UNDERSTANDING ISLAM

by Anbara Wali

More than 1.6 billion Muslims live throughout the world today, and they can be found in practically every country. Although this has resulted in great diversity, all Muslims are members of the umma, or community, and all share the same basic belief in a single god and his messages about how humans are expected to live their lives. Who Are the Muslims: An Overview provides a snapshot of life in the Islamic world, with an overview of the countries in which Muslims live, basic information about the beliefs shared by all Muslims, and the history of the spread of Islam throughout the world. The book also examines Islamic law and its importance to Muslims, and discusses the role of Islam in governments throughout the Islamic world.

by Abdul Hakeem Tamer

Over the past twenty years, groups like the Gallup Organization and the Pew Research Center have conducted numerous polls of people in the Muslim world. These polls track the attitudes and opinions of tens of thousands of people living in predominantly Muslim countries like Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Egypt. Probing questions uncover the views of Muslims toward their local political systems, culture, religion, family life, and the United States. The resulting data is analyzed in Ideas & Daily Life in the Muslim World Today, in conjunction with historical background and current demographic information. It provides an unprecedented window into the perceptions, hopes, and values of adults across the Islamic world.

by Nasreen Mahdi

In recent years there has been a great interest in Islam and the more than 1.6 billion people around the world who practice this religion. Islam: Core Beliefs and Practices provides an overview of this major world religion that will help readers to understand what Muslims believe and value, as well as how Muslims practice their faith in their everyday lives. The book provides the historical background of Islam’s emergence on the Arabian Peninsula during the seventh century and traces the spread of the faith throughout the world during the centuries that followed, along with information about the major Islamic sects, an explanation of Islamic laws and practices, details of important Islamic celebrations and festivals, and a discussion of important issues that Muslims face today.

by Lilah el-Sayed

Islamism—also called Islamic Fundamentalism or Political Islam—represents one of the most important movements in the modern Islamic world. The global Muslim community is extremely diverse, and Islamist movements have taken many forms that reflect this diversity. However, most Islamists share a few common goals. These include ridding Islam of what are seen as corrupt influences and returning the faith to what they believe is an original, “pure” form; establishing Sharia as the basic law in Muslim lands; and replacing secular governments with governments that observe the tenets of Islam. This book details the historical and political context that gave rise to modern Islamist movements and groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It also surveys fundamentalist movements in a variety of countries and regions, and outlines the ongoing challenges Islamic fundamentalism presents for the United States and its allies.

by Musheer Mansoor

From its modest beginnings on the Arabian Peninsula nearly 1,400 years ago, Islam has grown into the world’s second-largest religious faith, with more than 1.6 billion believers worldwide. Islamic civilization has a long and rich history characterized by magnificent achievements in the arts, science, and culture. Many individuals have played important roles in the development and spread of the Islamic faith and Islamic civilizations. This book provides brief biographies of a handful of those individuals, whose deeds have served as a powerful inspiration for other Muslims. This book also examines the places that Muslims consider sacred, explaining how those sites figure into Islamic history.

by Anbara Zaidi

The United States is home to more than 3 million Muslims. Most demographers agree that Muslims are the fastest-growing religious group in the country. Yet many Americans still know comparatively little about Islam, which claims more than 1.6 billion adherents worldwide and which shares common roots with Judaism and Christianity. Muslims in America offers an in-depth and multifaceted look at the Muslim experience in the United States. In addition to summarizing the essential teachings and early history of Islam, this volume examines the past, present, and future of the American Muslim community, and explores how misunderstandings about Muslim beliefs can lead to discrimination and alienation from the larger US society.

by Israa Aman

The followers of the three major monotheistic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—make up more than half of the world’s population. Each of these religions traces its descent to the patriarch Abraham, who was the first man to completely submit to the will of a single, all-powerful God. Yet despite this shared heritage, there are important differences in the religious beliefs of Muslims, Christians, and Jews. This book provides the historical context in which each of these three important monotheistic religions developed, an overview of the essential beliefs and religious practices expected of each faith’s followers, and a discussion of how Jews, Christians, and Muslims have interacted in both the ancient and modern worlds.

by Tayyib Omar

In recent years, deadly terrorist attacks in European and American cities have drawn attention to the differences between the Muslim world and the West. Many Americans are surprised to find that Muslims have a negative attitude toward the US government. The widespread distrust of the United States and the European countries is not something that occurred in a short period of time, however. The Struggle for Identity: Islam and the West explores the history of contact between the Muslim and Western civilizations during the fourteen centuries since Islam was established. It discusses the spread of Islamic influence into Europe, the impact of the Crusades during the Medieval period, the legacy of European colonialism in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, and the involvement of the US government and military in Muslim lands over the past 75 years.