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seeing islam as others saw it: Seeing Islam as Others Saw It: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam Robert G. Hoyland, 2014-01-10 This book offers a new approach to the vexing question of how to write the early history of Islam. The first part discusses the nature of the Muslim and non-Muslim source material for the seventh- and eighth-century Middle East and argues that by lessening the divide between these two traditions, which has largely been erected by modern scholarship, we can come to a better appreciation of this crucial period. The second part gives a detailed survey of sources and an analysis of some 120 non-Muslim texts, all of which provide information about the first century and a half of Islam (roughly A.D. 620-780). The third part furnishes examples, according to the approach suggested in the first part and with the material presented in the second part, how one might write the history of this time. The fourth part takes the form of excurses on various topics, such as the process of Islamization, the phenomenon of conversion to Islam, the development of techniques for determining the direction of prayer, and the conquest of Egypt. Because this work views Islamic history with the aid of non-Muslim texts and assesses the latter in the light of Muslim writings, it will be essential reading for historians of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or Zoroastrianism--indeed, for all those with an interest in cultures of the eastern Mediterranean in its traditional phase from Late Antiquity to medieval times. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Arabia and the Arabs Robert G. Hoyland, 2001 Using a wide range of sources - inscriptions, poetry, histories, and archaeological evidence - Robert G. Hoyland explores the main cultural areas of Arabia, from ancient Sheba in the South, to the deserts and oases of the north. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Textual Criticism and Qur'an Manuscripts Keith E. Small, 2011-04-22 This unique work takes a method of textual analysis commonly used in studies of ancient Western and Eastern manuscripts and applies it to twenty-one early Qur'an manuscripts. Keith Small analyzes a defined portion of text from the Qur'an with two aims in view: to recover the earliest form of text for this portion, and to trace the historical development of this portion to the current form of the text of the Qur'an. Small concludes that though a significantly early edited form of the consonantal text of the Qur'an can be recovered, its original forms of text cannot be obtained. He also documents the further editing that was required to record the Arabic text of the Qur'an in a complete phonetic script, as well as providing an explanation for much of the development of various recitation systems of the Qur'an. This controversial, thought-provoking book provides a rigorous examination into the history of the Qur'an and will be of great interest to Quranic Studies scholars. |
seeing islam as others saw it: A Prophet Has Appeared Stephen J. Shoemaker, 2021-03-02 Early Islam has emerged as a lively site of historical investigation, and scholars have challenged the traditional accounts of Islamic origins by drawing attention to the wealth of non-Islamic sources that describe the rise of Islam. A Prophet Has Appeared brings this approach to the classroom. This collection provides students and scholars with carefully selected, introduced, and annotated materials from non-Islamic sources dating to the early years of Islam. These can be read alone or alongside the Qur'an and later Islamic materials. Applying historical-critical analysis, the volume moves these invaluable sources to more equal footing with later Islamic narratives about Muhammad and the formation of his new religious movement. Included are new English translations of sources by twenty authors, originally written in not only Greek and Latin but also Syriac, Georgian, Armenian, Hebrew, and Arabic and spanning a geographic range from England to Egypt and Iran. Ideal for the classroom and personal library, this sourcebook provides readers with the tools to meaningfully approach a new, burgeoning area of Islamic studies. |
seeing islam as others saw it: When Christians First Met Muslims Michael Philip Penn, 2015-03-21 The first Christians to meet Muslims were not Latin-speaking Christians from the western Mediterranean or Greek-speaking Christians from Constantinople but rather Christians from northern Mesopotamia who spoke the Aramaic dialect of Syriac. Living in what constitutes modern-day Iran, Iraq, Syria, and eastern Turkey, these Syriac Christians were under Muslim rule from the seventh century to the present. They wrote the earliest and most extensive accounts of Islam and described a complicated set of religious and cultural exchanges not reducible to the solely antagonistic. Through its critical introductions and new translations of this invaluable historical material, When Christians First Met Muslims allows scholars, students, and the general public to explore the earliest interactions of what eventually became the world's two largest religions, shedding new light on Islamic history and Christian-Muslim relations. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Did Muhammad Exist? Robert Spencer, 2021-07-13 Are jihadis dying for a fiction? Everything you thought you knew about Islam is about to change. Is there any sound historical evidence that the prophet of Islam actually existed, or is the entire story of Muhammad fable or fiction? It is a question that few have thought—or dared—to ask. Virtually everyone, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, takes for granted that the prophet of Islam lived as a prophet, as well as a political and military leader, in seventh-century Arabia. But this widely accepted story begins to crumble on close examination. In his blockbuster New York Times bestseller The Truth about Muhammad, historian and Islam expert Robert Spencer revealed the often shocking contents of Islamic teachings about Muhammad. Now, in this newly revised and expanded version of Did Muhammad Exist?, he lays bare those teachings’ surprisingly shaky historical foundations. This updated and enlarged version of this acclaimed book examines even more striking and compelling evidence that the story of Muhammad, who for so long was assumed to have lived in the “full light of history,” could be more myth and legend than historical fact. Spencer meticulously examines historical records and archaeological findings, pioneering new scholarship to reconstruct what we can know about Muhammad, the Qur’an, and the early days of Islam. The evidence he presents challenges the most fundamental assumptions about Islam’s origins. |
seeing islam as others saw it: In God's Path Robert G. Hoyland, 2014-10-01 In just over a hundred years--from the death of Muhammad in 632 to the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750--the followers of the Prophet swept across the whole of the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain. Their armies threatened states as far flung as the Franks in Western Europe and the Tang Empire in China. The conquered territory was larger than the Roman Empire at its greatest expansion, and it was claimed for the Arabs in roughly half the time. How this collection of Arabian tribes was able to engulf so many empires, states, and armies in such a short period has perplexed historians for centuries. Most accounts of the Arab invasions have been based almost solely on the early Muslim sources, which were composed centuries later to illustrate the divinely chosen status of the Arabs. Robert Hoyland's groundbreaking new history assimilates not only the rich biographical information of the early Muslim sources but also the many non-Arabic sources, contemporaneous or near-contemporaneous with the conquests. In God's Path begins with a broad picture of the Late Antique world prior to the Prophet's arrival, a world dominated by two superpowers: Byzantium and Sasanian Persia. In between these empires, emerged a distinct Arabian identity, which helped forge the inhabitants of western Arabia into a formidable fighting force. The Arabs are the principal actors in this drama yet, as Hoyland shows, the peoples along the edges of Byzantium and Persia--the Khazars, Bulgars, Avars, and Turks--all played critical roles in the remaking of the old world order. The new faith propagated by Muhammad and his successors made it possible for many of the conquered peoples to join the Arabs in creating the first Islamic Empire. Well-paced, comprehensive, and eminently readable, In God's Path presents a sweeping narrative of a transformational period in world history. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty Mustafa Akyol, 2011-07-18 “A delightfully original take on…the prospects for liberal democracy in the broader Islamic Middle East.”—Matthew Kaminski, Wall Street Journal As the Arab Spring threatens to give way to authoritarianism in Egypt and reports from Afghanistan detail widespread violence against U.S. troops and women, news from the Muslim world raises the question: Is Islam incompatible with freedom? In Islam without Extremes, Turkish columnist Mustafa Akyol answers this question by revealing the little-understood roots of political Islam, which originally included both rationalist, flexible strains and more dogmatic, rigid ones. Though the rigid traditionalists won out, Akyol points to a flourishing of liberalism in the nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire and the unique “Islamo-liberal synthesis” in present-day Turkey. As he powerfully asserts, only by accepting a secular state can Islamic societies thrive. Islam without Extremes offers a desperately needed intellectual basis for the reconcilability of Islam and liberty. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Is Islam an Enemy of the West? Tamara Sonn, 2016-11-17 New York, Washington, Madrid, London and now Paris Ð the list of Western cities targeted by radical Islamic terrorists waging global jihad continues to grow. Does this extreme violence committed in the name of Islam point to a fundamental enmity between the Muslim faith and the West? In this compelling essay, leading scholar of Islam Tamara Sonn argues that whilst the West has many enemies among Muslims, it is politics not religion that informs their grievances. The longer these demands remain frustrated, the more violence has escalated and recruitment to groups like Islamic State has increased. Far from quelling the spread of Islamic extremism, Western military intervention has helped to turn nationalist movements into radical terrorist groups with international agendas. Islam, Sonn concludes, is not the problem, just as war is not the solution. |
seeing islam as others saw it: What's Right with Islam Feisal Abdul Rauf, 2005-04-26 An American imam offers answers for today's toughest questions about Islam, and a vision for a reconciliation between Islam and the West. One of the pressing questions of our time is what went wrong in the relationship between Muslims and the West. Continuing global violence in the name of Islam reflects the deepest fears by certain Muslim factions of Western political, cultural, and economic encroachment. The solution to the current antagonism requires finding common ground upon which to build mutual respect and understanding. Who better to offer such an analysis than an American imam, someone with a foot in each world and the tools to examine the common roots of both Western and Muslim cultures; someone to explain to the non-Islamic West not just what went wrong with Islam, but what's right with Islam. Focused on finding solutions, not on determining fault, this is ultimately a hopeful, inspiring book. What's Right with Islam systematically lays out the reasons for the current dissonance between these cultures and offers a foundation and plan for improved relations. Wide-ranging in scope, What's Right with Islam elaborates in satisfying detail a vision for a Muslim world that can eventually embrace its own distinctive forms of democracy and capitalism, aspiring to a new Cordoba - a time when Jews, Christians, Muslims, and all other faith traditions will live together in peace and prosperity. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment Ahmet T. Kuru, 2019-08-01 Why do Muslim-majority countries exhibit high levels of authoritarianism and low levels of socio-economic development in comparison to world averages? Ahmet T. Kuru criticizes explanations which point to Islam as the cause of this disparity, because Muslims were philosophically and socio-economically more developed than Western Europeans between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Nor was Western colonialism the cause: Muslims had already suffered political and socio-economic problems when colonization began. Kuru argues that Muslims had influential thinkers and merchants in their early history, when religious orthodoxy and military rule were prevalent in Europe. However, in the eleventh century, an alliance between orthodox Islamic scholars (the ulema) and military states began to emerge. This alliance gradually hindered intellectual and economic creativity by marginalizing intellectual and bourgeois classes in the Muslim world. This important study links its historical explanation to contemporary politics by showing that, to this day, ulema-state alliance still prevents creativity and competition in Muslim countries. |
seeing islam as others saw it: An Early Christian Reaction to Islam Iskandar Bcheiry, 2019-11-19 The year 652 marked a fundamental political change in the Middle East and the surrounding region. An important and contemporary source of the state of the Christian Church at this time is to be found in the correspondence of the patriarch of the Church of the East, Isū'yahb III (649-659), which he wrote between 628 and 658. This books discusses Isū'yahb's view of and attitudes toward the Muslim Arabs. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Islam and Asia Chiara Formichi, 2020-05-07 An accessible, transregional exploration of how Islam and Asia have shaped each other's histories, societies and cultures from the seventh century to today. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Why, as a Muslim, I Defend Liberty Mustafa Akyol, 2021-09-28 Islam, the second largest religion in the world, has several authoritarian interpretations today that defy human freedom—by executing “apostates” or “blasphemers,” imposing religious practices, or discriminating against women or minorities. In Why, as a Muslim, I Support Liberty, Mustafa Akyol offers a bold critique of this trouble, by frankly acknowledging its roots in the religious tradition. But Akyol also shows that Islam has “seeds of freedom” as well—in the Qur'an, the life of the Prophet Muhammad, and the complex history of the Islamic civilization. It is past time, he argues, to grow those seeds into maturity, and reinterpret Islamic law and politics under the Qur'anic maxim, “No compulsion in religion.” Akyol shows that the major reinterpretation Islam needs now is similar to the transformation that began in Western Christianity back in the 17th century, with the groundbreaking ideas of classical liberal thinkers such as John Locke. The author goes back and forth between classical liberalism and the Islamic tradition, to excavate little-noticed parallels, first highlighted by the “Islamic liberals” of the late Ottoman Empire, unknown to many Muslims and non-Muslims today. In short chapters, Akyol digs into big questions. Why do Muslims need to “reform” the Sharia? But is there something to “revive” in the Sharia as well? Should Muslims really glorify “conquest,” or rather believe in social contract? Is capitalism really alien to Islam, which has a rich heritage of free markets and civil society? Finally, he addresses a suspicion common among Muslims today: What if liberty is a mere cover used by Western powers to advance their imperialist schemes? With personal stories, historical anecdotes, theological insights, and a very accessible prose, this is the little big book on the intersection of Islam and liberty. |
seeing islam as others saw it: The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood, 2011-09-06 An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from “the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction” (New York Times). Now an award-winning Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss. In this multi-award-winning, bestselling novel, Margaret Atwood has created a stunning Orwellian vision of the near future. This is the story of Offred, one of the unfortunate “Handmaids” under the new social order who have only one purpose: to breed. In Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships, Offred’s persistent memories of life in the “time before” and her will to survive are acts of rebellion. Provocative, startling, prophetic, and with Margaret Atwood’s devastating irony, wit, and acute perceptive powers in full force, The Handmaid’s Tale is at once a mordant satire and a dire warning. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Islamic Historiography Chase F. Robinson, 2003 How did Muslims of the classical Islamic period understand their past? What value did they attach to history? How did they write history? How did historiography fare relative to other kinds of Arabic literature? These and other questions are answered in Chase F. Robinson's Islamic Historiography, an introduction to the principal genres, issues, and problems of Islamic historical writing in Arabic, that stresses the social and political functions of historical writing in the Islamic world. Beginning with the origins of the tradition in the eighth and ninth centuries and covering its development until the beginning of the sixteenth century, this is an authoritative and yet accessible guide through a complex and forbidding field, which is intended for readers with little or no background in Islamic history or Arabic. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Annihilation of Caste B.R. Ambedkar, 2014-10-07 B.R. Ambedkar's Annihilation of Caste is one of the most important, yet neglected, works of political writing from India. Written in 1936, it is an audacious denunciation of Hinduism and its caste system. It offers a scholarly critique of Hindu scriptures, scriptures that sanction a rigidly hierarchical and iniquitous social system. Arundhati Roy introduces this extensively annotated edition in The Doctor and the Saint, examining the persistence of caste in modern India, and how the conflict between Ambedkar and Gandhi continues to resonate. Roy breathes new life into Ambedkar's anti-caste utopia, and says that without a Dalit revolution, India will continue to be hobbled by systemic inequality. |
seeing islam as others saw it: The Clash of Fundamentalisms Tariq Ali, 2020-05-05 The aerial attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, a global spectacle of unprecedented dimensions, generated an enormous volume of commentary. The inviolability of the American mainland, breached for the first time since 1812, led to extravagant proclamations by the pundits. It was a new world-historical turning point. The 21st century, once greeted triumphantly as marking the dawn of a worldwide neo-liberal civilization, suddenly became menaced. The choice presented from the White House and its supporters was to stand shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism or be damned. Tariq Ali challenges these assumptions, arguing instead that what we have experienced is the return of History in a horrific form, with religious symbols playing a part on both sides: 'Allah's revenge,' 'God is on Our Side' and 'God Bless America.' The visible violence of September 11 was the response to the invisible violence that has been inflicted on countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Palestine and Chechnya. Some of this has been the direct responsibility of the United States and Russia. In this wide-ranging book that provides an explanation for both the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and new forms of Western colonialism, Tariq Ali argues that many of the values proclaimed by the Enlightenment retain their relevance, while portrayals of the American Empire as a new emancipatory project are misguided. |
seeing islam as others saw it: From Albania to Arrān Robert Hoyland, 2020 The first ever study in English dedicated to Albania in Late Antiquity to the Medieval period........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... |
seeing islam as others saw it: The Life of Simeon of the Olives Robert Hoyland, Sebastian Brock, 2021-06-03 The first ever critical edition and complete translation of the Syriac Life of Saint Simeon of the Olives, who was an abbot of Qartmin Monastery in Tur Abdin and a bishop of the city of Harran in the late seventh and early eighth century AD-- |
seeing islam as others saw it: The Quran and the Secular Mind Shabbir Akhtar, 2007-10-31 This book is concerned with the rationality and plausibility of the Muslim faith and the Qur'an, and in particular how they can be interrogated and understood through Western analytical philosophy. It also explores how Islam can successfully engage with the challenges posed by secular thinking. The Quran and the Secular Mind will be of interest to students and scholars of Islamic philosophy, philosophy of religion, Middle East studies, and political Islam. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Letters to a Young Muslim Omar Saif Ghobash, 2017-01-03 The UAE ambassador to Russia shares a bold and intimate exploration of what it means to be Muslim in the 21st century. In a series of personal letters to his sons, Omar Saif Ghobash tackles the dilemmas facing not only young Muslims but everyone navigating the complexities of today’s world. Full of thoughtful reflections on faith, culture and society, Letters to a Young Muslim is a courageous manifesto that celebrates individuality while recognizing our shared humanity. Combining the worldly experience of a diplomat and the personal responsibility of a father, Ghobash stresses the importance of empathy and critical thinking. With an intimate and hopeful glimpse into a world many are unfamiliar with, this book sheds light on the everyday struggles of Muslims around the globe. *One of Time's Most Anticipated Books of 2017, a Bustle Best Nonfiction Pick for January 2017, a Chicago Review of Books Best Book to Read in January 2017, a Stylist Magazine Best Book of 2017, included in New Statesman's What to Read in 2017* |
seeing islam as others saw it: Rulers, Religion, and Riches Jared Rubin, 2017-02-16 For centuries following the spread of Islam, the Middle East was far ahead of Europe. Yet, the modern economy was born in Europe. Why was it not born in the Middle East? In this book Jared Rubin examines the role that Islam played in this reversal of fortunes. It argues that the religion itself is not to blame; the importance of religious legitimacy in Middle Eastern politics was the primary culprit. Muslim religious authorities were given an important seat at the political bargaining table, which they used to block important advancements such as the printing press and lending at interest. In Europe, however, the Church played a weaker role in legitimizing rule, especially where Protestantism spread (indeed, the Reformation was successful due to the spread of printing, which was blocked in the Middle East). It was precisely in those Protestant nations, especially England and the Dutch Republic, where the modern economy was born. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Islam and the West Bernard Lewis, 1994-10-27 Hailed in The New York Times Book Review as the doyen of Middle Eastern studies, Bernard Lewis has been for half a century one of the West's foremost scholars of Islamic history and culture, the author of over two dozen books, most notably The Arabs in History, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, The Political Language of Islam, and The Muslim Discovery of Europe. Eminent French historian Robert Mantran has written of Lewis's work: How could one resist being attracted to the books of an author who opens for you the doors of an unknown or misunderstood universe, who leads you within to its innermost domains: religion, ways of thinking, conceptions of power, culture--an author who upsets notions too often fixed, fallacious, or partisan. In Islam and the West, Bernard Lewis brings together in one volume eleven essays that indeed open doors to the innermost domains of Islam. Lewis ranges far and wide in these essays. He includes long pieces, such as his capsule history of the interaction--in war and peace, in commerce and culture--between Europe and its Islamic neighbors, and shorter ones, such as his deft study of the Arabic word watan and what its linguistic history reveals about the introduction of the idea of patriotism from the West. Lewis offers a revealing look at Edward Gibbon's portrait of Muhammad in Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (unlike previous writers, Gibbon saw the rise of Islam not as something separate and isolated, nor as a regrettable aberration from the onward march of the church, but simply as a part of human history); he offers a devastating critique of Edward Said's controversial book, Orientalism; and he gives an account of the impediments to translating from classic Arabic to other languages (the old dictionaries, for one, are packed with scribal errors, misreadings, false analogies, and etymological deductions that pay little attention to the evolution of the language). And he concludes with an astute commentary on the Islamic world today, examining revivalism, fundamentalism, the role of the Shi'a, and the larger question of religious co-existence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews. A matchless guide to the background of Middle East conflicts today, Islam and the West presents the seasoned reflections of an eminent authority on one of the most intriguing and little understood regions in the world. |
seeing islam as others saw it: The Atheist Muslim Ali A. Rizvi, 2016-11-22 In much of the Muslim world, religion is the central foundation upon which family, community, morality, and identity are built. The inextricable embedment of religion in Muslim culture has forced a new generation of non-believing Muslims to face the heavy costs of abandoning their parents’ religion: disowned by their families, marginalized from their communities, imprisoned, or even sentenced to death by their governments. Struggling to reconcile the Muslim society he was living in as a scientist and physician and the religion he was being raised in, Ali A. Rizvi eventually loses his faith. Discovering that he is not alone, he moves to North America and promises to use his new freedom of speech to represent the voices that are usually quashed before reaching the mainstream media—the Atheist Muslim. In The Atheist Muslim, we follow Rizvi as he finds himself caught between two narrative voices he cannot relate to: extreme Islam and anti-Muslim bigotry in a post-9/11 world. The Atheist Muslim recounts the journey that allows Rizvi to criticize Islam—as one should be able to criticize any set of ideas—without demonizing his entire people. Emotionally and intellectually compelling, his personal story outlines the challenges of modern Islam and the factors that could help lead it toward a substantive, progressive reformation. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Face to Face with Jesus Bodie Thoene, Samaa Habib, 2014-05-27 It starts as a story ripped from the headlines of the war-torn Middle East. An extremist faction of Islam bombs a church during a service. The one door in the back isn't big enough for five hundred people trying to escape. Some are killed. But after the chaos and fire and smoke, one young woman comes back to life. In this thrilling true tale, death does not have the final word. From the first time Samaa heard the Lord Jesus calling her out of Islam into faith in Him, till she met Him face to face in heaven, her life is marked by God's supernatural love and power. Full of hope and encouragement, and overflowing with Jesus' love, her riveting account reveals the power of God to break through any circumstance--and is a moving reminder that, in a place beyond what we can imagine, we have a Savior waiting to welcome us face to face. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Defining Christ Marijke Metselaar, 2019 Defining Christ describes the theological developments of the Church of the East in the Persian Empire in the seventh century, when Arab groupings were seizing power. This Church defined and emphasized the difference between the divine and human nature of Christ in such a way that it had already come in strong conflict with other Christian denominations. Now, it also had to deal with new rulers who recognized Christ as a unique human being, but rejected the belief in his divinity. The book investigates to what extent the leaders of this Church adapted their statements concerning Christ to the rapidly changing circumstances and views. Most attention is thereby given to the 106 letters of Isho'yahb III, written between about 625 and 659. These letters shed an interesting light on this period and for a better understanding they are set in the context of wider theological and political developments. |
seeing islam as others saw it: The Caliphate of Man Andrew F. March, 2019-09-03 Islamist thinkers used to debate the doctrine of the caliphate of man, which holds that God is sovereign but has appointed the multitude of believers as His vicegerent. Andrew March argues that the doctrine underpins a democratic vision of popular rule over governments and clerics. But is this an ideal regime destined to survive only in theory? |
seeing islam as others saw it: The Book of the Jihad of 'Ali ibn Tahir al-Sulami (d. 1106) Niall Christie, 2017-07-05 In 1105, six years after the first crusaders from Europe conquered Jerusalem, a Damascene Muslim jurisprudent named ’Ali ibn Tahir al-Sulami (d. 1106) publicly dictated an extended call to the military jihad (holy war) against the European invaders. Entitled Kitab al-Jihad (The Book of the Jihad), al-Sulami’s work both summoned his Muslim brethren to the jihad and instructed them in the manner in which it ought to be conducted, covering topics as diverse as who should fight and be fought, treatment of prisoners and plunder, and the need for participants to fight their own inner sinfulness before turning their efforts against the enemy. Al-Sulami’s text is vital for a complete understanding of the Muslim reaction to the crusades, providing the reader with the first contemporary record of Muslim preaching against the crusaders. However, until recently only a small part of the text has been studied by modern scholars, as it has remained for the most part an unedited manuscript. In this book Niall Christie provides a complete edition and the first full English translation of the extant sections (parts 2, 8, 9 and 12) of the manuscript of al-Sulami’s work, making it fully available to modern readers for the first time. These are accompanied by an introductory study exploring the techniques that the author uses to motivate his audience, the precedents that influenced his work, and possible directions for future study of the text. In addition, an appendix provides translations of jihad sermons by Ibn Nubata al-Fariqi (d. 985), a preacher from Asia Minor whose rhetorical style was highly influential in the development of al-Sulami’s work. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Envisioning Islam Michael Philip Penn, 2015-06-05 The first Christians to encounter Islam were not Latin-speakers from the western Mediterranean or Greek-speakers from Constantinople but Mesopotamian Christians who spoke the Aramaic dialect of Syriac. Under Muslim rule from the seventh century onward, Syriac Christians wrote the most extensive descriptions extant of early Islam. Seldom translated and often omitted from modern historical reconstructions, this vast body of texts reveals a complicated and evolving range of religious and cultural exchanges that took place from the seventh to the ninth century. The first book-length analysis of these earliest encounters, Envisioning Islam highlights the ways these neglected texts challenge the modern scholarly narrative of early Muslim conquests, rulers, and religious practice. Examining Syriac sources including letters, theological tracts, scientific treatises, and histories, Michael Philip Penn reveals a culture of substantial interreligious interaction in which the categorical boundaries between Christianity and Islam were more ambiguous than distinct. The diversity of ancient Syriac images of Islam, he demonstrates, revolutionizes our understanding of the early Islamic world and challenges widespread cultural assumptions about the history of exclusively hostile Christian-Muslim relations. |
seeing islam as others saw it: The Hidden Origins of Islam Karl-Heinz Ohlig, Gerd-R. Puin, 2010 Based on the premise that reliable history can only be written on the basis of sources that are contemporary with the events described, the contributors to this in-depth investigation present research that reveals the obscure origins of Islam in a completely new light. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Early Islamic Qiblas Dan Gibson, 2017 For the first time in history Dan Gibson has undertaken a comprehensive survey of Islamic mosques from the first two centuries of Islam. Using this data, Gibson demonstrates that Muhammad and the first four caliphs never knew of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. This book shatters old perspective about Islamic history and is unlocking the truth about Islam. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Letter from Birmingham Jail MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., Martin Luther King, 2018 This landmark missive from one of the greatest activists in history calls for direct, non-violent resistance in the fight against racism, and reflects on the healing power of love. |
seeing islam as others saw it: The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini, 2007 Traces the unlikely friendship of a wealthy Afghan youth and a servant's son in a tale that spans the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy through the atrocities of the present day. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Introduction to Islam M. Cherif Bassiouni, 1985 |
seeing islam as others saw it: The Early Arabic Historical Tradition ALBRECHT. CONRAD NOTH (LAWRENCE I.), Lawrence I. Conrad, Michael Bonner, 2020-11 |
seeing islam as others saw it: The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque Sidney H. Griffith, 2012-01-09 Amid so much twenty-first-century talk of a Christian-Muslim divide--and the attendant controversy in some Western countries over policies toward minority Muslim communities--a historical fact has gone unnoticed: for more than four hundred years beginning in the mid-seventh century, some 50 percent of the world's Christians lived and worshipped under Muslim rule. Just who were the Christians in the Arabic-speaking milieu of Mohammed and the Qur'an? The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque is the first book-length discussion in English of the cultural and intellectual life of such Christians indigenous to the Islamic world. Sidney Griffith offers an engaging overview of their initial reactions to the religious challenges they faced, the development of a new mode of presenting Christian doctrine as liturgical texts in their own languages gave way to Arabic, the Christian role in the philosophical life of early Baghdad, and the maturing of distinctive Oriental Christian denominations in this context. Offering a fuller understanding of the rise of Islam in its early years from the perspective of contemporary non-Muslims, this book reminds us that there is much to learn from the works of people who seriously engaged Muslims in their own world so long ago. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Slavery, Terrorism & Islam Peter Hammond, 2008 Slavery, Terrorism & Islam, is must reading to all those who want to find out the roots of the terrible Terrorism that is threatening global security. Slavery, Terrorism & Islam traces the roots of terrorism quite scientifically, and especially the roots of Quran itself is very interesting. It will help and extensively educate the International community to understand this monster called Terrorism / Rev. Jeffreys Kayanga, Episcopal Church of Sudan. The conflict between Islam and the rest of the world may dominate the headlines, define our foreign policy, and give new urgency to the day-to-day mission of our churches, but why that is the case is still not very well understood. It is for that reason that Frontline Fellowship has produced this vital new study of one of the most neglected aspects of Islam. Born out of the difficult experience of missionaries on the front lines of the battle for the soul of Africa. This book is designed to equip ordinary Christians from every walk of life to wisely and Scripturally minister in a world where the conflict between Islam and civilization is all too obvious / Dr. George Grant--Amazon.com. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Muhammad Reconsidered Anna Bonta Moreland, 2022-03-30 Scholarly attempts to understand Islam in the West over the past several years have failed to take Islamic theology seriously. This book engages Islam from deep within the Christian tradition by addressing the question of the prophethood of Muhammad. Anna Bonta Moreland calls for a retrieval of Thomistic thought on prophecy to view Muhammad within a Christian theology of revelation, without either appropriating the prophet as an unwitting Christian or reducing both Christianity and Islam to a common denominator. This historical recovery leads to a more sophisticated understanding of Islam, one that honors the integrity of the Catholic tradition and, through that integrity, argues for the possibility in principle of Muhammad as a religious prophet. Moreland sets the stage for this inquiry through an intertextual reading of the key Vatican II documents on Islam and on Christian revelation. She then uses Aquinas's treatment of prophecy to address the case of whether Muhammad is a prophet in Christian terms. The book examines the work of several Christian theologians, including W. Montgomery Watt, Hans Küng, Kenneth Cragg, David Kerr, and Jacques Jomier, O.P., and then draws upon the practice of analogical reasoning in the theology of religious pluralism to show that a term in one religion?in this case ?prophecy??can have purchase in another religious tradition. Muhammad Reconsidered not only is a constructive contribution to Catholic theology but also has enormous potential to help scholars reframe and comprehend Christian-Muslim relations. |
seeing islam as others saw it: Muhammad Is Not the Father of Any of Your Men David S. Powers, 2011-06-03 The Islamic claim to supersede Judaism and Christianity is embodied in the theological assertion that the office of prophecy is hereditary but that the line of descent ends with Muhammad, who is the seal, or last, of the prophets. While Muhammad had no natural sons who reached the age of maturity, he is said to have adopted a man named Zayd, and mutual rights of inheritance were created between the two. Zayd b. Muhammad, also known as the Beloved of the Messenger of God, was the first adult male to become a Muslim and the only Muslim apart from Muhammad to be named in the Qur'an. But if prophecy is hereditary and Muhammad has a son, David Powers argues, then he might not be the Last Prophet. Conversely, if he is the Last Prophet, he cannot have a son. In Muhammad Is Not the Father of Any of Your Men, Powers contends that a series of radical moves were made in the first two centuries of Islamic history to ensure Muhammad's position as the Last Prophet. He focuses on narrative accounts of Muhammad's repudiation of Zayd, of his marriage to Zayd's former wife, and of Zayd's martyrdom in battle against the Byzantines. Powers argues that theological imperatives drove changes in the historical record and led to the abolition or reform of key legal institutions. In what is likely to be the most controversial aspect of his book, he offers compelling physical evidence that the text of the Qur'an itself was altered. |
grammar - When is it ok to use "seeing"? - English Language …
We use the word "seeing" when it's a gerund or verbal noun: Seeing the mistake, she corrected it immediately. I remember seeing her. Fancy seeing you here. Seeing is believing. when you …
"See" or "Seeing"? - English Language Learners Stack Exchange
Mar 29, 2017 · "I'm seeing what exactly you are trying to do here." is incorrect. "I'm seeing exactly what you are trying to do here." could be grammatical, but is non-native. "I see exactly what …
Looking forward to see you vs Looking forward to seeing you?
Nov 12, 2015 · I look forward to seeing you. I look forward to meeting you. I'm looking forward to dogsledding this winter. Each of these sentences are acceptable, and use a gerund (verbal …
To see vs Seeing - English Language Learners Stack Exchange
May 10, 2021 · It felt really nice seeing all the things fall together into place. It felt really nice to see all the things fall together into place. There is no real difference in meaning or nuance. …
prepositions - Seeing/ on seeing...difference - English Language ...
Mar 10, 2016 · On seeing that the robber was walking at his direction slowly, he turned around, and ran for his dear life. Seeing that the robber was walking at his direction slowly, he turned …
phrase usage - Starting a sentence with "seeing as" - English …
Apr 24, 2017 · "Seeing as how..." means something like "for the reason of" or "because". means something like "for the reason of" or "because". So you see how it doesn't quite make sense …
Difference between "what do you see" and "what are you seeing"
"What are you seeing?" implies that the seeing has been occurring for a while. For that reason, it's much less common. If you've been spying on someone with binoculars, your spy buddy might …
Which one must I use "see/am seeing" and what is your reason?
Mar 22, 2014 · When we say John is seeing Mary, we don’t mean John perceives Mary, we mean John is dating Mary. to express change of state (or potential change of state) — With see, for …
is there any difference between saw or was seeing in this example?
Jun 11, 2018 · If additional information was provided, it is possible that the meaning of "he was seeing" could change slightly. e.g.: Fred was seeing a psychiatrist until his psychiatrist retired. …
"See somebody do" and "see somebody doing" - English …
Feb 21, 2014 · My grammar book says that if you saw the complete action you use do/get/drive: "I saw him fall off the wall." Otherwise you use -ing: "I saw him standing at …
grammar - When is it ok to use "seeing"? - English Language …
We use the word "seeing" when it's a gerund or verbal noun: Seeing the mistake, she corrected it immediately. I remember seeing her. Fancy seeing you here. Seeing is believing. when you …
"See" or "Seeing"? - English Language Learners Stack Exchange
Mar 29, 2017 · "I'm seeing what exactly you are trying to do here." is incorrect. "I'm seeing exactly what you are trying to do here." could be grammatical, but is non-native. "I see exactly what …
Looking forward to see you vs Looking forward to seeing you?
Nov 12, 2015 · I look forward to seeing you. I look forward to meeting you. I'm looking forward to dogsledding this winter. Each of these sentences are acceptable, and use a gerund (verbal …
To see vs Seeing - English Language Learners Stack Exchange
May 10, 2021 · It felt really nice seeing all the things fall together into place. It felt really nice to see all the things fall together into place. There is no real difference in meaning or nuance. …
prepositions - Seeing/ on seeing...difference - English Language ...
Mar 10, 2016 · On seeing that the robber was walking at his direction slowly, he turned around, and ran for his dear life. Seeing that the robber was walking at his direction slowly, he turned …
phrase usage - Starting a sentence with "seeing as" - English …
Apr 24, 2017 · "Seeing as how..." means something like "for the reason of" or "because". means something like "for the reason of" or "because". So you see how it doesn't quite make sense …
Difference between "what do you see" and "what are you seeing"
"What are you seeing?" implies that the seeing has been occurring for a while. For that reason, it's much less common. If you've been spying on someone with binoculars, your spy buddy might …
Which one must I use "see/am seeing" and what is your reason?
Mar 22, 2014 · When we say John is seeing Mary, we don’t mean John perceives Mary, we mean John is dating Mary. to express change of state (or potential change of state) — With see, for …
is there any difference between saw or was seeing in this example?
Jun 11, 2018 · If additional information was provided, it is possible that the meaning of "he was seeing" could change slightly. e.g.: Fred was seeing a psychiatrist until his psychiatrist retired. …
"See somebody do" and "see somebody doing" - English …
Feb 21, 2014 · My grammar book says that if you saw the complete action you use do/get/drive: "I saw him fall off the wall." Otherwise you use -ing: "I saw him standing at the …