Gartenstein-Ross is no longer a Muslim, but he believes that moderate Muslims will play a role in dealing effectively with radicals. This updated edition addresses the events of the past decade, analyzing how they have influenced Islam's position in modern culture.Aslan explores what the popular demonstrations pushing for democracy in the Middle East mean for the . In No god but God, challenging the "clash of civilizations" mentality that has distorted our view of Islam, Aslan explains this critical faith in all its complexity, beauty, and compassion. God presented three conditions and signs. Reviews tend to be written in a professional, detached voice and provide detailed coverage of the content included. While the Shiah sometimes employ this definition for their religious leaders as well, they also recognize a fixed number of Imamsthe number of whom depends on the sect of Shiismwho, as the Prophets legitimate successors, bear the responsibility of guarding and preserving Muhammads divine message., Despite the common perception in the West, the Muslim conquerors did not force conversion upon the conquered peoples; indeed, they did not even encourage it. Aslan is clear-eyed about the challenges facing contemporary Islam and offers helpful evidence for dismantling arguments against the faith (useful if, you know, youre friends with Bill Maher or just spend a lot of time on the internet). Entries also contain a short biography of the author. He segues to this chapter with this brief paragraph: Fourteen hundred years of rabid debate over what it means to be a Muslim; of passionate arguments over the interpretation of the Quran and the application of Islamic law; of trying to reconcile a fractured community through appeals to Divine Unity; of tribal feuds, crusades, and world warsand Islam has finally begun its fifteenth century (248). It would be interesting to know whether Aslan would rather live in an Islamic democracy than in a democracy such as we have in the United States today. ASH is a website for cultural outreach, and to unite people who seek goodness and knowledge. But it was never meant to function as a legal code, which is precisely why scholars had to rely so heavily on extra-Quranic sources like ijma (consensus), qiyas (analogy), istislah (which refers to the common good of the people), and ijtihad (independent juristic reasoning)all of them, by definition, reliant on human judgment and historical contextin order to construct the Shariah in the first place. . Depending on the study guide provider (SparkNotes, Shmoop, etc. Other chapters explore the concept of jihad, Sufi mysticism, and the Islamic response to colonialism up through the early twentieth century. Its history, briefly chronicled, makes a good primer for readers who have no idea of the origins of this faith. With this simple profession of faith, Muhammad was declaring to Mecca that the God of the heavens and the earth required no intermediate whatsoever, but could be accessed by anyone., The occultation of the Twelfth Imam, or the, The relationship between the Jews and pagan Arabs was symbiotic in that not only were the Jews heavily Arabized, but the Arabs were also significantly influenced by Jewish beliefs and practices., For most of the Western world, September 11, 2001, signaled the commencement of a worldwide struggle between Islam and the Westthe ultimate manifestation of the clash of civilizations. He was not the lifelong monotheist portrayed in traditional Muslim accounts. Oh man. While both are considered equally valid approaches, the tension between tafsir and tawil is but one of the inevitable consequences of trying to interpret an eternal and uncreated scripture that is nevertheless firmly grounded in a specific historical context., Nor is it surprising that three of the first four leaders of Islam were killed by fellow Muslims, though it is important to recognize that both the rebels who murdered Uthman and the Kharijites who assassinated Ali were, like their spiritual successors among the Jihadists of today, far more concerned with maintaining their personal ideal of Muhammads community than with protecting that community from external enemies.. The Hanifists were pre-Islamic monotheists who were in some significant sense indigenous to the Arabian peninsula. It also would be interesting to know how such a transformation might take place, and what the concrete result would be. The Islamic Reformation is already here. FreeBookNotes found 8 sites with book summaries or analysis of No god but God. An astounding work. Belief in the existence of God (or gods) is definitional of theism and characteristic of many (though not all) religious traditions. That's why it's so chilling to read about leaders -- the Companions? In No God But God, Aslan uses the same skilled hand to offer a history not only of the religion of Islam, but how Islam came to be practiced as it is today in all its variety all over the world. Among the summaries and analysis available for No god but God, there are 1 Short Summary and 7 Book Reviews. Reza Aslan's book No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam has been appreciated by the world. Howeverand this is the most important aspect of the parablethe linguist can offer the travelers only the grapes and nothing more. Aslan begins his apologetic story talking of modern Islam as in a period of reformation, comparing it to the Reformation of the 16th century. . . In many religions God is also conceived as perfect and unfathomable by humans, as all-powerful and all-knowing (omnipotent and omniscient), and as the source and ultimate ground of morality. Come to prayer, come to prayer. Are they now going to inherit just like men who have worked to earn that money? Muhammads response to these complaints was both unsympathetic and shockingly unyielding. Men are in charge of women, because Allah has made some of them excel the others, and because they spend some of their wealth. This would be compelling if 1) he ever returns to this argument in any sustained fashion later in the book and 2) if he understood the Reformation as anything more than a violent religious response to modernity that threw off authority. England continues to maintain a national church whose religious head is also the countrys sovereign and whose bishops serve in the upper house of Parliament. Who were the Hypsistarians: Inner life requires attention to the world, How to be happy: Happiness is a choice, not a genetic factor, Believe in yourself: keep pushing, every answer is inside you, Words of wisdom: Epicurus letter on happiness, Temple Mount: the Sacreds space and location for the encounter of realities, In Praise of Folly (Erasmus of Rotterdam), Epiphany: meaning and what people actually celebrate, Who is Satan: Why (sadly) it is important to know the Devil, Eid al-Adha: The remembrance in Islam of Abrahams faith, Sufism: what it is, and who the Sufis really are, Mohammed meaning of Seal of the Prophets, Timeline of Important milestones in Islamic history. Aslan explores the history of Islam, from it nascent beginnings in the previously obscure Arabian desert, to the unprecedent bourgeoning of its power, as it spread from Spain to Northern India, evolving in countless different directions, under the guise of a million and one different messages all linked to a single figure named Mohammed, a merchant turned prophet, whose message transformed a series of small Arab tribes into one of the most powerful religious forces the world has ever seen. The author argues that the Quran does not command women to be covered with the veil, and that the concept of jihad was intended solely for defensive purposes. What are we, especially those of us who are traditional Christian believers, to make of this, or of the rest of Aslans book? During a period of exile, Muhammad gathered supporters and received additional revelations, summed up in the shahadah: There is no god but God, and Muhammad is Gods messenger.. arabic name for the city of medina. In other words, human beings cannot be given the secret of ultimate reality, for such knowledge cannot be shared, but must be experienced through an arduous inner journey toward self-annihilation. One wonders what was in those variant editions of the Quran that were burnt. We got a stomach bug in the house.. Zachs down and out . This is my angur! cried the Persian. As such, it is distinguished from polytheism, the belief in the existence of many gods, from atheism, the belief that there is no god, and from agnosticism, the belief that the existence or nonexistence of a god or of gods is unknown or unknowable. Third, Aslans account of the origin and development of Islam follows a dubious principle of secular historical practice. Aslan, in Chapter 6, describes a welter of variants of Islam, and intramural disputes that were dramatically polarizing. It is hard to imagine that these ideals would not privilege Muslim believers over other members of society. He relies on this in his defense of the early history of Islam and of the peculiarities of Islamic tradition and the challenges of Quranic interpretation. Aslan says nothing about the boundaries of a legitimate, democratic Islamic state. Sites like SparkNotes with a No god but God study guide or cliff notes. English, l-nsi il popolo ; i popoli ; le nazioni Read more , The five pillars of Islam (arkn al-Islm ; also Read more , A doxology (Ancient Greek: doxologia, from , doxa, glory Read more , raqiya sky ; firmament ; heaven Read more , Assiah (or Asiyah, also known as Olam Asiyah, Read more , Abrahamic Study Hall 2015-2023 - Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy - About Us, I just wanted to remind you of a statement that represents the thinking here at ASH (Abrahamic Study Hall): No, Christianity and Islam are not two paths to the same God. So in addition to the fixed number of Imams who succeeded Muhammads earthly authority, there must also exist an ever-present or pre-existent Imam who, as the eternal guardian of the Revelation, functions as the Proof of God on Earth. Thus, the first Imam was neither Muhammad nor Ali but Adam., It has often been noted that the biblical stories recounted in the Quran, especially those dealing with Jesus, imply a familiarity with the traditions and narratives of the Christian faith., Indeed, everything that is currently being said about Americas diverse Muslim populationthat they are foreign and exotic and un-Americanwas said about Catholic and Jewish immigrants nearly a century ago., Karima bint Ahmad (d. 1069) and Fatima bint Ali (d. 1087), for example, are regarded as two of the most important transmitters of the Prophets traditions, while Zaynab bint al-Shari (d. 1220) and Daqiqa bint Murshid (d. 1345), both textual scholars, occupied an eminent place in early Islamic scholarship. In short, a really interesting book for both Muslims and anyone who wants to know more about the origins and growth of this Abrahamic faith. The book details the succession of various caliphs who led the religion and skillfully veers off into side-stories about more modern developments such as the revolution in Iran, the results of. While the details of the Amirs religion have been lost to history, most scholars are convinced that by the sixth century C.E., [Quoting the Quranic passage in chapter 3 verse 84]. He is the copy of God, in the words of al-Arabis greatest disciple, Abdul Karim al-Jili: he is the mirror in which the divine attributes are perfectly reflected; the medium through which God is made manifest., More than a thousand years before Christ, Zarathustra preached the existence of a heaven and a hell, the idea of a bodily resurrection, the promise of a universal savior who would one day be miraculously born to a young maiden, and the expectation of a final cosmic battle that would take place at the end of time between the angelic forces of good and the demonic forces of evil., It is a shame that this word, myth, which originally signified nothing more than stories of the supernatural, has come to be regarded as synonymous with falsehood, when in fact myths are always true. I would like to know what specific strategies have been developed for this purpose. I found a copy of No God but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam in my uni's library, and from what I've heard, it's a revisionist take on the origins and codification of Islam that seeks to bridge traditional interpretations of the Qur'an and hadiths with their historical background - almost like a religion-oriented Guns, Gunpowder Given sentence below refers to a numbered sentence in the passage. If women could no longer be considered property, men complained, not only would their wealth be drastically reduced, but their own meager inheritances would now have to be split with their sisters and daughtersmembers of the community who, they argued, did not share an equal burden with the men. Published last summer, the book serves as an essential resource to at least two groups: Christians who desire to share their faith with Muslims and Muslims interested in investigating the claims of Christianity. That is the reader's key to this fascinating account of the origins and development of Islam. As an academic, I know how distressingly rare it is to find an writer with strong scholarly chops and an accessible writing voice. We make no distinction between any of them; we submit ourselves to God., Manichaeism, the doctrine founded by the Prophet Mani, was a Gnostic religious movement heavily influenced by Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Judaism which preached a complex, radical dualism between the forces of darkness/evil and the forces of light/good.. And yet, like the United States, these countries are considered democracies, not because they are secular but because they are, at least in theory, dedicated to pluralism., The only question that matters with regard to a religion and its mythology is What do these stories mean?, There is absolutely nothing divine about the Shariah and in no way can it possibly be considered fixed and infallible. muslim profession of faith, "there is no god, but god and muhammad is god's messenger." yathrib. In traditional Eastern philosophy, this notion of radical unity is often called monism: the idea that all things, despite their variety, can be reduced to a single thing unified in space, time, essence, or quality. Chapter 7, In the Footsteps of Martyrs: From Shiism to Khomeinism, brings this sectarianism up-to-date. Therefore, the entity God can be seen as dead in so much of the identity or character God no longer exists, but is still there in the universe. However, in their earliest stages, the hadith were muddled and totally unregulated, making their authentication almost impossible. Depending on the study guide provider (SparkNotes, Shmoop, etc. The function of the clergy in an Islamic democracy is not to rule, but to preserve and, more important, to reflect the morality of the state (265). We found no such entries for this book title. Cliff Notes , Cliffnotes , and Cliff's Notes are trademarks of Wiley Publishing, Inc. SparkNotes and Spark Notes are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. It seems, based on what he does say, that the United States of America could become an Islamic state. For example, one chapter is entirely devoted to the controversial, because often misinterpreted, issue of jihad, while others on the Ottoman Empire, the formation of al Qaeda, and so continuing in chronological order up to Osama bin Laden. No god but God by Reza Aslan Genre: In Sunni Islam, the imam is merely the person who stands at the head of the mosque and leads the congregation in prayer. He is the founder of AslanMedia.com, an online journal for news and entertainment about the Middle East and the world, and co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen Studios, the premier entertainment brand for creative content from and about the Greater Middle East. the text of islam. Respond with despotism, and it becomes the sole voice of opposition. Having converted, he was gradually radicalized. Religion is the story of faith." But this is what I call uzum, replied the Turk. In No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, Reza Aslan chronicles the development of Islam from its unpromising beginnings into a force to be reckoned with worldwide. To me, this was worth reading, because Reza Aslan made the story if Islam come alive and told me so much I didn't know about Islam. Minds are not changed merely through acquiring data or information (if that were the case it would take no effort to convince Americans that Obama is, in fact, a Christian). The hadith, insofar as they addressed issues not dealt with in the Quran, would become an indispensable tool in the formation of Islamic law. Chapter 1 provides the back story for the emergence of Islam. But there is no reason to believe that such a term was used to designate a distinct religious movement until several years later or, it may be, until the death of the Prophet., In the Ummah, there was no tradition of veiling until around 627 C.E., when the so-called verse of hijab suddenly descended upon the community. The intention of the United States government in supporting Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war was to curb the spread of Irans revolution, but it had the more disastrous effect of curbing its evolution., Some have argued, a few of them violently, that the Caliphate should be restored as the emblem of Muslim unity. However,it is not merely the tension that exists between the Islamic religion . . For example, one chapter is entirely devoted to the controversial, because often misinterpreted, issue of, After Noah the Kaba fell into oblivion for generations, until Abraham rediscovered it by visiting his firstborn son Ishmael, and his concubine Hagar, exiled to this desolate land by the will of Sarah his wife. Tafsir answers questions of context and chronology, providing an easily understandable framework for Muslims to live a righteous life. Your Spirit mixed with my Spirit little by little, he wrote of God in his Diwan, by turns, through reunions and abandons. No! For some, Muhammads actions in Medina serve as the model for Muslim-Jewish relations; for others, they demonstrate the insurmountable conflict that has always existed, and will always exist, between the two sons of Abraham. The linguist is the Sufi, who enlightens humanity to the fact that what it seeks (its religions), though called by different names, are in reality one identical thing. As a young man, Muhammad lived in Mecca, a city severely stratified along economic lines, where a group called the Quraysh held the reins of political power and religious influence. Your existence is my own, and it is also my will., All that matters is to be on a path, to be constantly moving toward the topone measured, controlled, and strictly supervised step at a timepassing diligently through specific abodes and stations along the Way, each of which is marked by an ineffable experience of spiritual evolution, until one finally reaches the end of the journey: that moment of enlightenment in which the veil of reality is stripped away, the ego obliterated, and the self utterly consumed by God., The loss of Abu Talibs protection was certainly demoralizing, if not detrimental to Muhammads physical security. The front pages of No god But. Its no secret that I have an intellectual crush on Reza Aslan. No god but God had been on my list for a long time and it was totally worth the wait. Among the summaries and analysis available for No god but God, there This should concern us. It was the followers who came after both of them that twisted their message. Read Reza Aslan's biography on RezaAslan.com. Language No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam is a 2005 non-fiction book written by Iranian-American Muslim scholar Reza Aslan.The book describes the history of Islam and argues for a liberal interpretation of the religion. BlogCritics reviews use emotional language to describe the feel and content of the book, relying on colorful language and an informal tone. If the husband died, his wife would inherit a portion of his property; if he divorced her, the entire dowry was hers to take back to her family. He is author of many books, includingEvil and the Evidence for God(Temple University Press, 1995), Faith, Film, and Philosophy: Big Ideas on the Big Screen(InterVarsity Press, forthcoming), andPhilosophy of Religion(Rowman and Littlefield, also forthcoming). Do read the book. The phrase qawwamuna ala an-nisa can be understood as watch over, protect, support, attend to, look after, or be in charge of women. I'm not reverse FoxNewsing him and saying he must be a staunch muslim to write a book on Islam. If you decide to subscribe to our newsletter, it will be a way to stay in touch, without being bothered by frequent emails. The sporadic revelations that came to Muhammad were recounted orally, addressing injustices in Arabian society, such as the distribution of wealth among the Quraysh. Nabeel concludes: "There is no God but one, and He is Father, Spirit, and Son. We are all living in it. The argument became heated as each man insisted on having what he desired. If there is a No god but God SparkNotes, Shmoop guide, or Cliff Notes, you can find a link to each study guide below. The reviewer describes their feelings about the story and characters along with a brief plot summary. But the cleansing is inevitable, and the tide of reform cannot be stopped. In No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, Reza Aslan chronicles the development of Islam from its unpromising beginnings into a force to be reckoned with worldwide. The argument that the Shariah derives its divine nature from its first and primary source, the Quran, falls flat when one recognizes that the Quran, unlike the Torah, is not a book of laws. Even presuming the raft of hostile orientalists he draws from represented the most neutral and authoritative of western scholarship on Islam, the author's own tone and framing make it needlessly more odious. Myth typically includes miracles, and heroic portrayals of people involved. And now I am Yourself. Is he a supernaturalist? This updated edition addresses the events of the past decade, analyzing how they have influenced Islam's position in modern culture. I have to be up front that I knew nothing about Muhammad and so it was great place to begin. . He believes that all religion is conceived, incubated, weaned, and matured almost entirely in response to sociocultural conditions. Fifth, there is an eerily sanctimonious thread in the final chapter that may be grounds for concern. According to Ibn Rushd, religion simplifies the truth for the masses by resorting to easily recognizable signs and symbols, regardless of the doctrinal contradictions and rational incongruities that inevitably result from the formation and rigid interpretation of dogma. (with Bonus Content) A Former Muslim Investigates the Evidence for Islam and Christianity Author: Nabeel Qureshi Publisher: Zondervan ISBN: Category: Religion Page: 319 View: 182 DOWNLOAD NOW BONUS: This eBook includes downloadable videos and a Q&A with Nabeel Qureshi that are not found in the print edition. -- who casually overturned some of Mohammad's famously moderate teachings after he died, by claiming they'd heard Mohammad say otherwise. Aslan distinguishes between factual history and sacred history (3). He was also an ardent defender of the poor, a great activist in the face of corporate America, indeed a man who aligned himself with all of the weak against all of the powerful. True, there is only one God, but that is just the beginning. The four men left Mecca and went their separate ways, preaching the new religion and seeking out others in the same condition. I'm just saying this book is speaking to and from a position so far removed from the Islamic scholarly tradition that I can make no use of it. Islamic clergy may be able to exert considerable influence within a democratic state, by seeking to establish an Islam-friendly consensus among the people of that state. This is an online articlefrom the Christian Research Journal. In fact, Rezas Shiite background strongly influences his writing. Whether man made or heavenly sent, timeless or bound to a specific era, there's a thing or two about Islam that one can learn to appreciate. I adored Zealot and was charmed by Aslans ability to present a complicated history and an important mythology with clarity and precision. I witness that Muhammad is His messenger. Nabeel Qureshi seeks to remedy this dilemma in his latest book, No God but One: Allah or Jesus. It offers a sympathetic but critical look at the origin and development of Islam. His books include No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam (published 2005) and How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization and the End of the War on Terror (published 2009). Perhaps then we will recognize the intimate connections that bind us all together beyond any cultural, ethnic, or religious affiliations. Brenna Clarke Gray, . 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