliographic study with an inquiry into method, it opens with a survey of the principal reference tools available to historians of Islam and a systematic review of the sources they will confront. Problems of method are then examined in a series of... (more)

In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad

In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad

by Tariq Ramadan

Named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most important innovators of the century, Tariq Ramadan is a leading Muslim scholar, with a large following especially among young European and American Muslims. Now, in his first book written for a wide audience, he offers a marvelous biography of the Prophet Muhammad, one that highlights the spiritual and ethical teachings of one of the most influential figures in human... (more)

The Malady of Islam

by Abdelwahab Meddeb

A defense of Islam, and an indictment of religious fundamentalism, addressed to Islamic and Western readers. In this impassioned, erudite, and deeply moving book, Abdelwahab Meddeb, born and raised in Tunis and now living in Paris, details the breadth and scope of the Arab intellectual tradition and dismantles common preconceptions held by the Islamic and Western worlds. He describes the growing resentment... (more)

Islam & Christianity Conflict or Conciliation: A Comparative and Textual Analysis of the Koran & the Bible

Islam & Christianity Conflict or Conciliation: A Comparative and Textual Analysis of the Koran & the Bible

by Muhammed A. Asadi

The Koran from the beginning has sought conciliation with the “People of the Book.” It presented itself as “all-inclusive” to members of all religions based on their sincerity in accepting the truth when it gets to them. In this context, it states that all those who believe in God and the last day, regardless of label, will have nothing to fear. Christians are termed as the “closest” to the Muslims in... (more)

Islam

by Hans Kung

For more than two decades the world religions have been a central topic for Hans Kung. In books which have inspired millions throughout the world, he has pioneered work towards a new dialogue between cultures. In this extraordinarily comprehensive book, he gives an in-depth account of Islam, the second largest world religion after Christianity. Describing paradigm shifts in its 1400-year history, outlining the... (more)

The Saudi Enigma: A History

by Pascal Me?noret

Despite speculation about Saudi interests and loyalties that have been directed at the country since 9/11, Arabia remains the key US ally in the Arab Middle East. Ménoret debunks the facile notions about Saudi society, and focuses our attention on present political and economic realities that cannot be reduced to essentialist "tribalist" ideas. Ménoret illustrates the emerging autonomous--and... (more)

A History of Islamic Law (Islamic Surveys)

A History of Islamic Law (Islamic Surveys)

by Noel J. Coulson

The classic introduction to Islamic law, tracing its development from its origins,through the medieval period, to its place in modern Islam.

Islam; or the natural religion of man: A brief sketch of its principles as given in the holy Quaran,Muhammad Ali

Islam; or the natural religion of man: A brief sketch of its principles as given in the holy Quaran,

by Muhammad Ali

A History of Islamic Societies

by Ira M. Lapidus

Long considered a classic, A History of Islamic Societies is now that much more useful a reference for general readers and scholars alike. Widely praised for its balanced and comprehensive account, Ira Lapidus' work has been fully revised in its coverage of each country and region of the Muslim world through 2001. It incorporates the origins and evolution of Islamic societies and brings into focus the historical... (more)

Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought

Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought

by Daniel W. Brown

Modern Muslim intellectuals have been trying to reestablish a foundation for the revival of Islamic law. In this fascinating study, Daniel Brown assesses the implications of new approaches to the law on contemporary Islamic revivalist movements, and explores the impact of modernity on attitudes toward religious authority generally. This book will make a major contribution to the understanding of contemporary... (more)

No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam

No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam

by Reza Aslan

Though it is the fastest-growing religion in the world, Islam remains shrouded in ignorance and fear for much of the West. In No god but God, Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed scholar of religions, explains this faith in all its beauty and complexity. Beginning with a vivid account of the social and religious milieu in which the Prophet Muhammad forged his message, Aslan paints a portrait of the first... (more)

Masnavi

by Jalaludin Rumi

Rumi's Masnavi is widely recognized as the greatest Sufi poem ever written, and has been called "the Koran in Persian." The thirteenth-century Muslim mystic Rumi composed his work for the benefit of his disciples in the Sufi order named after him, better known as the whirling dervishes. In order to convey his message of divine love and unity he threaded together entertaining stories and penetrating homilies.... (more)

A History of the Arab Peoples: Second Edition

A History of the Arab Peoples: Second Edition

by Albert Habib Hourani

No region in the world today is more important than the Middle East: no people more misunderstood than the Arabs. In this definitive masterwork, distinguished Oxford historian Albert Hourani offers the most lucid, enlightening history ever written on the subject. From the rise of Island to the Palestinian issue, from the Prophet Mohammed to Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi. A History of the Arab Peoples chronicles... (more)

The Oxford History of Islam

by John L. Esposito

Lavishly illustrated with over 300 pictures, including more than 200 in full color, The Oxford History of Islam offers the most wide-ranging and authoritative account available of the second largest--and fastest growing--religion in the world. John L. Esposito, Editor-in-Chief of the four-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, has gathered together sixteen leading scholars, both Muslim and... (more)

The Antichrist and Gog and Magog

by Muhammad Ali

Born in Punjab (India) Maulana Muhammad Ali had a distinguished acadamic record, obtaining degrees in English and Law by 1899. As he stood on the treshold of a lucrative career in law, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, the reformer (mujaddid) of the 14th century Hijra and the promised messiah, called on him to devote his life to the service of Islam.

Social Justice in Islam

by Sayyid Qutb

"Social Justice in Islam" is perhaps the best known work of Sayyib Qutb, a leading figure in the Muslim Brethen of Egypt who was executed by the regime of 'Abd al-Nasr in 1966. Despite the years that have passed since Sayyid Qutb's death, the imprint of his thought on the contemporary Islamic movements of the Arab world remains profound. The Arabic original of "Social Justice in Islam" was first published in... (more)

MilestonesSayyid Qutb

Milestones

by Sayyid Qut?b

The author speaks about the unique Quranic generation, the nature of the Quranic method, the characteristics of Islamic society, jihad in the cause of God, and a Muslim s nationality and his belief among other things.

In the Shade of the QuranSayyid Qutb

In the Shade of the Quran

by Sayyid Qut?b

Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition (Publications of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies)

Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition (Publications of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies)

by Fazlur Rahman

"As Professor Fazlur Rahman shows in the latest of a series of important contributions to Islamic intellectual history, the characteristic problems of the Muslim modernists—the adaptation to the needs of the contemporary situation of a holy book which draws its specific examples from the conditions of the seventh century and earlier—are by no means new. . . . In Professor Rahman's view the intellectual and... (more)

Western Muslims and the Future of Islam

by Tariq Ramadan

In a Western world suddenly acutely interested in Islam, one question has been repeatedly heard above the din: where are the Muslim reformers? With this ambitious volume, Tariq Ramadan firmly establishes himself as one of Europe's leading thinkers and one of Islam's most innovative and important voices. As the number of Muslims living in the West grows, the question of what it means to be a Western Muslim becomes... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: islamic reform and research

by R. Stephen Humphreys

by Tariq Ramadan

by Abdelwahab Meddeb

by Muhammed A. Asadi

by Hans Kung

by Pascal Me?noret

by Noel J. Coulson

by Muhammad Ali

by Ira M. Lapidus

by Daniel W. Brown

by Reza Aslan

by Jalaludin Rumi

by Albert Habib Hourani

by John L. Esposito

by Muhammad Ali

by Sayyid Qutb

by Sayyid Qut?b

by Sayyid Qut?b

by Fazlur Rahman

by Tariq Ramadan