Beschreibung
This book introduces Islam through a "humanistic" lens, by highlighting the affective traditions and expressions associated with Sufism and Shi'ism. While most introductory books emphasize the sharia, and especially the Five Pillars, as the primary defining characteristic of Islam, Vernon James Schubel provides an alternative introduction which instead underscores the importance of humanity and the human being within Islamic thought and practice. The book stresses the diversity of Islamic beliefs and practices, presenting them as varied responses to the shared multivalent concepts of tawhid (the unity of God), nubuwwa (prophecy) and qiyama (the Day of Judgment). Readers are introduced to essential aspects of Islam including the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the Quran, the development of the sharia, and the emergence of the Sunni, Shia and Sufi traditions. The book concludes with a call to redefine mainstream Islam, as a religious tradition focused on the centrality of love and rooted in the importance of humanity and universal human virtues.
Autorenporträt
Vernon James Schubel is Professor of Religious Studies at Kenyon College where he also helped to establish its Asian and Middle East Studies and Islamic Civilization and Cultures programs. He is the author of numerous articles on Islam and the monograph, Religious Performance in Contemporary Islam: Shii Devotional Rituals in South Asia.
Herstellerkennzeichnung:
Springer Verlag GmbH
Tiergartenstr. 17
69121 Heidelberg
DE
E-Mail: juergen.hartmann@springer.com
