"With graceful prose, extensive research, and rigorous argument, Hayden recovers the historical truth of Mohammad's destruction of the Jews of western Arabia. . . . Anyone who wants to understand the true history behind today's conflicts in the Middle East should not miss this indispensable guide to Islam's bloody origins."NBruce S. Thornton, Research Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution.

Politisch begründete religiöse Gewalt war und ist seit der Antike eine gängige Praxis: Die Gräueltaten des Römischen Reiches gegenüber frühchristlichen Gemeinschaften wurden schnell durch nicht minder aggressive Handlungen gegenüber nicht-christlichen Gläubigen ersetzt, denen abscheuliche und polytheistische Praktiken vorgeworfen wurden. Mit dem Aufkommen der Moderne hat die Homogenisierung der religiösen Sphäre für politisch-ökonomische Zwecke, die Vernichtung jeder Form von Häresie und die Ausbreitung des Protestantismus, des Calvinismus und des Anglikanismus eine Umstrukturierung und Konzeptualisierung der westeuropäischen Staaten bewirkt, ganz nach der Devise „ein Königreich, mit einer Religion und einer Nation“. Das Ende der Religionskriege (1648), die Westfälische Souveränität und der cuius regio, eius religio hatten Einfluss auf die Bildung des modernen Europa und anderer Regionen, der französisch-britische Kolonialismus zwang dabei dem gesamten Nahen Osten und der islamischen Welt das gleiche System auf. Der vorliegende Band widmet sich der Untersuchung von interreligiöser Gewalt, religiösem Sektierertum und Islamophobie auf theoretischer Basis, verbunden mit dem „Kampf der Kulturen“ und dem „Religiösen Nationalismus“, als Ausdrücken präziser politischer Ziele, mit denen die Erhaltung der Fragmentierung und der kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen im Osten sowie das Schüren von Ängsten und Vorurteilen im Westen verfolgt werden. Religious violence due to political reasons has been a common practice since ancient times: The massacres of early Christian communities, carried out by the Roman Empire, were rapidly replaced by equally harsh measures against non-Christian believers, being accused of abominable and polytheistic practises. The advent of the modern age, the homogenization of the religious sphere for political-economic ends, the annihilation of any kind of heresy and the emergence of Protestantism, Calvinism and Anglicanism restructured the conceptualization of the Western European States emphasizing the adage “one kingdom, with one religion and one nation”. The end of the religious wars (1648), the Westphalian sovereignty and the cuius regio, eius religio had an impact on the formation of Europe and other regions, the Franco-British colonialism imposed the same system on the entire Middle Eastern and Islamic World. This volume thoroughly examines the usage of inter-religious violence, religious sectarianism and Islamophobia on a theoretical basis, linked with “Clashes of Civilizations” and “Religious Nationalism”, and describes them as manifestations of precise political ends, aiming to preserve fragmentation and warlike states in the East as well as fear and prejudices in the West.

Written by a Soviet émigré and scholar of Marxism, the book begins with the author’s recounting of the end of the Cold War. Despite the common perception that democracy defeated communism, the author presents evidence that the Democratic Party has adopted Marxism in a new philosophy he calls Liberal Bolshevism. Mr. Markovsky trucks the origins of Liberal Bolshevism back to the policies of Woodrow Wilson and FDR and chronicles the transformation of the Democratic Party into the Social Democratic Party. Through the prism of Marxism the author traces the rhythms and patterns of the toxic amalgamation of liberalism and socialism from Lenin to Obama and binds together the Democratic Party’s policies into a Marxist-socialist cause that American Social Democrats, just like their Soviet predecessors, are committed to achieving at all costs. Herein, the reader will find a reassessment of accepted postulates exposing the deeply rooted racism and anti-Semitism of the Democratic Party. The book also challenges vested views of socialism and capitalism. Overall, the work is intended as a dissident course of economics and political education. It is explosive and insightful.

Drawing on traditional Muslim sources, Michael Cook describes Muhammad's life and teaching. He also attempts to stand back from this traditional picture to show how far it is historically justified.

Written by a number of Islamic religious authorities and Muslim scholars, this work presents the views and teachings of mainstream Sunni and Shi’i Islam on the subject of jihad. It authoritatively presents jihad as it is understood by the majority of the world’s 1.7 billion Muslims in the world today, and supports this understanding with extensive detail and scholarship. No word in English evokes more fear and misunderstanding than "jihad." To date the books that have appeared on the subject in English by Western scholars have been either openly partisan and polemical or subtly traumatized by so many acts and images of terrorism in the name of jihad and by the historical memory of nearly 1,400 years of confrontation between Islam and Christianity. Though jihad is the central concern of War and Peace in Islam: The Uses and Abuses of Jihad, the range of the essays is not confined exclusively to the study of jihad. The work is divided into three parts: War and Its Practice, Peace and Its Practice, and Beyond Peace: The Practice of Forbearance, Mercy, Compassion and Love. The book aims to reveal the real meaning of jihad and to rectify many of the misunderstandings that surround both it and Islam’s relation with the “Other.”

The first encylopedic guide to the history of relations between Jews and Muslims around the world This is the first encyclopedic guide to the history of relations between Jews and Muslims around the world from the birth of Islam to today. Richly illustrated and beautifully produced, the book features more than 150 authoritative and accessible articles by an international team of leading experts in history, politics, literature, anthropology, and philosophy. Organized thematically and chronologically, this indispensable reference provides critical facts and balanced context for greater historical understanding and a more informed dialogue between Jews and Muslims. Part I covers the medieval period; Part II, the early modern period through the nineteenth century, in the Ottoman Empire, Africa, Asia, and Europe; Part III, the twentieth century, including the exile of Jews from the Muslim world, Jews and Muslims in Israel, and Jewish-Muslim politics; and Part IV, intersections between Jewish and Muslim origins, philosophy, scholarship, art, ritual, and beliefs. The main articles address major topics such as the Jews of Arabia at the origin of Islam; special profiles cover important individuals and places; and excerpts from primary sources provide contemporary views on historical events. Contributors include Mark R. Cohen, Alain Dieckhoff, Michael Laskier, Vera Moreen, Gordon D. Newby, Marina Rustow, Daniel Schroeter, Kirsten Schulze, Mark Tessler, John Tolan, Gilles Veinstein, and many more. Covers the history of relations between Jews and Muslims around the world from the birth of Islam to today Written by an international team of leading scholars Features in-depth articles on social, political, and cultural history Includes profiles of important people (Eliyahu Capsali, Joseph Nasi, Mohammed V, Martin Buber, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin, Edward Said, Messali Hadj, Mahmoud Darwish) and places (Jerusalem, Alexandria, Baghdad) Presents passages from essential documents of each historical period, such as the Cairo Geniza, Al-Sira, and Judeo-Persian illuminated manuscripts Richly illustrated with more than 250 images, including maps and color photographs Includes extensive cross-references, bibliographies, and an index

This volume, the first of six to be published, studies fundamental values of Islam, along with the nature of rights and the responsibilities in a general context. The authors analyse the development of social thought and morality in Islam, and ways in which they are enforced through the family and education. Particular attention is paid to the status of women, children, youth and the socially excluded. Several chapters broach specially Islamic approaches to economics, government and justice. A world religion since its inception in the seventh century A.D., Islam is today seeking vigorous answers to contemporary problems through its multi-faceted history. Issues of poverty and wealth, inequality and demands for political expression, and respect for diversity in a difficult world of conformity are dealt with in this series. The study is organized along thematic rather than chronological lines and thus it is not necessary to read the volumes in order. Volume II is in fact the first to have been published. Volume IV is forthcoming end 2002, volume V mid 2003 and volumes III and VI in 2004. This volume, the first of six to be published, studies fundamental values of Islam, along with the nature of rights and the responsibilities in a general context. The authors analyse the development of social thought and morality in Islam, and ways in which they are enforced through the family and education. Particular attention is paid to the status of women, children, youth and the socially excluded. Several chapters broach specially Islamic approaches to economics, government and justice.

The traditional doctrine of Islamic law in regard to international re lations is well known. The Shari'a includes many excellent provisions about declarations of war, treaties of peace, armistices, diplomatic envoys, negotiations and guarantees of safe conduct. But the fact remains that it divides the world, broadly speaking, into the "Abode of Islam" and the "Abode of 'War," and that it envisages the continu ance of intermittent war between them until the latter is absorbed in the former. In the course of such fighting, and in the intervals in be tween, many civilities were to be meticulously observed; but prisoners of war could be killed, sold or enslaved at the discretion of the Muslim authorities, and the women of those who resisted the advance of Islam could be taken as slave-concubines, regardless of whether they were single or married. The "Abode of Islam" did not, indeed, consist ex clusively of Muslims, for those whose religion was based on a book accepted by Islam as originally inspired and in practice, indeed, those other religions too - were not forced to embrace Islam but only to accept Muslim rule. They were granted the status of dhimmis, were protected in their persons and their property, were allowed to follow their own religion in an unobtrusive fashion, and were accorded the position of essentially second-class citizens. They were also of course, perfectly free to embrace Islam; but for a Muslim to be converted to another faith involved the death penalty.

This book is dedicated to an analysis of seven groups of hadiths related to matters ranging from the rules concerning water used for ablution to those concerning the proof of facts in a qadi court. It has three main purposes. The first is to clarify the processes by which hadiths on a given topic were formed and developed by analyzing their isnāds and matns and by comparing them with expositions of positive law in legal manuals. Second, it seeks to explain why many hadiths exist in multiple variants and to detect the perception of traditionists about the revision of hadiths. The third purpose is to propose a methodology to estimate the extent to which traditionists accepted hadiths on a particular topic.