Islam

Walter de Gruyter

2002

xvi, 436 p.

Religion and reason ; 40

Bibliogr.: p. 405–417

9783110171785

1950-2000: Memories in Context -- 1950-2000: The International Scene -- 1950-2000: Islamic Studies -- The Beginnings -- Islam as a Religion -- Structures and Interpretations of Islam -- Muslim Presentations of Islam and of Human Rights -- Social Reality and Islam -- The Case of Arabia -- Islamic Reform and Modernization -- Islamic Ideology -- The Political Scene and Islam -- The Beginnings -- Changes in Belief and the Rise of Islam -- Spiritual Beings before Islam -- The Bedouin -- Oases and Towns -- A Sidelight from Palmyra -- A New Ordering of the Spiritual Beings in the Qur'an -- Allah -- The Jinn -- The Deities -- The Angels -- The Demons and Iblis -- Spiritual Beings and the Doctrine of Revelation -- Faith and Reason in the Argumentation of the Qur'an -- The Qur'anic Concept of Reason -- A Person's Intellectual Capacities in Connection with Faith -- The Use a Person Makes of his or her Intellectual Capacities in Connection with Faith -- Forms of Argumentation in the Qur'an -- First, we can distinguish a kind of "logic of life" itself, which reveals truths inherent in life as such -- In the second place, there is a kind of "logic of revelation", whereby it is assumed, again implicitly, that there is something like "revelation" -- Third, there is a kind of "logic of faith" that is developed as soon as the existence of faith is assumed, established, and defended against internal doubts -- With regard to the People of the Scriptures -- With regard to the other unbelievers -- Faith in Allah as God

This book presents some twenty essays on different aspects of Islam in history and the present. These essays are grouped into eight larger sections. The first, "The Beginnings", deals with the transition from pre-Islamic understandings and reason, an essential part of the Quranic message. The next two sections deal with Islam specifically as a religion with its particular signs and symbols. The question of rules of interpretation in Islam and its structural features is discussed here. Sections four and five deal with ethics in Islam, including Muslim identity and human rights, and certain social functions of Islam. Section six introduces some 19th and 20th century reform movements, with special attention given to developments in Saudi Arabia and the "puritan" characteristics of present-day Islamic revival movements. The final two sections discuss contemporary issues: Islamization processes and policies, Islamic ideologies, the ideologization of Islam, and the political uses of religion. Throughout the book the author shows the links between the religious and other interpretations and uses made of Islam and the contexts in which they are made. The Introduction signals some important developments in Islamic studies since World War II

Английский