Islam: An advanced introduction

This brief article aims to give a thorough overview of Islamic beliefs and practices for those unfamiliar with the religious tradition. It also aims to allow the opportunity for further reading on the subject, citing a wide variety of scholarly texts written for non-specialist audiences. The article is divided into sections giving a brief overview of early Islamic history and Muhammad's lifetime, the primary Islamic religious sources, namely, the Qur'an and Sunna, the Five Pillars of Islamic practice, foundational Islamic creedal beliefs, the Shari'a, and finally, Sufism. The pre-edited version of the paper is included here.

2006

2001

Types and characteristics of evidence (Muslim and non Muslim) we have for the formative period of Islam. Student (MA): Nicola Seu Id number: 164166

LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 2013

Islam as a revealed religion with over a billion followers around the world is an important belief system that has a complex history of emergence and development. In the post-9/11 period that saw an increasing American engagement in the Middle East, the necessity to understand the different dynamics at work in the development of this religion cannot be overemphasized. In order to help you acquire familiarity with this religion, this course will have three parts, each highlighting different aspects of Islam. 1) Classical Islam: this part will provide a survey of Islam through scholarly lenses, historically unpacking the emergence of its belief system through the prophetic figure of Muhammad and its revealed scripture, the Qur'an. The emergence of the elementary grammar of this religion will be then read against the particular historical venue of its inception. This part will also highlight how the emerging belief system came to interact with, borrow from, and at times negate the existing socio-religious customs, how Islam came to develop a relationship with politics, and how early schisms further consolidated through time.

Quote as : Salvatore, Armando, Johann P. Arnason, Roberto Tottoli, and Babak Rahimi. 2018. “Introduction: The Formation and Transformations of the Islamic Ecumene,” in The Wiley Blackwell History of Islam, ed. Armando Salvatore, Roberto Tottoli and Babak Rahimi, Oxford: Wiley Blackwell (with Johann P. Arnason, Babak Rahimi, and Roberto Tottoli), 1-35. This is the Introduction to a theoretically rich, nuanced history of Islam and Islamic civilization with a unique sociological component. This major new reference work offers a complete historical and theoretically informed view of Islam as both a religion and a sociocultural force. Uniquely comprehensive, it surveys and discusses the transformation of Muslim societies in different eras and various regions, providing a broad narrative of the historical development of Islamic civilization. This text explores the complex and varied history of the religion and its traditions. It provides an in-depth study of the diverse ways through which the religious dimension at the core of Islamic traditions has led to a distinctive type of civilizational process in history. The book illuminates the ways in which various historical forces have converged and crystallized in institutional forms at a variety of levels, embracing social, religious, legal, political, cultural, and civic dimensions. Together, the team of internationally renowned scholars move from the genesis of a new social order in 7th-century Arabia, right up to the rise of revolutionary Islamist currents in the 20th century and the varied ways in which Islam has grown and continues to pervade daily life in the Middle East and beyond. This book is essential reading for students and academics in a wide range of fields, including sociology, history, law, and political science. It will also appeal to general readers with an interest in the history of one of the world’s great religions.

2006

The article proposes a brief overview of the main Islamic doctrinal themes and religious rules. It examines the fundamental themes that define the essence of the Islamic faith (aqīdah) and, accordingly, religious sciences developed around them. It also analyzes the key aspects of Muslim ethos, managed mostly by what is called Sharī'a and which are incorporates in two main categories of norms and obligations: those which regard the cult (ibadāt) and those which establish the human condition within society (mu’āmalāt). Finally, the paper provides an overview of issue of religious authority in Islam, topic that generated countless doctrinal, ideological, political disputes inside the Muslim societies, until today.

2015

Islam is the world’s fastest growing faith but it is one of the least well understood. It traces its heritage from ancient Semitic sources through Judaism and Christianity, and is therefore part of the Abrahamic monotheistic tradition. Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last prophet in a line which includes Jesus, Moses and the other Judaic prophets whose exploits are recorded in the Torah and Bible. His message is therefore not essentially different to that of earlier prophets but a reminder of the original Abrahamic message corrupted over time by the practitioners of Judaism and Christianity. Muhammad received God’s message in a series of revelations in the early 7th century AD. These revelations in rhyming Arabic prose are gathered together in the Qur’an in order of length rather than the order that they were received. They include historical, legal, didactic and eschatological material which forms the basis for Islamic law and ritual practice. The relationship between prophet...