"When Americans look at the Muslim world, they see a uniform culture (Arab) with a single language (Arabic) communicated through a uniform religious belief and practice (Islam). Fluehr-Lobban shows us how simplistic and mistaken this view is."--Library Journal "Islamic Societies in Practice is an eloquent, thought-provoking antidote to the American media's attempts to reduce the complexity of the Muslim world to 30-second sound bytes. Fluehr-Lobban proffers insights which are the result of an open mind and long-term field experience. She addresses the misconceptions which many Westerners have about the Middle East, not only with fact and historical content, but also with anecdotal material about her own experience there, an unbeatable combination."--Middle East Women's Studies Review "An accessible primer on Islamic society, providing a good historical overview with a focus on how Islam is practiced. . . . The author's descriptions of Islamic values and social practices, gender relations, and the tensions within the umma, or the world Muslim community, are effectively filtered through her own experience."--Publishers Weekly "A wonderful contribution to the field . . . a concrete set of images and stories that offer many opportunities for discussions of the politics of ordinary life, as well as the opportunities in the region for increasing democracy, greater human rights, and expanded women's roles."--International Journal of Middle East Studies Originally written in the wake of the Gulf War, this book introduced the West to everyday Arab-Islamic cultures and societies, humanizing the region and its people. It ventured behind the headlines to offer a positive, constructive view of Islam and Muslims, showing how Islam is lived and practiced in daily life. Now revised and expanded in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Islamic Societies in Practice embraces the breadth of global Islam with significant new material on Islam in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States, as well as the Middle East. New maps and illustrations are included, detailing the diversity and representation of Islam and Muslims throughout the world. Additional material includes discussions of male and female relations; folk Islam, popular expressions of faith, and the five pillars; Sufism, including the Turkish Dervishes; ethnic and racial differences in the Muslim world; Islamic law and the application of harsh punishments; political Islam and the future of the state in the Islamic world; and the many voices of progressive Muslims--feminists, human rights activists, and anti-extremist writers. Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban is professor of anthropology at Rhode Island College.

This book places context at the core of the Islamic mechanism of iftā’ to better understand the process of issuing fatwās in Muslim and non-Muslim countries, thus highlighting the connection between context and contemporaneity, on one hand, and the adaptable perception of Islamic law, on the other. The practice of iftā’ is one of the most important mechanisms of Islamic law that keeps Islamic thought about ethical and legal issues in harmony with the demands, exigencies and developments of time. This book builds upon the existing body of work related to the practice of iftā’, but takes the discussion beyond the current debates with the intent of unveiling the interaction between Islamic legal methodologies and different environmental contexts. The book specifically addresses the three institutions (Saudi Arabia’s Dār al-Iftā’, Turkey’s Diyanet and America’s FCNA) and their Islamic legal opinions (fatwās) in a comparative framework. This demonstrates the existence of complex and diverse ideas around similar issues within contemporary Islamic legal opinions that is further complicated by the influence of international, social, political, cultural and ideological contexts. The book thus unveils a more complicated range of interactive constituents in the process of the practice of iftā’ and its outputs, fatwās. The work will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of Islamic law, Middle Eastern studies, religion and politics.

From the first hospitals to pioneering pharmacy techniques, the early history of medicine reflects the groundbreaking contributions of Islamic physicians and scientists. Less recognized, however, is the impact of Islam on the health and daily health practices of modern day Muslims. Meticulously documented with current research sources and relevant religious texts, Health and Well-Being in Islamic Societies sheds light on the relationships between Muslim beliefs and physical, psychological, and social health. Background chapters trace Muslim thought on health and healing as it has evolved over the centuries to the present. The authors provide even-handed comparisons with Christianity as the two traditions approach medical and ethical questions, and with Christian populations in terms of health outcomes, assuring coverage that is not only objective but also empirically sound and clinically useful. And as the concluding chapters show, understanding of these similarities and differences can lead to better care for clients, cost-effective services for communities, and healthier Muslim populations in general. Included among the book's topics: Muslim beliefs about health, healing, and healthcare Similarities and differences between Muslim and Christian health beliefs Impact of religion on physical, mental, and community health in Muslims Understanding how Islam influences health Applications for clinical practice Implications for public health Cultural awareness is critical to improving both individual client health and public health on a global scale. Health and Well-Being in Islamic Societies is essential reading for clinical and health psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and nurses, and will be informative for the general reader as well.

"This third edition of Ira M. Lapidus's classic A History of Islamic Societies has been substantially revised to incorporate the insights of new scholarship and updated to include historical developments in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Lapidus's history explores the beginnings and transformations of Islamic civilizations in the Middle East and details Islam's worldwide diffusion to Africa, Spain, Turkey and the Balkans, Central, South and Southeast Asia, and North America, situating Islamic societies within their global, political, and economic contexts. It accounts for the impact of European imperialism on Islamic societies and traces the development of the modern national state system and the simultaneous Islamic revival from the early nineteenth century to the present. This book is essential for readers seeking to understand Muslim peoples."--Publisher information.

What is jihad? Does it mean violence, as many non-Muslims assume? Or does it mean peace, as some Muslims insist? Because jihad is closely associated with the early spread of Islam, today's debate about the origin and meaning of jihad is nothing less than a struggle over Islam itself. In Jihad in Islamic History, Michael Bonner provides the first study in English that focuses on the early history of jihad, shedding much-needed light on the most recent controversies over jihad. To some, jihad is the essence of radical Islamist ideology, a synonym for terrorism, and even proof of Islam's innate violence. To others, jihad means a peaceful, individual, and internal spiritual striving. Bonner, however, shows that those who argue that jihad means only violence or only peace are both wrong. Jihad is a complex set of doctrines and practices that have changed over time and continue to evolve today. The Quran's messages about fighting and jihad are inseparable from its requirements of generosity and care for the poor. Jihad has often been a constructive and creative force, the key to building new Islamic societies and states. Jihad has regulated relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, in peace as well as in war. And while today's "jihadists" are in some ways following the "classical" jihad tradition, they have in other ways completely broken with it. Written for general readers who want to understand jihad and its controversies, Jihad in Islamic History will also interest specialists because of its original arguments.

This book offers a comparative and cross-cultural history of Islamic reform and European colonialism as both dependent and independent factors in shaping the multiple ways of becoming modern in Indonesia and Malaya during the first half of the twentieth century.

Exploring the increasing impact of the Internet on Muslims around the world, this book sheds new light on the nature of contemporary Islamic discourse, identity, and community. The Internet has profoundly shaped how both Muslims and non-Muslims perceive Islam and how Islamic societies and networks are evolving and shifting in the twenty-first century, says Gary Bunt. While Islamic society has deep historical patterns of global exchange, the Internet has transformed how many Muslims practice the duties and rituals of Islam. A place of religious instruction may exist solely in the virtual world, for example, or a community may gather only online. Drawing on more than a decade of online research, Bunt shows how social-networking sites, blogs, and other "cyber-Islamic environments" have exposed Muslims to new influences outside the traditional spheres of Islamic knowledge and authority. Furthermore, the Internet has dramatically influenced forms of Islamic activism and radicalization, including jihad-oriented campaigns by networks such as al-Qaeda. By surveying the broad spectrum of approaches used to present dimensions of Islamic social, spiritual, and political life on the Internet, iMuslims encourages diverse understandings of online Islam and of Islam generally.

Dreams and visions have always been important in Islamic societies. Yet, their pervasive impact on Muslim communities and on the lives of individual Muslims remains largely unknown and rather surprising to Westerners. This book addresses this gap in understanding with a fascinating and diverse account, taking readers from premodern Islam to the present day. Dreams and visions are shown to have been, and to be, significant in a range of social, educational, and cultural roles. The book includes a wealth of examples detailing the Sufi experience. Contributors use Arabic, Persian, Indian, Central Asian, and Ottoman sources and employ approaches grounded in history, sociology, psychology, anthropology, religious studies, and literary analysis. This is an illuminating work, showing how ordinary Muslims, Muslim notables, Sufis, legal scholars, and rulers have perceived both themselves and the world around them through the prism of dreams and visions.

Family, Law and Politics, Volume II of the Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures, brings together over 360 entries on women, family, law, politics, and Islamic cultures around the world.

Ritual and practice are one of the most distinctive features of religion, and they are linked with its central beliefs. Islam is no exception here, and this Handbook covers many aspects of those beliefs and practices. It describes the variety of what takes place but mainly why, and what the implications of both the theory and practice have for our understanding of Islam. The book includes accounts of prayer, food, pilgrimage, mosques, and the various legal and doctrinal schools that exist within Islam, with the focus on how they influence practice. The volume is organized in terms of texts, groups, practices, places, and others. An attempt has been made to discuss the wide range of Muslim ritual and practice and provide a sound guide to this significant aspect of the religious life of one of the largest groups of believers in the world today.