Religion continues to shape social structures, individual outlooks, and personal identities across societies and generations. For some, faith provides answers to the unknown, a source of peace, purpose, and hope. Others approach it through disciplined observance and deep commitment, while many simply carry the religious identity into which they were born. But what happens when inherited answers no longer quiet the questions?Moral Dissonance examines the Qur'anic framework ...

With the current turmoil in the Middle East, there is a growing interest about Islam—the world’s second largest religion and one of the fastest growing—and its holy book, the Koran (or Qur’an). Now, with this easy-to-follow, plain-English guide, you can explore the history, structure, and basic tenets of Islam’s sacred scripture.The Koran For Dummies is for non-Muslims interested in the Koran as well as Muslims looking to deepen their understanding. Islamic scholar Sohaib ...

Fourteen centuries of Islamic thought have produced a legacy of interpretive readings of the Qu'ran written almost entirely by men. Now, with Qu'ran and Woman, Amina Wadud provides a first interpretive reading by a woman, a reading which validates the female voice in the Qu'ran and brings it out of the shadows. Muslim progressives have long argued that it is not the religion but patriarchal interpretation and implementation of the Qu'ran that have kept women oppressed. For many, the way to...

This popular introduction by a well-known Islamic scholar has been updated and expanded, offering a balanced portrayal of the Qur’an and its place in historic and contemporary Muslim society.Features new sections on the Qur’an and its relationship to democracy, science, human rights, and the role of womenContains expanded sections on the Qur’an in the life cycle of Muslims, and in Islamic ethics and lawIncorporates additional images and student features, i...

Get to grips with one of the world’s most powerful books.The Qur’an has spoken to Muslims for over one thousand years; it is seen as law-maker, moral code, and the word of God. Drawing on both contemporary and ancient sources, Esack outlines the key themes and explains the historical and cultural context of this unique work whilst examining its content, language and style, and the variety of approaches, including fundamentalist, feminist, and modernist, that have b...

Recent events have focused attention on Islam, the often- misunderstood faith of one billion people. Westerners are showing a new curiosity about Islam and other religions, in part, perhaps, because religion is arguably the single most important and volatile factor in geopolitics today. Islam needs to be understood on its own terms, apart from extreme expressions, John Kaltner argues. This revised and expanded edition of a trusted text offers updated information about Islam in an accessibl...

Does Islam call for the oppression of women? The subjugation of women in many Muslim countries is often used as evidence of this, while many Muslims read the Qur'an in ways that seem to justify sexual oppression and inequality. In this paradigm-shifting book, Asma Barlas argues that, far from supporting male privilege, the Qur'an actually affirms the complete equality of the sexes. Offering a historical analysis of religious authority and knowledge, Barlas shows how, for centuries, Muslims...

Islam: The Key Concepts is a clear and concise guide to the religion and culture of Islam. Kecia Ali and Oliver Leaman explore this highly topical subject focusing on key issues including: the Qur’an, faith, theology, gender, fundamentalism, martyrdom, Jihad, Islam in America, Islam in Europe and Islamic Law.This is the ideal study resource and includes: a comprehensive introduction, an alphabetical list of relevant terms (fully cross-referenced), a short bibliographical g...

The Qur'an is regarded by Muslims as the direct word of God, timeless and unchanged. It is used not only for prayer and worship but as a path which can lead the believer to a closer understanding of the essence of their relationship with God. In this thought-provoking, considered study of the scripture of Islam, Mona Siddiqui explores the 'big themes' of prophecy, law, sin and salvation from her dual position as a believer and a scholar.

This book is an attempt to explore why Muslims are in conflict with themselves, and why Muslims have been living in an isolation and intellectual vacuum. This book is an attempt to find out why Islam, as embodied in the Mushaf, calls for a sharply different set of norms than those adopted by the majority of Muslims. To search for answers, the book uses, as much as possible, two sources: the first is critical reasoning, and the second is the Mushaf. In sharp contrast to the vast majority of...

Stories about gendered social relations permeate the Qur'an, and nearly three hundred verses involve specific women or girls. The Qur'an features these figures in accounts of human origins, in stories of the founding and destruction of nations, in narratives of conquest, in episodes of romantic attraction, and in incidents of family devotion and strife. Overall, stories involving women and girls weave together theology and ethics to reinforce central Qur'anic ideas regarding submission to ...

"I grew up reading the Qur'an on my mother's lap," writes Ziauddin Sardar. "It's an experience I share with most Muslim children. And so it is that our connection to the Qur'an is infused with associations of the warmest and most enduring of human bonds." In Reading the Qur'an, Sardar--one of Europe's leading public intellectuals--laments that for far too many Muslims, the Qur'an he had learned in his mother's lap has become a stick used for ensuring conformity and suppressing dis...