The terms ‘coexistence’, ‘partnership’, ‘citizenship’ and ‘globalization’ all have a profound impact on today’s decision makers and their policy formation, as well as on individuals. While these terms have been widely used all over the world, particularly in the West, in the construction of identity, they have been considered unworthy of a detailed analysis in the context of Muslim identity. Some scholars argue that Muslim-Christian relations are caught between advocates of homogenization, on the one hand, and supporters of self-affirmation on the other. While the former concept favours relativism, the latter is seen to encourage fanaticism. In addition, such scholars claim that the tension between Muslims and Christians is due to a complex history of rivalry and war, which has led to the issue of Muslims’ positive coexistence being elucidated from historical and sociological points of view. Given the paucity of literature regarding a faith-based study of Muslim coexistence, this book elaborates on the theological aspect of Muslims’ coexistence in non-Muslim lands, and raises a number of theological questions, arguments and counter-arguments pertinent to this issue. Is it permissible for Muslims to live in a non-Muslim country? Is it permissible for Muslims to acquire non-Muslim citizenship? What are the obstacles? How do Muslims perceive civic duties in non-Muslim countries? Are Muslims obliged to fulfil them? The book presents a number of scholarly discussions from past and contemporary sources, as well as international human rights treaties, which stress the significance of the much-overlooked factor of context.

"Recent events have focussed attention on Islam, the often-misunderstood faith of one billion people. Westerners are showing a new openness to learning about Islam and other religions, in part perhaps because religion is arguably the single most important and volatile factor in geopolitics today. Islam needs to be understood on its own terms, John Kaltner argues." "This little Facet offers the most basic information about Islam in an accessible and sympathetic presentation. Kaltner portrays Islam as first and foremost a religion of prescribed practices - the five pillars of Islam. Showing the deep humanism of Islam and its most cherished commitments, Kaltner presents Islam through assertions that counter frequent misconceptions of the faith."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

British Muslim activism has evolved constantly in recent decades. What have been its main groups and how do their leaders compete to attract followers? Which social and religious ideas from abroad are most influential? In this groundbreaking study, Sadek Hamid traces the evolution of Sufi, Salafi and Islamist activist groups in Britain, including The Young Muslims UK, Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Salafi JIMAS organisation and Traditional Islam Network. With reference to second-generation British Muslims especially, he explains how these groups gain and lose support, embrace and reject foreign ideologies, and succeed and fail to provide youth with compelling models of British Muslim identity. Analyzing historical and firsthand community research, Hamid gives a compelling account of the complexity that underlies reductionist media narratives of Islamic activism in Britain.

This volume offers a comparative approach to understanding the spread of Muslim culture in medieval Anatolia. It aims to reassess work in the field since the 1971 classic by Speros Vryonis, The Decline of Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization which treats the process of transformation from a Byzantinist perspective. Essays examine the Christian experience of living under Muslim rule, consider encounters between Christianity and Islam in art and intellectual life, and focus on the process of Islamisation as understood from the Arabic, Persian and Turkish textual evidence.

In this volume, originally published in 1983, W Montgomery Watt looks at the meeting of Christianity and Islam, how they see and have seen each other, and considers how they can aid each other in dealing with the problems of the world today. He emphasizes those beliefs which Christianity and Islam have in common, and shows how they may be justified intellectually.

Connected by their veneration of the One God proclaimed by Abraham, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share much beyond their origins in the ancient Israel of the Old Testament. This Very Short Introduction explores the intertwined histories of these monotheistic religions, from the emergence of Christianity and Islam to the violence of the Crusades and the cultural exchanges of al-Andalus.

From a rationale of multiculturalism and a based on systemic approach grounded in the Arab-Islamic tradition, this book integrates history, education, science, and feminism to understand the implications of culture in social change, cultural identity, and cultural exchange.