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.
This book contains the opening words of a New Message from God. In the pages that follow, God is speaking to humanity anew, providing a warning, a blessing and a preparation for the great change that is coming to the world. God has spoken again at a time of great need and difficulty worldwide. This is a Divine answer to the growing crises of war, unrelenting climate change, religious conflict, and human suffering and deprivation now escalating around the world. The New Message from God is a living communication from God to the heart of every man, woman and child on Earth. The Word and the Sound are in the world again. We are living at a time of Revelation.
In this riveting novel, beloved international bestselling author Deepak Chopra captures the spellbinding life story of the great and often misunderstood Prophet. Rooted in historical detail, Muhammad brings the Prophet to life through the eyes of those around him. A Christian hermit mystic foretells a special destiny, a pugnacious Bedouin wet nurse raises him in the desert, and a religious rebel in Mecca secretly takes the young orphan under his spiritual wing. Each voice, each chapter brings Muhammad and the creation of Islam into a new light. Muhammad's life is not a myth but an incredible true and surprisingly unknown story of a man and a moment that sparked a worldwide transformation. This special edition of Muhammad offers a sneak preview of God which goes on sale September 25th. Chopra continues his "Enlightenment Series" by capturing the lives of ten historical prophets, saints, mystics and martyrs who are touched by a divine power. From Socrates to Joan of Arc, Rumi to Baal Shem Tov, Thomas the Apostle to Einstein, Chopra's novel brings to life the defining moments of our most influential sages, ultimately revealing to us universal lessons about the true nature of God.
This book covers the teachings of a sixth century religious leader, whose followers constitute the second largest religious group in the world in the present age. The book is set as a first person narrative, where the Prophet quotes his own words, and offers the rationale for many of the guidelines in the times when they were delivered, as also their validity in the present times. Many of those preachings which were very relevant to usher in much needed socio-cultural changes in the desert tribes of those ancient times, may seem to be archaic and out of place today, when the world and society have seen much advancement and achieved scientific and technological progress. And yet, since they are believed to be the words of God, delivered through His chosen messenger, the believers are in a constant intellectual crisis, as they are unable to give them up totally, nor are they able to accept them totally in the present context. It is this dilemma that is the thread running through the book, where many of the guidelines are compared with guidelines on the same subjects contained in ancient scriptures from other world religions, most of which are more ancient than these sixth century teachings. The reader is invited to read, analyse and draw his own conclusions about these myriad topics which continue to interest and stimulate human curiosity and the quest for truth through all ages.
In Muhammad and the Empires of Faith, Sean W. Anthony demonstrates how critical readings of non-Muslim and Muslim sources in tandem can breathe new life into the historical study of Muhammad and how his message transformed the world. By placing these sources within the intellectual and cultural world of Late Antiquity, Anthony offers a fresh assessment of the earliest sources for Muhammad’s life, taking readers on a grand tour of the available evidence, and suggests what new insights stand to be gained from the techniques and methods pioneered by countless scholars over the decades in a variety of fields. Muhammad and the Empires of Faith offers both an authoritative introduction to the multilayered traditions surrounding the life of Muhammad and a compelling exploration of how these traditions interacted with the broader landscape of Late Antiquity.
The editor of "St. Anthony Messenger" magazine for many years, Fr. McCloskey has answered many questions in his "Ask a Franciscan" column. He mines that wealth of material to find the most helpful questions and answers for readers to help them see the connection between their faith and their spiritual growth as disciples of Jesus Christ.
A generation ago, most Americans had little or no contact with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or any other adherents of non- Christian religions. Now our culture is much more pluralistic. In addition to these “others,” many Westerners, disenchanted with Christianity, are more inclined than they were a generation ago to dabble in new spiritual alternatives that were not as readily available here before. Many Christians feel intimidated by these changes. Many Christians don’t know how to engage their newest non- Christian neighbors in conversation, partly because they feel ignorant about the religions practiced by others. Significant Others seeks to fill this knowledge gap so readers will become more acquainted with the religious backgrounds of devout non- Christians they are meeting, as well as with the growing number of American people who claim no religious affiliation at all. Each chapter outlines the major world religions according to their significant founders or leading figures, significant beliefs and practices, significant sects and developments, and significant points of contact and points of contrast with Christian faith.
"A charming and agreeable surprise . . . A welcome gift to Western readers." —Kirkus Reviews "Editor Jayyusi offers a major example of the Arabic folk epics or romances called siras . . . The siras are full of heroic adventures, exotic landscapes, love affairs, friendships, supernatural dangers, magical spells, and great Arab heroes. . . . " —Library Journal "This text should find its place alongside the translations of other epic traditions of the world as a text well suited for use in university courses on the Middle East, world literature, epic, and folklore." —Journal of Arabic Literature This colorful panorama recounts the fantastic tales of a sixth-century Arab king and offers unusual perspectives on gender, religion, race, and ethnicity. Composed between the 13th and 16th centuries and presented here in English for the first time.
One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels Named after the "divine" Sarah Bernhardt, red-haired Sarah Nour El-Din is "wonderful, irresistibly unique, funny, and amazing," raves Amy Tan. Determined to make of her life a work of art, she tries to tell her story, sometimes casting it as a memoir, sometimes a novel, always fascinatingly incomplete. "Alameddine's new novel unfolds like a secret... creating a tale...humorous and heartbreaking and always real" (Los Angeles Times). "[W]ith each new approach, [Sarah] sheds another layer of her pretension, revealing another truth about her humanity" (San Francisco Weekly). Raised in a hybrid family shaped by divorce and remarriage, and by Beirut in wartime, Sarah finds a fragile peace in self-imposed exile in the United States. Her extraordinary dignity is supported by a best friend, a grown-up son, occasional sensual pleasures, and her determination to tell her own story. "Like her narrative, [Sarah's] life is broken and fragmented. [But] the bright, strange, often startling pieces...are moving and memorable" (Boston Globe). Reading group guide included.
In this riveting novel, beloved international bestselling author Deepak Chopra captures the spellbinding life story of the great and often misunderstood Prophet. Islam was born in a cradle of tribal turmoil, and the arrival of one God who vanquished hundreds of ancient Arabian gods changed the world forever. God reached down into the life of Muhammad, a settled husband and father, and spoke through him. Muhammad's divine and dangerous task was to convince his people to renounce their ancestral idols and superstitious veneration of multiple gods. From the first encounter, God did not leave Muhammad alone, his life was no longer his own, and with each revelation the creation of a new way of life formed and a religion was born. Muhammad didn't see himself as the son of God or as one who achieved cosmic enlightenment. His relatives and neighbors didn't part the way when he walked down the parched dirt streets of Mecca. There was no mark of divinity. Orphaned by age six, Muhammad grew up surrounded by dozens of cousins and extended family to become a trusted merchant. Muhammad saw himself as an ordinary man and that is why what happened to him is so extraordinary. Rooted in historical detail, Muhammad brings the Prophet to life through the eyes of those around him. A Christian hermit mystic foretells a special destiny, a pugnacious Bedouin wet nurse raises him in the desert, and a religious rebel in Mecca secretly takes the young orphan under his spiritual wing. Each voice, each chapter brings Muhammad and the creation of Islam into a new light. The angel Gabriel demands Muhammad to recite, the first convert risks his life to protect his newfound faith, and Muhammad's life is not a myth but an incredible true and surprisingly unknown story of a man and a moment that sparked a worldwide transformation.