"Be ware of European Islam!" This warning I have heard so many times during my stay in the East. But the authors of this warning ignore wittingly or unwittingly the fact that one of Islam’s secrets for survival through history has been its ability to adapt to the conditions of the different peoples and territories it reached. Uniform Islam does not exist; Muslims of Arabia understand it in a way that corresponds to their conditions and mentality, so do Muslims in Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Morocco, Sub-Saharan Africa, and so on. Accordingly, Muslims living in the Western hemisphere must have the same right to understand it according to their conditions. To me, that is the universality of Islam.
Western admirers have long seen the Islamic garden as an earthly reflection of the paradise said to await the faithful. However, such simplification, Ruggles contends, denies the sophistication and diversity of the art form. Islamic Gardens and Landscapes immerses the reader in the world of the architects of the great gardens of the Islamic world, from medieval Morocco to contemporary India. Just as Islamic culture is historically dense, sophisticated, and complex, so too is the history of its built landscapes. Islamic gardens began from the practical need to organize the surrounding space of human civilization, tame nature, enhance the earth's yield, and create a legible map on which to distribute natural resources. Ruggles follows the evolution of these early farming efforts to their aristocratic apex in famous formal gardens of the Alhambra in Spain and the Taj Mahal in Agra. Whether in a humble city home or a royal courtyard, the garden has several defining characteristics, which Ruggles discusses. Most notable is an enclosed space divided into four equal parts surrounding a central design element. The traditional Islamic garden is inwardly focused, usually surrounded by buildings or in the form of a courtyard. Water provides a counterpoint to the portioned green sections. Ranging across poetry, court documents, agronomy manuals, and early garden representations, and richly illustrated with pictures and site plans, Islamic Gardens and Landscapes is a book of impressive scope sure to interest scholars and enthusiasts alike.
Samuel Green has spent more than two decades speaking with Muslims and finding out what they are taught about Jesus and his followers: that Jesus wasn't crucified, the Bible is corrupted, and the Trinity is the weak point you won't be able to explain. He has also come to realize that their book, the Qur'an, makes claims about Christianity and history that simply aren't true.Where to Start with Islam will equip you to understand and address these assumptions and know where to start as you seek to present your Muslim friends with Christ and share with them about his wonderful gift of salvation.
Do Muslim Women Need Saving? is an indictment of a mindset that has justified all manner of foreign interference, including military invasion, in the name of rescuing women from Islam. It offers a detailed, moving portrait of the actual experiences of ordinary Muslim women, and of the contingencies with which they live.
In this original and illuminating book, Denise A. Spellberg reveals a little-known but crucial dimension of the story of American religious freedom—a drama in which Islam played a surprising role. In 1765, eleven years before composing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson bought a Qur’an. This marked only the beginning of his lifelong interest in Islam, and he would go on to acquire numerous books on Middle Eastern languages, history, and travel, taking extensive notes on Islam as it relates to English common law. Jefferson sought to understand Islam notwithstanding his personal disdain for the faith, a sentiment prevalent among his Protestant contemporaries in England and America. But unlike most of them, by 1776 Jefferson could imagine Muslims as future citizens of his new country. Based on groundbreaking research, Spellberg compellingly recounts how a handful of the Founders, Jefferson foremost among them, drew upon Enlightenment ideas about the toleration of Muslims (then deemed the ultimate outsiders in Western society) to fashion out of what had been a purely speculative debate a practical foundation for governance in America. In this way, Muslims, who were not even known to exist in the colonies, became the imaginary outer limit for an unprecedented, uniquely American religious pluralism that would also encompass the actual despised minorities of Jews and Catholics. The rancorous public dispute concerning the inclusion of Muslims, for which principle Jefferson’s political foes would vilify him to the end of his life, thus became decisive in the Founders’ ultimate judgment not to establish a Protestant nation, as they might well have done. As popular suspicions about Islam persist and the numbers of American Muslim citizenry grow into the millions, Spellberg’s revelatory understanding of this radical notion of the Founders is more urgent than ever. Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an is a timely look at the ideals that existed at our country’s creation, and their fundamental implications for our present and future.
The Advocate is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) monthly newsmagazine. Established in 1967, it is the oldest continuing LGBT publication in the United States.
Maajid Nawaz spent his teenage years listening to American hip-hop and learning about the radical Islamist movement spreading throughout Europe and Asia in the 1980s and 90s. At 16, he was already a ranking member in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a London-based Islamist group. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a top recruiter, a charismatic spokesman for the cause of uniting Islam’s political power across the world. Nawaz was setting up satellite groups in Pakistan, Denmark, and Egypt when he was rounded up in the aftermath of 9/11 along with many other radical Muslims. He was sent to an Egyptian prison where he was, fortuitously, jailed along with the assassins of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. The 20 years in prison had changed the assassins’ views on Islam and violence; Maajid went into prison preaching to them about the Islamist cause, but the lessons ended up going the other way. He came out of prison four years later completely changed, convinced that his entire belief system had been wrong, and determined to do something about it. He met with activists and heads of state, built a network, and started a foundation, Quilliam, funded by the British government, to combat the rising Islamist tide in Europe and elsewhere, using his intimate knowledge of recruitment tactics in order to reverse extremism and persuade Muslims that the ‘narrative’ used to recruit them (that the West is evil and the cause of all of Muslim suffering), is false. Radical, first published in the UK, is a fascinating and important look into one man's journey out of extremism and into something else entirely. This U.S. edition contains a "Preface for US readers" and a new, updated epilogue.
Traces the experiences of a Jewish American who converted to radical Islam during his college years and accepted a job working for an extremist charity that was eventually charged by the U.S. government with funding terrorist organizations.
The world remains confused, and lacks understanding regarding the culture of the Middle East. Escaping Islam is a provocative and timely story that is rich with historical events, giving the reader verbal exposure to the dangers brought about by Iran's support of radical Muslim ideology. Mano Bakh was a high ranking officer in Iran's Imperial Navy when, in 1979, during the Islamic revolution, he miraculously escaped with his life. The harrowing experiences he was subjected to, currently exemplifies the free world's necessity to deal with the ongoing aggressive Islamic movement, and the oil money that supports it. This living story begins with an introduction to Iran's history and Persian customs. It continues by encompassing the development of OPEC, the amazing Khark Island oil project in the Persian Gulf, and relating the happy life of a young boy growing up in his grandmother's house in Tehran. Tunnels connected the homes of the thirty two family members who enjoyed the daily ceremony of dining together around an antique Persian carpet, adorned with a white Sofreh, "table cloth," while grandmother smoked her water pipe. * * * * * * * Mr. Bakh was born a Muslim, but became disenchanted with the religion whose mission was to kill or convert all who did not believe in the teachings of the Koran. His candid understanding of what happened to a country that was once America's best friend and then turned into an Axis of Evil, will educate the reader as to why that Evil might not be realized until it is too late. Joy, laughter, prosperity, hope and respect in Iran's society, quickly changed to hate, revenge, misery and mourning!
