An Introduction to Islam

includes index and biblioraphy

A General introduction to Islam`s Basic teachings and practices .......1 Part one: Religion and common life in the pre-islamic near East ......5 Chapter 1 Early civilizations and the origins of judaism and christianity .......7 Egypt the land .......7 Mesopotamia the land ......11 The origins of judaism .......15 Abraham ......15 Moses ......18 Later religious development ......19 The prophets ......20 From ancient israelite religion to judaism ........22 Awaiting god`s messiah .....23 Jesus of nazareth ......23 Paul ......25 Christianity .....26 Christianity and judaism .....27 Chapter 2 Pre-islamic Abrabia: Beliefs, Values, Way of life .......32 Pre-islamic abrabia .....32 Social structure and economy .....34 Poetry ......39 Pre-islamic religion ......40 Part two The coming of Islam: The prophet,His people, and god`s religion ......47 Chapter 3 Muhammad and the early muslim community .......49 Before Muhammad ......49 Muhammad the person .....50 Muhammad the prophet .......53 The qura`n .....55 The first Muslims ....56 The development of Islam ......57 The quran`s divine message ......61 The hijra ......63 Muhammad`s later life .....69 Muhammad`s personal life ......71 Chapter 4 The arab conquests and islamic rule: The struggle for a unified umma ......74 Muhannad`s heirs .......74 The muslims foreign conquests .....75 Early muslim governments and the spread of the umma .....78 Two approaches to politics and rule ......83 The spread of the islamic empire ......84 The abbasids .....87 Other muslim peoples .....90 Islam`s achievements .....94 Part three The islamic religious system ......97 Chapter 5 The basic beliefs and worship practices of islam ......99 The five doctrines of islamic faith .....99 The five acts of worship .....105 Purification .....105 Ritual impurity .....107 The pillars of islam .....110 Chapter 6 The nature and function of the qur`an ......130 Language format and chronology ......130 Recitation and ritual observances .....134 Contents and nature of the qura`n .....140 Interpretation of the qura`n .....142 The inimitability of the qura`n ......146 Chapter 7 The prophet`s sunna as preserved in the hadith .....150 Muhammad and scripture ......150 The form of the hadith .....152 Major collections of hadith .....156 The prophet`s and his companions sunnas .......159 Muhammad as an ideal human .....160 Chapter 8 Muslim creeds and theologies: Their purposes and varieties .....164 Theology ....164 Islamic theology .....166 Theological issues .....167 The place of reason ......170 The mutazilite rationalists ......171 Mutazilite thought .....173 Three Muslim creeds ......180 Orthodox kalan and the challenge of philosophy ......184 Chapter 9 Law and the state in classical islamic formulations ....187 Islam as a way of life .....187 The shari`a and fiqh .....187 The qura`n and the law ......188 The legal scholars .....191 Schools of law .....193 The five principles .....194 Sunni law schools ......195 Shi law schools .....197 Islamic political institutions: Forms functions, and theories .....198 Islamic law and the state in the present era .....207 Part four The sufi way of mysticism and fellowship ....209 Chapter 10 Islamic mysticism and the disciplines of esoteric piety .....211 Sufism ......211 Chapter 11 Masters and disciples: The forms and functions of sufi orders ......238 Part five Patterns of islamic personal and communal life .....261 Chapter 12 The islamic life cycle and the family ......263 Chapter 13 Ideals and realities of islamic community life .....289 Part six Islam in the modern world ....313 Chapter 14 Major movements and trends in renewal and reform .......315 Chapter 15 Three forms of islamic revival: Fundamentalism, feminism and establishing the umma in north America .......341 Chapter 16 Whither islam and the muslims? progressive muslims with a vision of an islam without borders .......365