islam/Jamal J.Elias

islam/Jamal J.Elias Paper details: Read the book and write a book review please use proper citation when using the books content Islam Jamal J.Elias Amherst College, Massachusetts LONDON Preface Writing a brief introductory book of this kind presents a set of unique challenges to the author, who must balance brevity, clarity, and comprehensiveness. These demands are particularly acute in the case of Islam, which is a religion of people from vastly varying cultures, and simultan eously one perceived as foreign to the Western world. In the interest of clarity I have chosen to concentrate on a limited number of societies when providing concrete examples of Islamic beliefs and customs, and must apologize to those readers whose regional interests have not been sufficiently accommodated. Emphasizing Islam as a living tradition, I have provided only the most condensed description of classical Islamic history and thought, subjects which are covered in great detail in a variety of books. I have tried to focus on the religion of ordinary Muslims, who live in societies that are mostly in a state of relative peace, and whose major concerns revolve around the day-to-day issues that preoccupy human beings in most societies. I have intentionally avoided the Islam of newspaper headlines; nor have I attempted to make religious sense of the madness that has gripped Afghanistan and Algeria. I have tried to be as consistent as possible in my use of technical terms that have not been standardized in scholarly use. For example, I use “Muslim” as an adjective to refer to both men and women who profess the religion of Islam. I also use “Muslim” as an adjective referr ing to societal or historical phenomena that are religious in content or character. This is distin ct from my use of the term “Islamic” to refer to those features of li fe that are shared ev en by the non-Muslim members of a predominantly Muslim soci ety, such as its art or music. This formula parallels the usage of “Christian” versus “Western” in the book. I have used Arabic technical terms only where absolutely necessary, and have used a simplified system of transliteration—in terested readers should consult the pronunciation guide for clarification. Arabic words that have entered the English language are treated as English words when written in plural form; singular and plural forms of other words are provided as necessary. This book emerges from roughly ten year s of teaching introductory courses on Islam, and I would like to acknowledge the contribution of students, both past and present, at Amherst, Yale, and Brown, for foreing me to think about the material in new ways. My frequent resear ch trips to the Islamic world have been facilitated by a number of granting ag encies and academic institutions, most significantly Amherst College. In putting together this volume I have drawn information from a large number of people in the Islamic world and in the United States. Among those scholars whose direct communications I was acutel y aware of during th e months in which I was writing this book are Eqbal Ahmed, Leila Ahmed, Virginia Aksan, Adel Allouche, Gerhard Böwering, Amila Bu turovic, Michael Cooperson, Alan Godlas, Yvonne Haddad, Farooq Hamid, Nancy Hill, Ahmet Karamustafa, Nevzat Kaya, Ahmet Kuyas, Ali Mirsepassi, Dwight Reynolds, Ahmed Tasbihi, Shawkat M. Toorawa, E.Sarah Wolper, a nd Osman Yahya. There are, no doubt, many others whom I have overlooked, but neither they nor the people named above are in any way accountable for the shortcomings of this book. I would particularly like to thank Me lanie White, my editor at Calmann and King, for her patience with the delays necessitated by my schedule, Shahzad Bashir for reading the manuscript and commenting on it, and Mehrin Masud for her careful reading, for listening to me formulate ideas, and for keeping the cappuccinos coming. Jamal J.Elias June 1998 10 Chronology of Islam C. 570 C.E. Birth of the Prophet in Mecca. 619 Death of Khadija, first wife of the Prophet and first convert to Islam. 622 The Hijra: the emigration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina, marking the beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar. 630 Conquest of Mecca. 632 The Farewell Pilgrimage and death of the Prophet. 632 Death of Fatima, daughter of the Prophet and wife of Ali. 632–4 Abu Bakr is Caliph. 634–44 Umar is Caliph. 635 Conquest of Damascus. 639 Conquest of Egypt. 640 Conquest of Persia. 644 Death of Umar. 644–56 Uthman is Caliph. 651 Death of the last pre-Islamic Persian emperor. Yazdigird. 653 Official date of the canonization of the Qur’an under Uthman. 656 Death of Uthman. 656–61 Ali is Caliph. 657 Battle of Siffin between supporters of Ali and the army of Mu c awiya. 661 Assassination of Ali. Mu c awiya becomes Caliph. 661–750 Umayyad dynasty. 678 Death of A’isha, wife of the Prophet and one of the most influential figures in early Islam.