Author: Fatemeh Chehregosha Azinfar
Publisher: Ibex Publishers, Inc.
ISBN: 1588140512
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
Did god exist a thousand years ago? Atheism in The Medieval Islamic and European World discusses and analyzes the origins of questioning God and Religion in Medieval Middle Eastern and Europe literature and thought.In the Middle East, two Medieval Texts: A Thousand and One Nights and Gurganis Vis and Ramin are analyzed in terms of questioning God and His actions. In Europe, Dante; Abelard; Chaucer; the author of Chanson de Roland; and the author of The Pearl Poem ask similar questions. Azinfar argues that the Europeans were influenced by the religious skepticism inherent in Medieval Middle eastern texts.Azinfar also traces the roots of the ideas of Rationalism, Existentialism, Surrealism, and Feminism from the medieval Islamic world and follows them to the Medieval West. She shows how the period which we believed was steeped in religious dogmatism is actually an analytical period, rooted in rationality, advancement of science and skepticism. Tales about knights on quests rescuing damselsactually unveil theories on questioning traditional views on the stance of religion, the possibility of the existence of a physical world, and nihilism.
Atheism in the Medieval Islamic and European World
Author: Fatemeh Chehregosha Azinfar
Publisher: Ibex Publishers, Inc.
ISBN: 1588140512
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
Did god exist a thousand years ago? Atheism in The Medieval Islamic and European World discusses and analyzes the origins of questioning God and Religion in Medieval Middle Eastern and Europe literature and thought.In the Middle East, two Medieval Texts: A Thousand and One Nights and Gurganis Vis and Ramin are analyzed in terms of questioning God and His actions. In Europe, Dante; Abelard; Chaucer; the author of Chanson de Roland; and the author of The Pearl Poem ask similar questions. Azinfar argues that the Europeans were influenced by the religious skepticism inherent in Medieval Middle eastern texts.Azinfar also traces the roots of the ideas of Rationalism, Existentialism, Surrealism, and Feminism from the medieval Islamic world and follows them to the Medieval West. She shows how the period which we believed was steeped in religious dogmatism is actually an analytical period, rooted in rationality, advancement of science and skepticism. Tales about knights on quests rescuing damselsactually unveil theories on questioning traditional views on the stance of religion, the possibility of the existence of a physical world, and nihilism.
Publisher: Ibex Publishers, Inc.
ISBN: 1588140512
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
Did god exist a thousand years ago? Atheism in The Medieval Islamic and European World discusses and analyzes the origins of questioning God and Religion in Medieval Middle Eastern and Europe literature and thought.In the Middle East, two Medieval Texts: A Thousand and One Nights and Gurganis Vis and Ramin are analyzed in terms of questioning God and His actions. In Europe, Dante; Abelard; Chaucer; the author of Chanson de Roland; and the author of The Pearl Poem ask similar questions. Azinfar argues that the Europeans were influenced by the religious skepticism inherent in Medieval Middle eastern texts.Azinfar also traces the roots of the ideas of Rationalism, Existentialism, Surrealism, and Feminism from the medieval Islamic world and follows them to the Medieval West. She shows how the period which we believed was steeped in religious dogmatism is actually an analytical period, rooted in rationality, advancement of science and skepticism. Tales about knights on quests rescuing damselsactually unveil theories on questioning traditional views on the stance of religion, the possibility of the existence of a physical world, and nihilism.
The Atheist Muslim
Author: Ali A. Rizvi
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1250094445
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
In much of the Muslim world, religion is the central foundation upon which family, community, morality, and identity are built. The inextricable embedment of religion in Muslim culture has forced a new generation of non-believing Muslims to face the heavy costs of abandoning their parents’ religion: disowned by their families, marginalized from their communities, imprisoned, or even sentenced to death by their governments. Struggling to reconcile the Muslim society he was living in as a scientist and physician and the religion he was being raised in, Ali A. Rizvi eventually loses his faith. Discovering that he is not alone, he moves to North America and promises to use his new freedom of speech to represent the voices that are usually quashed before reaching the mainstream media—the Atheist Muslim. In The Atheist Muslim, we follow Rizvi as he finds himself caught between two narrative voices he cannot relate to: extreme Islam and anti-Muslim bigotry in a post-9/11 world. The Atheist Muslim recounts the journey that allows Rizvi to criticize Islam—as one should be able to criticize any set of ideas—without demonizing his entire people. Emotionally and intellectually compelling, his personal story outlines the challenges of modern Islam and the factors that could help lead it toward a substantive, progressive reformation.
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1250094445
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
In much of the Muslim world, religion is the central foundation upon which family, community, morality, and identity are built. The inextricable embedment of religion in Muslim culture has forced a new generation of non-believing Muslims to face the heavy costs of abandoning their parents’ religion: disowned by their families, marginalized from their communities, imprisoned, or even sentenced to death by their governments. Struggling to reconcile the Muslim society he was living in as a scientist and physician and the religion he was being raised in, Ali A. Rizvi eventually loses his faith. Discovering that he is not alone, he moves to North America and promises to use his new freedom of speech to represent the voices that are usually quashed before reaching the mainstream media—the Atheist Muslim. In The Atheist Muslim, we follow Rizvi as he finds himself caught between two narrative voices he cannot relate to: extreme Islam and anti-Muslim bigotry in a post-9/11 world. The Atheist Muslim recounts the journey that allows Rizvi to criticize Islam—as one should be able to criticize any set of ideas—without demonizing his entire people. Emotionally and intellectually compelling, his personal story outlines the challenges of modern Islam and the factors that could help lead it toward a substantive, progressive reformation.
Battling the Gods
Author: Tim Whitmarsh
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307958337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
How new is atheism? Although adherents and opponents alike today present it as an invention of the European Enlightenment, when the forces of science and secularism broadly challenged those of faith, disbelief in the gods, in fact, originated in a far more remote past. In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean, a world almost unimaginably different from our own, to recover the stories and voices of those who first refused the divinities. Homer’s epic poems of human striving, journeying, and passion were ancient Greece’s only “sacred texts,” but no ancient Greek thought twice about questioning or mocking his stories of the gods. Priests were functionaries rather than sources of moral or cosmological wisdom. The absence of centralized religious authority made for an extraordinary variety of perspectives on sacred matters, from the devotional to the atheos, or “godless.” Whitmarsh explores this kaleidoscopic range of ideas about the gods, focusing on the colorful individuals who challenged their existence. Among these were some of the greatest ancient poets and philosophers and writers, as well as the less well known: Diagoras of Melos, perhaps the first self-professed atheist; Democritus, the first materialist; Socrates, executed for rejecting the gods of the Athenian state; Epicurus and his followers, who thought gods could not intervene in human affairs; the brilliantly mischievous satirist Lucian of Samosata. Before the revolutions of late antiquity, which saw the scriptural religions of Christianity and Islam enforced by imperial might, there were few constraints on belief. Everything changed, however, in the millennium between the appearance of the Homeric poems and Christianity’s establishment as Rome’s state religion in the fourth century AD. As successive Greco-Roman empires grew in size and complexity, and power was increasingly concentrated in central capitals, states sought to impose collective religious adherence, first to cults devoted to individual rulers, and ultimately to monotheism. In this new world, there was no room for outright disbelief: the label “atheist” was used now to demonize anyone who merely disagreed with the orthodoxy—and so it would remain for centuries. As the twenty-first century shapes up into a time of mass information, but also, paradoxically, of collective amnesia concerning the tangled histories of religions, Whitmarsh provides a bracing antidote to our assumptions about the roots of freethinking. By shining a light on atheism’s first thousand years, Battling the Gods offers a timely reminder that nonbelief has a wealth of tradition of its own, and, indeed, its own heroes.
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307958337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
How new is atheism? Although adherents and opponents alike today present it as an invention of the European Enlightenment, when the forces of science and secularism broadly challenged those of faith, disbelief in the gods, in fact, originated in a far more remote past. In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean, a world almost unimaginably different from our own, to recover the stories and voices of those who first refused the divinities. Homer’s epic poems of human striving, journeying, and passion were ancient Greece’s only “sacred texts,” but no ancient Greek thought twice about questioning or mocking his stories of the gods. Priests were functionaries rather than sources of moral or cosmological wisdom. The absence of centralized religious authority made for an extraordinary variety of perspectives on sacred matters, from the devotional to the atheos, or “godless.” Whitmarsh explores this kaleidoscopic range of ideas about the gods, focusing on the colorful individuals who challenged their existence. Among these were some of the greatest ancient poets and philosophers and writers, as well as the less well known: Diagoras of Melos, perhaps the first self-professed atheist; Democritus, the first materialist; Socrates, executed for rejecting the gods of the Athenian state; Epicurus and his followers, who thought gods could not intervene in human affairs; the brilliantly mischievous satirist Lucian of Samosata. Before the revolutions of late antiquity, which saw the scriptural religions of Christianity and Islam enforced by imperial might, there were few constraints on belief. Everything changed, however, in the millennium between the appearance of the Homeric poems and Christianity’s establishment as Rome’s state religion in the fourth century AD. As successive Greco-Roman empires grew in size and complexity, and power was increasingly concentrated in central capitals, states sought to impose collective religious adherence, first to cults devoted to individual rulers, and ultimately to monotheism. In this new world, there was no room for outright disbelief: the label “atheist” was used now to demonize anyone who merely disagreed with the orthodoxy—and so it would remain for centuries. As the twenty-first century shapes up into a time of mass information, but also, paradoxically, of collective amnesia concerning the tangled histories of religions, Whitmarsh provides a bracing antidote to our assumptions about the roots of freethinking. By shining a light on atheism’s first thousand years, Battling the Gods offers a timely reminder that nonbelief has a wealth of tradition of its own, and, indeed, its own heroes.
Leaving the Allah Delusion Behind
Author: Ibn Warraq
Publisher: Schiler & Mucke Gbr Verlag
ISBN: 9783899302561
Category : Atheism
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Publisher: Schiler & Mucke Gbr Verlag
ISBN: 9783899302561
Category : Atheism
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Freethinkers of Medieval Islam
Author: Sarah Stroumsa
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9789004113749
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 280
Book Description
This book studies the phenomenon of freethinking in medieval Islam, as exemplified in the figures of Ibn al-R wand and Ab Bakr al-R z . It reconstructs their thought and analyzes the relations of the phenomenon to Islamic prophetology and its repercussions in Islamic thought.
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9789004113749
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 280
Book Description
This book studies the phenomenon of freethinking in medieval Islam, as exemplified in the figures of Ibn al-R wand and Ab Bakr al-R z . It reconstructs their thought and analyzes the relations of the phenomenon to Islamic prophetology and its repercussions in Islamic thought.
Arabs Without God
Author: Brian Whitaker
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781501064838
Category : Arab countries
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
In Arab countries, openly declaring a disbelief in God is a shocking and sometimes dangerous thing to do. Many have been imprisoned for it, some have been forced into exile and others threatened with execution. And yet, in a region where the influence of religion is almost inescapable, growing numbers are claiming a right to believe - or disbelieve - as they see fit. Social media have given them a voice and the uprisings that toppled Arab dictators have emboldened them to speak out. In this ground-breaking book, journalist Brian Whitaker looks at the factors that lead them to abandon religion and the challenges they pose for governments and societies that claim to be organised according to the will of God.
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781501064838
Category : Arab countries
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
In Arab countries, openly declaring a disbelief in God is a shocking and sometimes dangerous thing to do. Many have been imprisoned for it, some have been forced into exile and others threatened with execution. And yet, in a region where the influence of religion is almost inescapable, growing numbers are claiming a right to believe - or disbelieve - as they see fit. Social media have given them a voice and the uprisings that toppled Arab dictators have emboldened them to speak out. In this ground-breaking book, journalist Brian Whitaker looks at the factors that lead them to abandon religion and the challenges they pose for governments and societies that claim to be organised according to the will of God.
Islam for the Politically Incorrect
Author: Khaled Diab
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781908531803
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
This highly readable and necessarily controversial book tackles all the hot topics relating to Islam uncompromisingly and head on. Whether it is the status of Muslim women, Islamic terrorism, democracy and Islam, or even the clash of civilizations, this book's thematic chapters take you on an in-depth tour of Islam--its people, politics, history, culture, philosophy and mind-spinning diversity. Written by an atheist Arab of Muslim upbringing, this book is politically incorrect in its purest sense. It seeks to reveal the truth about Islam unencumbered by anti- or pro-Islamic dogma, partisan interests or the growing "us" and "them" dichotomy.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781908531803
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
This highly readable and necessarily controversial book tackles all the hot topics relating to Islam uncompromisingly and head on. Whether it is the status of Muslim women, Islamic terrorism, democracy and Islam, or even the clash of civilizations, this book's thematic chapters take you on an in-depth tour of Islam--its people, politics, history, culture, philosophy and mind-spinning diversity. Written by an atheist Arab of Muslim upbringing, this book is politically incorrect in its purest sense. It seeks to reveal the truth about Islam unencumbered by anti- or pro-Islamic dogma, partisan interests or the growing "us" and "them" dichotomy.
Atheism: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Julian Baggini
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192804243
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 137
Book Description
Do you think of atheists as immoral pessimists who live their lives without meaning, purpose, or values? Think again! Atheism: A Very Short Introduction sets out to dispel the myths that surround atheism and show how a life without religious belief can be positive, meaningful, and moral.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192804243
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 137
Book Description
Do you think of atheists as immoral pessimists who live their lives without meaning, purpose, or values? Think again! Atheism: A Very Short Introduction sets out to dispel the myths that surround atheism and show how a life without religious belief can be positive, meaningful, and moral.
God's Philosophers
Author: James Hannam
Publisher: Icon Books Ltd
ISBN: 1848311583
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 551
Book Description
This is a powerful and a thrilling narrative history revealing the roots of modern science in the medieval world. The adjective 'medieval' has become a synonym for brutality and uncivilized behavior. Yet without the work of medieval scholars there could have been no Galileo, no Newton and no Scientific Revolution. In "God's Philosophers", James Hannam debunks many of the myths about the Middle Ages, showing that medieval people did not think the earth is flat, nor did Columbus 'prove' that it is a sphere; the Inquisition burnt nobody for their science nor was Copernicus afraid of persecution; no Pope tried to ban human dissection or the number zero. "God's Philosophers" is a celebration of the forgotten scientific achievements of the Middle Ages - advances which were often made thanks to, rather than in spite of, the influence of Christianity and Islam. Decisive progress was also made in technology: spectacles and the mechanical clock, for instance, were both invented in thirteenth-century Europe. Charting an epic journey through six centuries of history, "God's Philosophers" brings back to light the discoveries of neglected geniuses like John Buridan, Nicole Oresme and Thomas Bradwardine, as well as putting into context the contributions of more familiar figures like Roger Bacon, William of Ockham and Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Publisher: Icon Books Ltd
ISBN: 1848311583
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 551
Book Description
This is a powerful and a thrilling narrative history revealing the roots of modern science in the medieval world. The adjective 'medieval' has become a synonym for brutality and uncivilized behavior. Yet without the work of medieval scholars there could have been no Galileo, no Newton and no Scientific Revolution. In "God's Philosophers", James Hannam debunks many of the myths about the Middle Ages, showing that medieval people did not think the earth is flat, nor did Columbus 'prove' that it is a sphere; the Inquisition burnt nobody for their science nor was Copernicus afraid of persecution; no Pope tried to ban human dissection or the number zero. "God's Philosophers" is a celebration of the forgotten scientific achievements of the Middle Ages - advances which were often made thanks to, rather than in spite of, the influence of Christianity and Islam. Decisive progress was also made in technology: spectacles and the mechanical clock, for instance, were both invented in thirteenth-century Europe. Charting an epic journey through six centuries of history, "God's Philosophers" brings back to light the discoveries of neglected geniuses like John Buridan, Nicole Oresme and Thomas Bradwardine, as well as putting into context the contributions of more familiar figures like Roger Bacon, William of Ockham and Saint Thomas Aquinas.
The Oxford Handbook of Atheism
Author: Stephen Bullivant
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199644659
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 781
Book Description
This handbook is a pioneering edited volume, exploring atheism - understood in the broad sense of 'an absence of belief in the existence of a God or gods' - in its historical and contemporary expressions. It probes the varied manifestations and implications of unbelief from an array of disciplinary perspectives and in a range of global contexts.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199644659
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 781
Book Description
This handbook is a pioneering edited volume, exploring atheism - understood in the broad sense of 'an absence of belief in the existence of a God or gods' - in its historical and contemporary expressions. It probes the varied manifestations and implications of unbelief from an array of disciplinary perspectives and in a range of global contexts.