Studying the Qur'an in the Muslim Academy examines what it is like to study and teach the Qur'an at academic institutions in the Muslim world, and how politics affect scholarly interpretations of the text. Guided by the author's own journey as a student, university lecturer, and researcher in Iran, Malaysia, and New Zealand, this book provides vivid accounts of the complex academic politics he encountered. Majid Daneshgar describes the selective translation and editing of Edward Said's classic work Orientalism into various Islamic languages, and the way Said's work is weaponized to question the credibility of contemporary Western-produced scholarship in Islamic studies. Daneshgar also examines networks of journals, research centers, and universities in both Sunni and Shia contexts, and looks at examples of Quranic interpretation there. Ultimately, he offers a constructive program for enriching Islamic studies by fusing the best of Western theories with the best philological practices developed in Muslim academic contexts, aimed at encouraging respectful but critical engagement with the Qur'an.

This book demonstrates why and how it is necessary to redesign Islamic Education curriculum in the K-12 sector globally. From Western public schools that integrate Muslim perspectives to be culturally responsive, to public and private schools in Muslim minority and majority contexts that teach Islamic studies as a core subject or teach from an Islamic perspective, the volume highlights the unique global and sociocultural contexts that support the disparate trajectories of Islamic Education curricula. Divided into three distinct parts, the text discusses current Islamic education curricula and considers new areas for inclusion as part of a general renewal effort that includes developing curricula from an Islamic worldview, and the current aspirations of Islamic education globally. By providing insights on key concepts related to teaching Islam, case studies of curriculum achievements and pitfalls, and suggested processes and pillars for curriculum development, contributors present possibilities for researchers and educators to think about teaching Islam differently. This text will benefit researchers, doctoral students, and academics in the fields of secondary education, Islamic education, and curriculum studies. Those interested in religious education as well as the sociology and theory of religion more broadly will also enjoy this volume.

A bold new conceptualization of Islam that reflects its contradictions and rich diversity What is Islam? How do we grasp a human and historical phenomenon characterized by such variety and contradiction? What is "Islamic" about Islamic philosophy or Islamic art? Should we speak of Islam or of islams? Should we distinguish the Islamic (the religious) from the Islamicate (the cultural)? Or should we abandon "Islamic" altogether as an analytical term? In What Is Islam?, Shahab Ahmed presents a bold new conceptualization of Islam that challenges dominant understandings grounded in the categories of "religion" and "culture" or those that privilege law and scripture. He argues that these modes of thinking obstruct us from understanding Islam, distorting it, diminishing it, and rendering it incoherent. What Is Islam? formulates a new conceptual language for analyzing Islam. It presents a new paradigm of how Muslims have historically understood divine revelation—one that enables us to understand how and why Muslims through history have embraced values such as exploration, ambiguity, aestheticization, polyvalence, and relativism, as well as practices such as figural art, music, and even wine drinking as Islamic. It also puts forward a new understanding of the historical constitution of Islamic law and its relationship to philosophical ethics and political theory. A book that is certain to provoke debate and significantly alter our understanding of Islam, What Is Islam? reveals how Muslims have historically conceived of and lived with Islam as norms and truths that are at once contradictory yet coherent.

A Basic Hanafi Primer on Faith, Prayer, & the Path of SalvationAllah has commanded us to worship and obey Him, with sincerity, out of reverence, love, and thankfulness. He says in the Quran, And they are ordered only to serve Allah, keeping religion pure for Him, to remain upright, and to establish worship and to pay the poor-due. That is true religion (Quran, 98.5).This worship is not possible without knowledge. This short work outlines the absolute essentials of this knowledge: in faith, prayer, and key points related to ones life and dealings.It is based on the methodology of traditional Sunni Islam, according to the Hanafi school, the largest school of Islamic law, and its purpose is to make ones worship valid, sound, and proper in a short amount of time. Learn the basics & essentials of Islamic beliefs Make your purification and prayer proper, sound, & valid Learn key issues on the path to Paradise

Over the last twenty years, the rise of Qur'anic studies has been one of the most remarkable developments within the wider framework of Islamic scholarship. This evolution can be viewed from three angles: exponential growth in the accessibility of relevant primary; the use of contemporary methods for developing new analytical agendas; a renewed appreciation of diverse hermeneutical orientations. A veritable gold-rush of publications, theses, colloquia and study projects devoted to the Qur'an in the past two decades illustrates these developments. This scholarly community subsists primarily in European countries and the United States, but its effects are not limited there. The reception and dissemination of this work in Muslim-majority countries is constant and bodes as a promising opportunity to establish a real dialogue between scholars and lived community. The present book contains expert contributions emerging from this nexus, with scholars from North African, Middle Eastern and Western backgrounds who share a common ambition: to advance academic study of the Qurʾan by promoting cooperation across global boundaries.