Muslim American City
Muslim American City

Author: Alisa Perkins

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2020-07-07

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 1479892017

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Explores how Muslim Americans test the boundaries of American pluralism In 2004, the al-Islah Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, set off a contentious controversy when it requested permission to use loudspeakers to broadcast the adhān, or Islamic call to prayer. The issue gained international notoriety when media outlets from around the world flocked to the city to report on what had become a civil battle between religious tolerance and Islamophobic sentiment. The Hamtramck council voted unanimously to allow mosques to broadcast the adhān, making it one of the few US cities to officially permit it through specific legislation. Muslim American City explores how debates over Muslim Americans’ use of both public and political space have challenged and ultimately reshaped the boundaries of urban belonging. Drawing on more than ten years of ethnographic research in Hamtramck, which boasts one of the largest concentrations of Muslim residents of any American city, Alisa Perkins shows how the Muslim American population has grown and asserted itself in public life. She explores, for example, the efforts of Muslim American women to maintain gender norms in neighborhoods, mosques, and schools, as well as Muslim Americans’ efforts to organize public responses to municipal initiatives. Her in-depth fieldwork incorporates the perspectives of both Muslims and non-Muslims, including Polish Catholics, African American Protestants, and other city residents. Drawing particular attention to Muslim American expressions of religious and cultural identity in civil life—particularly in response to discrimination and stereotyping—Perkins questions the popular assumption that the religiosity of Muslim minorities hinders their capacity for full citizenship in secular societies. She shows how Muslims and non-Muslims have, through their negotiations over the issues over the use of space, together invested Muslim practice with new forms of social capital and challenged nationalist and secularist notions of belonging.

Space and Muslim Urban Life
Space and Muslim Urban Life

Author: Simon O'Meara

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2007-08-09

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13: 1134170289

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This book develops academic understanding of Muslim urban space by pursuing the structural logic of the premodern Arab-Muslim city, or medina. With particular reference to The Book of Walls, an historical discourse of Islamic law whose primary subject is the wall, the book determines the meaning of a wall and then uses it to analyze the space of Fez. One of a growing number of studies to address space as a category of critical analysis, the book makes the following contributions to scholarship. Methodologically, it breaks with the tradition of viewing Islamic architecture as a well-defined object observed by a specialist at an aesthetically directed distance; rather, it inhabits the logic of this architecture by rethinking it discursively from within the culture that produced it. Hermeneutically, it sheds new light on one of North Africa's oldest medinas, and thereby illuminates a type of environment still common to much of the Arab-Muslim world. Empirically, it brings to the attention of mainstream scholarship a legal discourse and aesthetic that contributed to the form and longevity of this type of environment; and it exposes a preoccupation with walls and other limits in premodern urban Arab-Muslim culture, and a mythical paradigm informing the foundation narratives of a number of historic medinas. Presenting a fresh perspective for the understanding of Muslim urban society and thought, this innovative study will be of interest to students and researchers of Islamic studies, architecture and sociology.

Islamic Empires
Islamic Empires

Author: Justin Marozzi

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2019-08-29

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 0241199050

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'Outstanding, illuminating, compelling ... a riveting read' Peter Frankopan, Sunday Times Islamic civilization was once the envy of the world. From a succession of glittering, cosmopolitan capitals, Islamic empires lorded it over the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and swathes of the Indian subcontinent. For centuries the caliphate was both ascendant on the battlefield and triumphant in the battle of ideas, its cities unrivalled powerhouses of artistic grandeur, commercial power, spiritual sanctity and forward-looking thinking. Islamic Empires is a history of this rich and diverse civilization told through its greatest cities over fifteen centuries, from the beginnings of Islam in Mecca in the seventh century to the astonishing rise of Doha in the twenty-first. It dwells on the most remarkable dynasties ever to lead the Muslim world - the Abbasids of Baghdad, the Umayyads of Damascus and Cordoba, the Merinids of Fez, the Ottomans of Istanbul, the Mughals of India and the Safavids of Isfahan - and some of the most charismatic leaders in Muslim history, from Saladin in Cairo and mighty Tamerlane of Samarkand to the poet-prince Babur in his mountain kingdom of Kabul and the irrepressible Maktoum dynasty of Dubai. It focuses on these fifteen cities at some of the defining moments in Islamic history: from the Prophet Mohammed receiving his divine revelations in Mecca and the First Crusade of 1099 to the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and the phenomenal creation of the merchant republic of Beirut in the nineteenth century.

Understanding Afghanistan
Understanding Afghanistan

Author: Abdul Qayyum

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2021-10-06

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 1000426505

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This book delves into the history of Afghanistan, its people, and its relationship with neighbors, to unravel the intricate politics and ethnolinguistic diversity of the country. It discusses the history of innumerable invasions which left imprints over the country and its people and created a complex fabric of different ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural groups. The volume looks at the various empires which warred over the land including the Persian, Greek, Mongol, and Sassanid dynasties, as well as the later interferences by the British and the Russians and the emergence of the Taliban. It examines the correlations between war, power politics, religion, local governance, and the opium trade and economy in Afghanistan. The author through personal stories and anecdotes of his visits and journeys in Afghanistan provides a very rich and extensive view of Afghan politics, culture and history. The relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan and Afghanistan’s unique position in the politics of the region is also a thread which runs through the entire book. This book will a great resource (and of interest) to researchers and students of politics, history, Central and South Asian Studies, war and international relations, political economy, and peace and reconciliation studies. It will also interest journalists, diplomats and international development organizations.

The Sacred Books of Judaism, Christianity and Islam
The Sacred Books of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Author: Various Authors

Publisher: DigiCat

Published: 2022-05-17

Total Pages: 5150

ISBN-13:

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"Tanakh" or, The Hebrew Bible, which is also sometimes called the Miqra, is the canonical collection of Hebrew Scriptures, including the Torah. The form of this text that is authoritative for Rabbinic Judaism is known as the Masoretic Text. The Tanakh consists of twenty-four books: it counts as one book each Samuel, Kings, Chronicles and Ezra–Nehemiah and counts the Twelve Minor Prophets as a single book. The Hebrew Bible overlaps with the Greek Septuagint and the Christian Old Testament._x000D_ "The Bible" is a collection of religious texts or scriptures sacred to Christians, Jews, Samaritans, Rastafari and others. It appears in the form of an anthology, a compilation of texts of a variety of forms that are all linked by the belief that they are collectively revelations of God. These texts include theologically-focused historical accounts, hymns, prayers, proverbs, parables, didactic letters, erotica, poetry, and prophecies. Believers consider the Bible to be a product of divine inspiration. The Christian New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians, believed to be mostly Jewish disciples of Christ, written in first-century Koine Greek._x000D_ "The Quran" is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from Allah. Muslims regard the Quran as Muhammad's most important miracle; a proof of his prophethood; and the culmination of a series of divine messages. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance for mankind. It offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, each known as a sūrah. Chapters are classified as Meccan or Medinan, depending on whether the verses were revealed before or after the migration of Muhammad to the city of Medina. Each sūrah consists of several verses, known as āyāt, which originally means a "sign" or "evidence" sent by God.

The Urban Design Reader
The Urban Design Reader

Author: Michael Larice

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-05-07

Total Pages: 1087

ISBN-13: 1136205659

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The second edition of The Urban Design Reader draws together the very best of classic and contemporary writings to illuminate and expand the theory and practice of urban design. Nearly 50 generous selections include seminal contributions from Howard, Le Corbusier, Lynch, and Jacobs to more recent writings by Waldheim, Koolhaas, and Sorkin. Following the widespread success of the first edition of The Urban Design Reader, this updated edition continues to provide the most important historical material of the urban design field, but also introduces new topics and selections that address the myriad challenges facing designers today. The six part structure of the second edition guides the reader through the history, theory and practice of urban design. The reader is initially introduced to those classic writings that provide the historical precedents for city-making into the twentieth century. Part Two introduces the voices and ideas that were instrumental in establishing the foundations of the urban design field from the late 1950s up to the mid-1990s. These authors present a critical reading of the design professions and offer an alternative urban design agenda focused on vital and lively places. The authors in Part Three provide a range of urban design rationales and strategies for reinforcing local physical identity and the creation of memorable places. These selections are largely describing the outcomes of mid-century urban design and voicing concerns over the placeless quality of contemporary urbanism. The fourth part of the Reader explores key issues in urban design and development. Ideas about sprawl, density, community health, public space and everyday life are the primary focus here. Several new selections in this part of the book also highlight important international development trends in the Middle East and China. Part Five presents environmental challenges faced by the built environment professions today, including recent material on landscape urbanism, sustainability, and urban resiliency. The final part examines professional practice and current debates in the field: where urban designers work, what they do, their roles, their fields of knowledge and their educational development. The section concludes with several position pieces and debates on the future of urban design practice. This book provides an essential resource for students and practitioners of urban design, drawing together important but widely dispersed writings. Part and section introductions are provided to assist readers in understanding the context of the material, summary messages, impacts of the writing, and how they fit into the larger picture of the urban design field.

European Imperialism and the Third World
European Imperialism and the Third World

Author: Abdul Qayyum Khan

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-05-31

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 100087804X

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This book presents a comprehensive overview of the evolution of imperialism in Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, France, and Great Britain. It delves into the background of colonialization and focuses on the nature of the motives of necessity, utility, religion, and exploration and the modus operandi of the establishment of the colonies which required a substantial amount of capital. The volume discusses a wide range of themes, including the role of Spain as a Muslim colony; rise and fall of Spain as an imperial power; Portuguese discoveries and colonialization; conquests of Dutch companies of East India and West Indies; the French company of the Indies; British colonies in Americas, Africa, and Australasia; and English East India Company to showcase a holistic history of European competition for trade through wars in North America, South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. This book will be of interest to general readers interested in the history of colonization, imperialism, Third World studies, post-colonial studies, international relations, defense and strategic studies, South Asian history, and European history.

Religious Peace, Then and Now
Religious Peace, Then and Now

Author: Wayne P. Te Brake

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2022-06-03

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1666732346

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Religious Peace, Then and Now presents a radically new perspective on one of the critical challenges of our time: making religious peace in a world afflicted by religious conflict, violence, and war. In a text that is passionate and accessible, Wayne Te Brake demonstrates how concerned citizens and political and religious leaders, who have learned to recognize religious peace when they see religious diversity, can envision and promote a more peaceful world through constructive engagement and nonviolent activism. Religious Peace builds on the author’s personal experience as well as his academic research on religious war and religious peace during Europe’s Age of Religious Wars and applies what we can learn from that history to our understanding of the prevalence and prospect of religious peace today.