A wide-ranging analysis of grass-roots activism, migration, legal, political and religious changes as basis for social transformation.

In this probing study of death rites, Leor Halevi plays prescriptive texts against material culture, advancing a new way of interpreting the origins of Islam. He shows how religious scholars produced codes of funerary law to create new social patterns in the cities of Arabia, Mesopotamia, and the eastern Mediterranean. They distinguished Islamic from Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian rites; and they changed the way men and women interacted publicly and privately. Each chapter explores a different layer of human interaction, following the movement of the corpse from the deathbed to the grave. Highlighting economic and political factors, as well as key religious and sexual divisions, Halevi forges a fascinating link between the development of funerary rites and the efforts of an emerging religion to carve its own distinct identity. Muhammad's Grave is a groundbreaking history of the rise of Islam and the roots of contemporary Muslim attitudes toward the body and society.

The second edition of this well-received two-volume study of Islam updates and adds to its predecessor 40 percent new content. It updates and revises most of the original 500+ entries and adds new topics to reflect changes in the Muslim world since 2004, from the emergence/re-emergence of Islamic regimes to challenges to the rule of religious leaders (Iran), to continuing instability across North Africa and the Middle East. The set will build on the first edition s approach to this still-growing religion: documenting and analyzing its history, as well as its doctrinal, legal, social, and spiritual tenets, while assessing its influence on all areas of human activity in the regions where it is most established the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. KEY FEATURES: Most up-to-date Analyses. The ever-growing numbers of students matriculating in disciplines connected to the teaching and understanding of Islam need accurate, current information on this religion and its impact on the world. Balanced Coverage. Rich historical content is partnered with coverage of the issues, countries, and people that are important in today s world, allowing for an assessment of Islam s influence on all areas of human activity throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas Fully Updated Content. More than 50% new and revised content, including more than 160 new entries and 60 sidebars. Beautifully Illustrated in Full Color. This edition doubles the number of photos and maps from the first edition, all in color. WHAT S NEW: 286 new/updated entries and sidebars Now in full color More than 360 images, more than double the number of images from the first edition 60 sidebars embedded in larger entries to help readers understand the importance of a person or group in context with a key issue or country. Revamped table of contents includes entries at the forefront of current events, including entries on oil, water rights, social media, and ISIS, as well as greatly expanded coverage of Islam in specific countries."

""This book examines professions that involve working with diverse populations and addresses contemporary issues that impact the full and successful utilization of human services by Muslims living in non-Muslim majority countries"--Provided by publisher"--

When the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads in 750 CE and ushered in Islam’s Golden Age, ideas about gender and sexuality were central to the process by which the caliphate achieved self-definition and articulated its systems of power and thought. Nadia Maria El Cheikh’s study reveals the importance of women to the writing of early Islamic history.

Death, Resurrection, and Human Destiny: Christian and Muslim Perspectives is a record of the 2012 Building Bridges seminar for leading Christian and Muslim scholars, convened by Rowan Williams, then Archbishop of Canterbury. The essays in this volume explore what the Bible and Qurān—and the Christian and Islamic theological traditions—have to say about death, resurrection, and human destiny. Special attention is given to the writings of al-Ghazali and Dante. Other essays explore the notion of the good death. Funeral practices of each tradition are explained. Relevant texts are included with commentary, as are personal reflections on death by several of the seminar participants. An account of the informal conversations at the seminar conveys a vivid sense of the lively, penetrating, but respectful dialogue which took place. Three short pieces by Rowan Williams provide his opening comments at the seminar and his reflections on its proceedings. The volume also contains an analysis of the Building Bridges Seminar after a decade of his leadership.