Women in Islam investigates the ongoing debate across the Muslim world and the West on the position of women in Islam.Anne-Sofie Roald focuses on how Islamic perceptions of women and gender change in Western Muslim communities. She shows how Islamic attitudes towards social concerns such as gender relations, female circumcision, and female dress emerge as responsive to culture and context, rather than rigid and inflexible.

An immensely important work for Muslims and anyone interested in studying world religions, THE KORAN, the holy scripture of Islam, is the record of Muhammad's teaching. Like the Bible, the influence of the Koran on the world is incalculable. But it is deep and ongoing. This accessible translation and convenient size is perfect for prayer or study.

One of the most important developments in the modern history of the Middle East, the so-called Arab Spring began in Tunisia in December 2010, bringing down dictators, sparking a civil war in Libya, and igniting a bloody uprising in Syria. Its long-term repercussions in Egypt and elsewhere remain unclear. Now one of the world's leading Islamic thinkers examines and explains it, in this searching, provocative, and necessary book.Time Magazine named Tariq Ramadan one of the most important inn...

There is nothing peaceful about Samia Shariff’s account. Life has not been easy for this Algerian woman, who was born in France. The third child in a Muslim family whose father is a prosperous and respected businessman, Samia was not welcome in a clan where the birth of a daughter was considered a punishment from Allah! A powerful, at times almost unbearable narrative, Veil of Fear draws us into a world of men who justify most of their actions towards women by means of an abusive interpret...

Towards Understanding Islam is a religious text with a difference. It offers a simple exposition of the essential teachings of Islam: its approach to life, the articles of its faith, its scheme of worship and prayers, and the social order that it envisages.

Imam Nawawi's collection of forty two hadith brings together some of the most important and pivotal Prophetic traditions. Each tradition encapsulates a great rule of the religion of Islam, described by Islamic religious scholars as an "axis" in Islam. The commentary of the great hadith master Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Daqiq al-'Id is simple but erudite.Mokrane Guezzou is a well-known translator of over ten works including the Qur'an commentary Wahid...

How the rise of leisure is changing contemporary LebanonSouth Beirut has recently become a vibrant leisure destination with a plethora of cafés and restaurants that cater to the young, fashionable, and pious. What effects have these establishments had on the moral norms, spatial practices, and urban experiences of this Lebanese community? From the diverse voices of young Shi'i Muslims searching for places to hang out, to the Hezbollah officials who want this media-...

The self-styled Islamic State (IS), formerly known as ISIS, which claims to have established a new caliphate in the parts of Syria and Iraq it has conquered, is renowned for its barbarism, cruelty and medieval world-view.Yet the Islamic State claims that it is acting in the name of Islam and that it obeys the Shariah (Laws of God as understood by Muslims) in everything it does.Nothing could be further from the truth. The Islamic State is a fake, its leaders a bunch of apost...

Prayer can teach you how to eliminate pride, live a life of inner courage and take you many steps closer to Allah (swt). It can transport you to a higher plane, and make you become aware of a place deep inside you that is absolutely silent and still. However, all this can only be achieved with the presence of the heart and mind during prayer. Discover 101 ways to achieve the most out of your prayer. Pick and choose the strategies you want to apply, from learning the philosophy behind the m...

Introducing innovative new research from international scholars working on Islamic fashion and its critics, Islamic Fashion and Anti-Fashion provides a global perspective on muslim dress practices. The book takes a broad geographic sweep, bringing together the sartorial experiences of Muslims in locations as diverse as Paris, the Canadian Prairie, Swedish and Italian bath houses and former socialist countries of Eastern Europe.What new Islamic dress practices and anxieties...

No one can deny that Islam is very much in the spotlight today. In spite of extremely negative portrayals by Western media (or perhaps because of them), increasing numbers of people are seeking to find out more about it. And more often than not, they are being pleasantly surprised by the fruits of their research. In fact, more people are embracing Islam today than they did prior to September 11, 2001.However, there does remain a great deal of misconception and misunderstanding on t...

Unfortunately, when you ask most people the question: "What is the purpose of life?" (such a fundamental and important question), they will not tell you what they have concluded through observation or analytical reasoning. Rather, in most cases, they will simply tell you what someone else said, or they will tell you what is "commonly presumed" by others, i.e., What my father said purpose of life is, what the minister of my church said the purpose of life is, what my teacher in school said,...