Covenants with Allāh: Keystone of Islam explores the binding commitments between God and humanity that define the terms and conditions of human existence and coexistence. It presents an illuminating study of the Qurʾān, covenants of Prophet Muḥammad, and the historical record of Muslim governance. In this timely and ground-breaking work, Halim Rane and Ibrahim Zein recover the centrality of covenant (ʿahd and mīthāq) in Islam and its enduring imperative for ensur...

Socio-Anthropological Approaches to Religion: Environmental Hope interprets the fundamental functions of spirituality through the theories and practices of hope and understanding the futuristic aspiration of new religious movements. The book portrays a neutral notion of hope that can be either religious or humanistic in the face of the suffering or despair of present reality. The concept of hope (or hopelessness) is demonstrated in each chapter under the global circumstance of health risk....

Books on aspects of Islamophobia have been proliferating in the past decade but so are the instances of this phenomenon worldwide. The diverse aspects of the issue; the complicated sociopolitical nature of concerns in this regard; and the increasing number of geographical settings where the issue is relevant, cause numerous problems and questions that remain far from exhausted even in the case of multiple treatments of similar topics and contexts. Therefore, faces and facets of Islamophobi...

This book analyzes the development of Islam and Muslim communities in the West, including influences from abroad, relations with the state and society, and internal community dynamics. The project examines the emergence of Islam in the West in relation to the place of Muslim communities as part of the social fabric of Western societies. It provides an overview of the major issues and debates that have arisen over the last three to four decades surrounding the presence of new Muslim communi...

Many Westerners view Islam as a religion that restricts and subordinates women in both private and public life. Yet a surprising number of women in Western Europe and America are converting to Islam. What attracts these women to a belief system that is markedly different from both Western Christianity and Western secularism? What benefits do they gain by converting, and what are the costs? How do Western women converts live their new Islamic faith, and how does their conversion affect thei...

Islamophobia has been on the rise since September 11, as seen in countless cases of discrimination, racism, hate speeches, physical attacks, and anti-Muslim campaigns. The 2006 Danish cartoon crisis and the controversy surrounding Pope Benedict XVI's Regensburg speech have underscored the urgency of such issues as image-making, multiculturalism, freedom of expression, respect for religious symbols, and interfaith relations. The 1997 Runnymede Report defines Islamophobia as "dread, hatred, ...

Terrorism, radicalization and violent extremism dominate sociological, political and cultural concerns in today's polarized social and political world. However, the role of governments and issues relating to state terrorism and the counter-terror state remain important considerations. This book presents an understanding of the concept of Countering Violent Extremism from a critical terrorism studies perspective using case studies from different countries while examining the issues it raise...

"An excellent contribution to the emerging literature on LBGTQ Muslims . . . facing both homophobia and Islamophobia." —Amina Wadud, Starr King School for the Ministry2015 Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award presented by the Stonewall Books Awards of the American Library AssociationMuhsin is one of the organizers of Al-Fitra Foundation, a South African support group for lesbian, transgender, and gay Muslims. Islam and homosexuality are seen by ...

Islam's Predicament with Modernity presents an in-depth cultural and political analysis of the issue of political Islam as a potential source of tensions and conflict, and how this might be peacefully resolved.Looking at the issue of modernity from an Islamic point of view, the author examines the role of culture and religion in Muslim society under conditions of globalisation, and analyses issues such as law, knowledge and human rights. He engages a number of significant ...

The new and updated editionof Political Islam, World Politics and Europe focusses on the shift within political Islam, in light of 9/11 and the events of the Arab Spring, from a jihadist struggle, to institutional Islamism.Refuting what has often been referred to by commentators as the ‘moderation,’ of Islamism, the second edition of this book introduces the concept of ‘institutional,’ Islamism, a process which Tibi argues was accelerated in the aftermath of the Arab Sprin...

Osama bin Laden's demise in May 2011 marked only the symbolic end of an era. By the time of his killing, he no longer represented the Robin Hood icon that once stirred global fascination. Ten years after the 11 September 2001 attacks, jihadi terrorism has largely lost its juggernaut luster. It now mostly resembles a patchwork of self-radicalising local groups with international contacts but without any central organisational design - akin to the radical left terrorism of the 1970s and the ...

Reaching beyond traditionally politicised scholarship to provide a unique perspective on the place of religion and culture in global and local politics, this book examines the impact of Islam on 'civilizational' relations between different groups and polities.Bassam Tibi takes a highly original approach to the topic of religion in world politics, exploring the place of Islam in society and its frequent distortion in world politics to the more radical Islamism. Looking at how this b...