Muslims Talking Politics

Download or read book Muslims Talking Politics written by Brandon Kendhammer and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-06-22 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For generations Islamic and Western intellectuals and policymakers have debated Islam’s compatibility with democratic government, usually with few solid conclusions. But where—Brandon Kendhammer asks in this book—have the voices of ordinary, working-class Muslims been in this conversation? Doesn’t the fate of democracy rest in their hands? Visiting with community members in northern Nigeria, he tells the complex story of the stunning return of democracy to a country that has also embraced Shariah law and endured the radical religious terrorism of Boko Haram. Kendhammer argues that despite Nigeria’s struggles with jihadist insurgency, its recent history is really one of tenuous and fragile reconciliation between mass democratic aspirations and concerted popular efforts to preserve Islamic values in government and law. Combining an innovative analysis of Nigeria’s Islamic and political history with visits to the living rooms of working families, he sketches how this reconciliation has been constructed in the conversations, debates, and everyday experiences of Nigerian Muslims. In doing so, he uncovers valuable new lessons—ones rooted in the real politics of ordinary life—for how democracy might work alongside the legal recognition of Islamic values, a question that extends far beyond Nigeria and into the Muslim world at large.

Download or read book What the Qur'an Meant written by Garry Wills and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-12-04 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America’s leading religious scholar and public intellectual introduces lay readers to the Qur’an with a measured, powerful reading of the ancient text Garry Wills has spent a lifetime thinking and writing about Christianity. In What the Qur’an Meant, Wills invites readers to join him as he embarks on a timely and necessary reconsideration of the Qur’an, leading us through perplexing passages with insight and erudition. What does the Qur’an actually say about veiling women? Does it justify religious war? There was a time when ordinary Americans did not have to know much about Islam. That is no longer the case. We blundered into the longest war in our history without knowing basic facts about the Islamic civilization with which we were dealing. We are constantly fed false information about Islam—claims that it is essentially a religion of violence, that its sacred book is a handbook for terrorists. There is no way to assess these claims unless we have at least some knowledge of the Qur’an. In this book Wills, as a non-Muslim with an open mind, reads the Qur’an with sympathy but with rigor, trying to discover why other non-Muslims—such as Pope Francis—find it an inspiring book, worthy to guide people down through the centuries. There are many traditions that add to and distort and blunt the actual words of the text. What Wills does resembles the work of art restorers who clean away accumulated layers of dust to find the original meaning. He compares the Qur’an with other sacred books, the Old Testament and the New Testament, to show many parallels between them. There are also parallel difficulties of interpretation, which call for patient exploration—and which offer some thrills of discovery. What the Qur’an Meant is the opening of a conversation on one of the world’s most practiced religions.

Download or read book Muslims Talking Politics written by Brandon Kendhammer and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-06-22 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sharia implementation and democratic discourse in Northern Nigeria -- What we talk about when we talk about Islam and democracy -- Envisioning sharia, imagining the past -- Democracy, federalism, and the sharia question -- Sharia in a time of transition -- Framing sharia and democracy -- Muslims talking politics -- All sharia is local: islamic law and democracy in practice.

Download or read book Rethinking Political Islam written by Shadi Hamid and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rethinking Political Islam offers a fine-grained and definitive overview of the changing world of political Islam in the post-Arab Uprising era.

Download or read book Islamic Exceptionalism written by Shadi Hamid and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2016-06-07 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Islamic Exceptionalism, Brookings Institution scholar and acclaimed author Shadi Hamid offers a novel and provocative argument on how Islam is, in fact, "exceptional" in how it relates to politics, with profound implications for how we understand the future of the Middle East. Divides among citizens aren't just about power but are products of fundamental disagreements over the very nature and purpose of the modern nation state—and the vexing problem of religion’s role in public life. Hamid argues for a new understanding of how Islam and Islamism shape politics by examining different models of reckoning with the problem of religion and state, including the terrifying—and alarmingly successful—example of ISIS. With unprecedented access to Islamist activists and leaders across the region, Hamid offers a panoramic and ambitious interpretation of the region's descent into violence. Islamic Exceptionalism is a vital contribution to our understanding of Islam's past and present, and its outsized role in modern politics. We don't have to like it, but we have to understand it—because Islam, as a religion and as an idea, will continue to be a force that shapes not just the region, but the West as well in the decades to come.

Download or read book Muslims and the Making of Modern Europe written by Emily Greble and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing upon Muslim Europe's own voices, institutions, and experiences, this compelling work reframes the debates on European secularism, the historic role of Shari'a law in diverse European states, Muslims and Nazis, Muslims and Communists, and the contributions of Muslims to Europe today.

Download or read book A Self-Study Course on Political Islam, Level 1 written by Bill Warner and published by CSPI. This book was released on 2011-06 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FACT-BASED You can find opinions about Islamic doctrine in the main stream media, but no facts. That is because they do not study the only foundation of knowledge about the true nature of Islam- Mohammed and Allah. This self-study course is based on three of the Islamic source texts: the Koran, the Sira (biography of Mohammed) and the Hadith (his traditions). If your knowledge comes from these original texts, it can be verified and your understanding is on firm ground. SECRETS REVEALED The Koran and all Islamic texts are difficult to read by design. But, when the artificial language is stripped away and replaced by simple English, the results are astounding. We learn that the Islamic ethical system is based on dualism-one set of rules for Muslims and another set of rules for non-Muslims (Kafirs). We find out that Mohammed was a slave trader, an abuser of women and a warlord. Islam as a religion was a failure. Only when Mohammed turned to jihad and politics, did he have any success. A THREE LEVEL SELF-STUDY COURSE The self-study course covers fourteen different topics about Islam from three different views. Each level can be read on its own, but there is a progression of information. This course will end your confusion about Islam. You will understand what underlies the events in the Islamic world and what this means for our civilization. This book is level 1.