The dreadful events of 11 September have brought Islam to the forefront of world politics. This authoritative new book provides the analysis for a far-reaching introduction to Islamic politics for those coming to the subject for the first time. This account provides a deep insight into dimensions of Muslim political life; from democracy to despots, women to world affairs and history to heresy. Milton-Edwards offers an account of key contemporary concepts and debates that focus on the relationship between Islam and topical issues including politics, protest and opposition, violence, the West, democracy, the state and women. Giving an broad global overview the author includes a range of first-hand interviews with major Islamic figures and leaders of movements. Milton-Edwards charts the development of a political trend in Islam throughout the twentieth century and explores its myriad dimensions. The author also explores the prospects for political Islam in the new millennium. With further reading suggestions, and a glossary, Islam and Politics in the Contemporary World is an indispensable introduction to the subject and will prove invaluable as a textbook for students of politics and religion.

Islam, Bruce Lawrence argues, is a complex, international religious system that cannot be reduced to stereotypes. As Lawrence demonstrates, Islam is a religion shaped as much by its own postulates and ethical demands as by the specific circumstances of Muslim people in the modern world. It is time, Lawrence believes, to replace inaccurate images of Islam with a recognition of the multifaceted character of this global religion and of its widely diverse adherents. Shattering the Myth provides significant insights into the history of Islam and a greater understanding of the varied experiences of Muslims today.

This volume brings together some of the leading researchers on early Islamic history and thought to study the legitimacy of violence.

This book examines dimensions of Islam and violence within wider debates about politics, history, faith, power and struggle both within Muslims' realms and outside. It explores the motif of violence in its myriad aspects including debates about sacrifice, private and public violence, responses and reactions, as well as suicide and martyrdom.

A look at the developing conflicts in Christian-Muslim relations during late antiquity and the early Islamic era How did the medieval Middle East transform from a majority-Christian world to a majority-Muslim world, and what role did violence play in this process? Christian Martyrs under Islam explains how Christians across the early Islamic caliphate slowly converted to the faith of the Arab conquerors and how small groups of individuals rejected this faith through dramatic acts of resistance, including apostasy and blasphemy. Using previously untapped sources in a range of Middle Eastern languages, Christian Sahner introduces an unknown group of martyrs who were executed at the hands of Muslim officials between the seventh and ninth centuries CE. Found in places as diverse as Syria, Spain, Egypt, and Armenia, they include an alleged descendant of Muhammad who converted to Christianity, high-ranking Christian secretaries of the Muslim state who viciously insulted the Prophet, and the children of mixed marriages between Muslims and Christians. Sahner argues that Christians never experienced systematic persecution under the early caliphs, and indeed, they remained the largest portion of the population in the greater Middle East for centuries after the Arab conquest. Still, episodes of ferocious violence contributed to the spread of Islam within Christian societies, and memories of this bloodshed played a key role in shaping Christian identity in the new Islamic empire. Christian Martyrs under Islam examines how violence against Christians ended the age of porous religious boundaries and laid the foundations for more antagonistic Muslim-Christian relations in the centuries to come.

This volume shows the diversity of approaches to violence in Islamic thought between the 19th century and the present day, avoiding the limiting characterisations of Islam being inherently 'violent' or 'peaceful'.

DIV The powerful cultural and spiritual forces that fuel the conflict in the Middle East. /div