Recognizing Islam

Recognizing Islam PDF Author: Michael Gilsenan
Publisher: New York : Pantheon Books
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
The recent crises in the Arab world have flooded the media with sensationalist portraits of Islam as a threatening and irrational presence that moves whole societies to cultural assertiveness, political intransigence, and economic frenzy. In Recognizing Islam, Michael Gilsenan, a historian and anthropologist, offers an original and much-needed understanding of the complex role of religion in the turbulent Middle East--a powerful challenge to the Western view of Islam as monolithic and all-determining, the key to the "Arab mind" and to a whole series of otherwise inexplicable events and institutions. Drawing extensively on twenty years of fieldwork in cities, villages, and tribal communities in the Middle East, Gilsenan explores a variety of social worlds that all claim Islamic affiliation: the feudal aristocracy of northern Lebanon, the working-class Sufi brotherhoods of Egypt, the new bourgeoisie of Algeria and Morocco. In each, he shows how Islam evolves in relation to shifting social, political, economic, and class structures even as it helps to shape them. Gilsenan restores to Islam and Islamic societies the variation and breadth of a living tradition that we grant, as a matter of course, to Christian relgion and Christian society. At once evocative and informative, his work provides the nuanced portrait of Islam that is now more indispensable than ever.

Recognizing Islam

Recognizing Islam PDF Author: Michael Gilsenan
Publisher: New York : Pantheon Books
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Get Book Here

Book Description
The recent crises in the Arab world have flooded the media with sensationalist portraits of Islam as a threatening and irrational presence that moves whole societies to cultural assertiveness, political intransigence, and economic frenzy. In Recognizing Islam, Michael Gilsenan, a historian and anthropologist, offers an original and much-needed understanding of the complex role of religion in the turbulent Middle East--a powerful challenge to the Western view of Islam as monolithic and all-determining, the key to the "Arab mind" and to a whole series of otherwise inexplicable events and institutions. Drawing extensively on twenty years of fieldwork in cities, villages, and tribal communities in the Middle East, Gilsenan explores a variety of social worlds that all claim Islamic affiliation: the feudal aristocracy of northern Lebanon, the working-class Sufi brotherhoods of Egypt, the new bourgeoisie of Algeria and Morocco. In each, he shows how Islam evolves in relation to shifting social, political, economic, and class structures even as it helps to shape them. Gilsenan restores to Islam and Islamic societies the variation and breadth of a living tradition that we grant, as a matter of course, to Christian relgion and Christian society. At once evocative and informative, his work provides the nuanced portrait of Islam that is now more indispensable than ever.

Recognizing Islam (RLE Politics of Islam)

Recognizing Islam (RLE Politics of Islam) PDF Author: Michael Gilsenan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134610610
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Islam is more than a set of laws, rites and beliefs presented as a religious and social totality. As a word it covers a multitude of everyday forms and practices that are interwoven in complex, sometimes almost invisible ways in daily existence. Drawing exclusively on his own fieldwork in Egypt, South Arabia and the Lebanon, the author explores the nature of Islam and its impact on the daily lives of its followers; he shows that all the Western stereotypes of Islam and its practitioners need to be treated with considerable scepticism. He demonstrates also that the understanding of Islam is dependent on recognizing a variety of class tensions and oppositions within an Islamic society. These have become all the more crucial in recent years with the growth of a capitalist economy, in which the forms and functions of the state have expanded considerably. This study focuses on the social and cultural divisions between very different groups and classes, ranging from the working masses of Cairo to the new bourgeoisie of Algeria and Morocco. The accent of the book is on the forms and transformations of Islam within these different societies. The impact of colonialism is discussed in this context, and reformist and radical Islamic movements are analyzed in relation to shifting structures in class and society at large. First published in 1982.

Recognizing Islam (RLE Politics of Islam)

Recognizing Islam (RLE Politics of Islam) PDF Author: Michael Gilsenan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134610548
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Islam is more than a set of laws, rites and beliefs presented as a religious and social totality. As a word it covers a multitude of everyday forms and practices that are interwoven in complex, sometimes almost invisible ways in daily existence. Drawing exclusively on his own fieldwork in Egypt, South Arabia and the Lebanon, the author explores the nature of Islam and its impact on the daily lives of its followers; he shows that all the Western stereotypes of Islam and its practitioners need to be treated with considerable scepticism. He demonstrates also that the understanding of Islam is dependent on recognizing a variety of class tensions and oppositions within an Islamic society. These have become all the more crucial in recent years with the growth of a capitalist economy, in which the forms and functions of the state have expanded considerably. This study focuses on the social and cultural divisions between very different groups and classes, ranging from the working masses of Cairo to the new bourgeoisie of Algeria and Morocco. The accent of the book is on the forms and transformations of Islam within these different societies. The impact of colonialism is discussed in this context, and reformist and radical Islamic movements are analyzed in relation to shifting structures in class and society at large. First published in 1982.

Recognizing Islam

Recognizing Islam PDF Author: Michael Gilsenan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781850432975
Category : Arab countries
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
Drawing on his own work in cities, villages and tribal communities of the region, Gilsenan provides an analysis of the role of religion in the Middle East. He explores religious activity in various of settings, considers the effect of colonialism, and examines Islamic responses to the modern world.

Representing Islam

Representing Islam PDF Author: Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253053056
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
How do Muslims who grew up after September 11 balance their love for hip-hop with their devotion to Islam? How do they live the piety and modesty called for by their faith while celebrating an art form defined, in part, by overt sexuality, violence, and profanity? In Representing Islam, Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir explores the tension between Islam and the global popularity of hip-hop, including attempts by the hip-hop ummah, or community, to draw from the struggles of African Americans in order to articulate the human rights abuses Muslims face. Nasir explores state management of hip-hop culture and how Muslim hip-hoppers are attempting to "Islamize" the genre's performance and jargon to bring the music more in line with religious requirements, which are perhaps even more fraught for female artists who struggle with who has the right to speak for Muslim women. Nasir also investigates the vibrant underground hip-hop culture that exists online. For fans living in conservative countries, social media offers an opportunity to explore and discuss hip-hop when more traditional avenues have been closed. Representing Islam considers the complex and multifaceted rise of hip-hop on a global stage and, in doing so, asks broader questions about how Islam is represented in this global community.

What Is Islam?

What Is Islam? PDF Author: Shahab Ahmed
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400873584
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 629

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Book Description
A bold new conceptualization of Islam that reflects its contradictions and rich diversity What is Islam? How do we grasp a human and historical phenomenon characterized by such variety and contradiction? What is "Islamic" about Islamic philosophy or Islamic art? Should we speak of Islam or of islams? Should we distinguish the Islamic (the religious) from the Islamicate (the cultural)? Or should we abandon "Islamic" altogether as an analytical term? In What Is Islam?, Shahab Ahmed presents a bold new conceptualization of Islam that challenges dominant understandings grounded in the categories of "religion" and "culture" or those that privilege law and scripture. He argues that these modes of thinking obstruct us from understanding Islam, distorting it, diminishing it, and rendering it incoherent. What Is Islam? formulates a new conceptual language for analyzing Islam. It presents a new paradigm of how Muslims have historically understood divine revelation—one that enables us to understand how and why Muslims through history have embraced values such as exploration, ambiguity, aestheticization, polyvalence, and relativism, as well as practices such as figural art, music, and even wine drinking as Islamic. It also puts forward a new understanding of the historical constitution of Islamic law and its relationship to philosophical ethics and political theory. A book that is certain to provoke debate and significantly alter our understanding of Islam, What Is Islam? reveals how Muslims have historically conceived of and lived with Islam as norms and truths that are at once contradictory yet coherent.

Islam, Peace and Tolerance

Islam, Peace and Tolerance PDF Author: Zahid Aziz
Publisher: A.A.I.I.L. (U.K.)
ISBN: 1906109249
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 108

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Book Description
This booklet was compiled to refute the misconceived notions that Islam is a violent, brutal and intolerant religion which calls upon its followers to wage war, called jihad, against all non-Muslims, that Islam prohibits freedom of religion, and propagates its message by force, and that it does not tolerate any criticism of its teachings and urges Muslims to kill anyone who speaks against it. This book shows that: · Islam teaches Muslims to live in peace with all others in the world, tolerating religious differences. · It recognises for everyone the freedom to believe in and practise whatever religion they wish. · It requires Muslims to show self-restraint and patience in the face of verbal abuse of their religion. · It deplores any kind of violent attack on the general public of any country, innocently going about their daily business.

iMuslims

iMuslims PDF Author: Gary R. Bunt
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807887714
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
Exploring the increasing impact of the Internet on Muslims around the world, this book sheds new light on the nature of contemporary Islamic discourse, identity, and community. The Internet has profoundly shaped how both Muslims and non-Muslims perceive Islam and how Islamic societies and networks are evolving and shifting in the twenty-first century, says Gary Bunt. While Islamic society has deep historical patterns of global exchange, the Internet has transformed how many Muslims practice the duties and rituals of Islam. A place of religious instruction may exist solely in the virtual world, for example, or a community may gather only online. Drawing on more than a decade of online research, Bunt shows how social-networking sites, blogs, and other "cyber-Islamic environments" have exposed Muslims to new influences outside the traditional spheres of Islamic knowledge and authority. Furthermore, the Internet has dramatically influenced forms of Islamic activism and radicalization, including jihad-oriented campaigns by networks such as al-Qaeda. By surveying the broad spectrum of approaches used to present dimensions of Islamic social, spiritual, and political life on the Internet, iMuslims encourages diverse understandings of online Islam and of Islam generally.

Islam in Context

Islam in Context PDF Author: Peter G. Riddell
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441231803
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
In recent months, much attention has been paid to Islam and the greater Muslim world. Some analysis has been openly hostile, while even more has been overly simplistic. Islam in Context goes behind the recent crisis to discuss the history of Islam, describe its basic structure and beliefs, explore the current division between Muslim moderates and extremists, and suggest a way forward. Authors Peter G. Riddell and Peter Cotterell draw from sources such as the Qur'an, early Christian chronicles of the Crusades, and contemporary Muslim and non-Muslim writings. They move beyond the stereotypes of Muhammad-both idealized and negative-and argue against the myth that relatively recent events in the Middle East are the only cause for the clash between Islam and the West. Riddell and Cotterell ask the non-Muslim world to attempt to understand Islam from the perspective of Muslims and to acknowledge past mistakes. At the same time, they challenge the Muslim world by suggesting that Islam stands today at a vital crossroads and only Muslims can forge the way forward. Islam in Context will appeal to all those who are interested in an alternative to the easily packaged descriptions of the relationship between Islam and the West.

Religiosity and Recognition

Religiosity and Recognition PDF Author: Thomas Sealy
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030751279
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
This book argues that multiculturalism remains a relevant and vital framework through which to understand and construct inclusive forms of citizenship. Responding to contemporary ethnic and religious diversity in European states and the position of religious minorities, debates in multiculturalism have revitalized discussion of the public role of religion, yet multiculturalism has been increasingly challenged in both political as well as academic circles. With a focus on Britain and through a study of the narratives of British converts to Islam, this book engages in debates centered around multiculturalism, particularly on the issues of identity, recognition, and difference. Yet, it also identifies and interrogates multiculturalism’s shortcomings in relation to specifically religious identities and belonging. In a unique and innovative analysis, this book combines a discussion of multiculturalism in Britain with insights from political theology. It juxtaposes multiculturalism’s concepts of ethno-religious identity and recognition with the notions of religiosity and hospitality to offer a new perspective on religious identity and the implications of this for thinking with and about multiculturalism and multicultural social and political relations.