The book was a best seller. I am struck by the contrast with Christianity, a historically older tradition. You have brought me my inab, the Arab said. Alarmists warn of the imminent dissolution of civilization, longsuffering multiculturalists call for sharp discrimination between the militant minority and the peace-loving majority within the Muslim community, and others greet Muslim immigration with the expectation that little will change in American culture as a result of the assimilation of Muslims. Faith is a way of moving and being in the world; religion is a body of traditions and practices and institutions that preserve the story of how to move and be in the world that way. After a few generations, almost anything could be given the status of hadith if one simply claimed to trace its transmission back to Muhammad. Zayd, on the other hand, continued in the new faith, abandoning the religion of his people and refraining from worshipping, in his own words, the weak and powerless idols of the sanctuary., As with all journeys, the Way has an end, though it should not be imagined as a straight road leading to a fixed destination but rather as a majestic mountain whose peak conceals the presence of God. He is author of many books, includingEvil and the Evidence for God(Temple University Press, 1995), Faith, Film, and Philosophy: Big Ideas on the Big Screen(InterVarsity Press, forthcoming), andPhilosophy of Religion(Rowman and Littlefield, also forthcoming). The Hanifists were pre-Islamic monotheists who were in some significant sense indigenous to the Arabian peninsula. He envisions a courtyard roofed in palm leaves, with living quarters made of wood and mud lining the walls. Original Book Summary Overview In "No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam," Reza Aslan condenses fourteen centuries of Islamic history into a neat 336 pages. (266). The Call of Islam Summary:The shahadah is comprised of two fundamental faith statements in Islam that "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God." This spiritual calling is expressed through auditory calls to prayers or adhan five times a day. So in addition to the fixed number of Imams who succeeded Muhammads earthly authority, there must also exist an ever-present or pre-existent Imam who, as the eternal guardian of the Revelation, functions as the Proof of God on Earth. Thus, the first Imam was neither Muhammad nor Ali but Adam., It has often been noted that the biblical stories recounted in the Quran, especially those dealing with Jesus, imply a familiarity with the traditions and narratives of the Christian faith., Indeed, everything that is currently being said about Americas diverse Muslim populationthat they are foreign and exotic and un-Americanwas said about Catholic and Jewish immigrants nearly a century ago., Karima bint Ahmad (d. 1069) and Fatima bint Ali (d. 1087), for example, are regarded as two of the most important transmitters of the Prophets traditions, while Zaynab bint al-Shari (d. 1220) and Daqiqa bint Murshid (d. 1345), both textual scholars, occupied an eminent place in early Islamic scholarship. Aslan is clear-eyed about the challenges facing contemporary Islam and offers helpful evidence for dismantling arguments against the faith (useful if, you know, youre friends with Bill Maher or just spend a lot of time on the internet). Two thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher and miracle worker walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establish what he called the "Kingdom of God." True, there is only one God, but that is just the beginning. He is the founder of AslanMedia.com, an online journal for news and entertainment about the Middle East and the world, and co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen Studios, the premier entertainment brand for creative content from and about the Greater Middle East. a. sound-switch. Heres an illustration of his outlook: If the childhood stories about Muhammed seem familiar, it is because they function as a prophetic topos: a conventional literary theme that can be found in most mythologies. He believes that all religion is conceived, incubated, weaned, and matured almost entirely in response to sociocultural conditions. Aslan, in Chapter 6, describes a welter of variants of Islam, and intramural disputes that were dramatically polarizing. He cannot offer them wine, which is the essence of the fruit. Kill its leaders, and they become martyrs. Aslans own account of Muhammads community indicates that non-Muslim citizens had more limited rights than the Muslims who shaped the ideals and social arrangements of their society. Religion is the story of faith." I'm not reverse FoxNewsing him and saying he must be a staunch muslim to write a book on Islam. If there is a No god but God SparkNotes, Shmoop guide, or Cliff Notes, you can find a link to each study guide below. As the transcendent Iranian poet, Saadi of Shiraz, wrote, I am a dreamer who is mute, And the people are deaf. He relies on this in his defense of the early history of Islam and of the peculiarities of Islamic tradition and the challenges of Quranic interpretation. CRI Web: www.equip.org Tel: 704.887.8200 Fax:704.887.8299 3 God include the familiar Muslim acclamation, "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the . He came upon a small federation of villages and an oasis where he wished to settle, a region called Yathrib. I witness that Muhammad is His messenger. When I thought Martin Luther King Jr., I would think of the Civil Rights Movement, the March on Washington, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the seminal I Have a Dream. My understanding of him was limited to a single optic, that of racial justice. God resembles nothing in either essence or attributes., Muhammads example must have had a lasting effect on his early followers: as Nabia Abbott has shown, throughout the first two centuries of Islam, Muslims regularly read the Torah alongside the Quran., Consider, for example, how the following verse (4:34) regarding the obligations of men toward women has been rendered into English by two different but widely read contemporafirst is from the Princeton edition, translated by Ahmed Ali; the second is from Majid Fakhrys translation, published by New York University: Daveed Gartenstein-Ross has recently published a memoir titled My Year Inside Radical Islam (Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2007). The Quran is Gods direct self-revelation to humanity. A two-page chronology marks key events from the birth of the Prophet Muhammad in 570 up to Al-Qaedas attack on New York and Washington in 2001 (pp. Whether man made or heavenly sent, timeless or bound to a specific era, there's a thing or two about Islam that one can learn to appreciate. As one would expect, Muhammads innovations did not sit well with the male members of his community. Aslans Particular Brand of Islam. Myth typically includes miracles, and heroic portrayals of people involved. The book describes the history of Islam and argues for a liberal interpretation of the religion. I hope Islamic reformists are successful in curbing the excesses of fanatics. In many religions God is also conceived as perfect and unfathomable by humans, as all-powerful and all-knowing (omnipotent and omniscient), and as the source and ultimate ground of morality. Is he a supernaturalist? In short, a really interesting book for both Muslims and anyone who wants to know more about the origins and growth of this Abrahamic faith. Or: at the end of the show Orel turns out okay somehow and still has his faith despite everything. Contrary to popular perception in the West, Islam is a religion firmly rooted in the prophetic traditions of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. According to the Islamic statement of witness, or shahada, "There is no god but Allah". The Arabian desert was the habitation, geopolitically, of warring tribes, and religiously, of waning pluralism. Islamic clergy may be able to exert considerable influence within a democratic state, by seeking to establish an Islam-friendly consensus among the people of that state. The Green Movement in Iran lit the fuse, employing new social media technologies like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to break the governments monopoly over the media and to demonstrate to the world their aspiration for freedom and liberty., Unshackled by the state, the Ulama were now free to ascend to a position of unquestioned religious authority in the Ummah, which they used not only to institutionalize their legal and theological opinions into distinct schools of thought but also to formulate a binding, comprehensive code of conduct called the Shariah, forever transforming Islam from a religion into an all-embracing way of life: one that the Ulama claimed sole authority to define., As the ninth-century legal scholar Malik ibn Anas, founder of the Maliki school of law, once quipped, This religion is a science, so pay close attention to those from whom you learn it., Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window). England continues to maintain a national church whose religious head is also the countrys sovereign and whose bishops serve in the upper house of Parliament. Dr. Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is author most recently of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Does he believe that all religions are equally valid? The book describes the history of Islam and argues for a liberal interpretation of the religion. Italian The front pages of No god But God include the familiar Muslim acclamation, In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Aslan, however, is a reformist. Someone recommended this book and it turned out to be a great choice. He suggests that if ever there is a conflict between the two, it must be the interpretation of Islam that yields to the reality of democracy, not the other way around (266). The more one tries to squelch it, the stronger it becomes. We found no such entries for this book title. This book was thoroughly eye-opening. Whereas a religion of many gods posits many myths to describe the human condition, a religion of one god tends to be monomythic; it not only rejects all other gods, it rejects all other explanations for God. The function of the clergy in an Islamic democracy is not to rule, but to preserve and, more important, to reflect the morality of the state (265). As for women you feel are averse, talk to them suasively; then leave them alone in bed (without molesting them) and go to bed with them (when they are willing). When this occurs, the individual achieves fana: ecstatic, intoxicating self-annihilation. No god but God had been on my list for a long time and it was totally worth the wait. What is important is what these stories say about our prophets, our messiahs, our kings: that theirs is a holy and eternal vocation, established by God from the moment of creation. My research suggests that many genuine progressives have been silenced or marginalized by the exploits of the rabid and the bigoted. Their voice is not yet heard at a level that convinces me of their significant influence, but let us hope their effectiveness continues behind the scenes. The French went to great lengths to cultivate class divisions in Algeria, the Belgians promoted tribal factionalism in Rwanda, and the British fostered sectarian schisms in Iraq, all in a futile attempt to minimize nationalist tendencies and stymie united calls for independence. It was fascinating to see the overlap between Islam and Judaism. We were woefully ignorant on the subject and needed to learn something about the religion. An easily read, clear account of the origins of Islam and its subsequent evolution into a religion with millions of followers. But the real joy is Aslans prose. Minds are not changed merely through acquiring data or information (if that were the case it would take no effort to convince Americans that Obama is, in fact, a Christian). The book very elegantly explains this magnificent yet misunderstood faith, Islam. Tawil delves into the concealed message of the text, which, because of its mystical nature, is comprehensible only to a select few. Chapter 7, In the Footsteps of Martyrs: From Shiism to Khomeinism, brings this sectarianism up-to-date. He probes and asks many questions throughout, but he never seems to wonder why Mohammad never appointed a successor, and how the contenders and their descendants have been battling ever since (three of the four successors to Mohammad were poisoned or murdered), or why he didn't write down his revelations of the Quran at the time, which led to it being canonized and codified decades later by Uthman, a leader Aslan himself deems corrupt. This is the final station along the Sufi Way. Fourth, this methodology raises questions: Aslan is Muslim, but in what sense? As for women you feel are averse, talk to them suasively; then leave them alone in bed (without molesting them) and go to bed with them (when they are willing). Depending on the study guide provider (SparkNotes, Shmoop, etc. Fundamentalism, in all religious traditions, is impervious to suppression. This website generates no revenue, has no banner ads, and does not collect information to sell to third parties. A fascinating, accessible introduction to Islam from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Zealot and host of Believer FINALIST FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD In No god but God, internationally acclaimed scholar Reza Aslan explains Islamthe origins and evolution of the faithin all its beauty and complexity. What are we, especially those of us who are traditional Christian believers, to make of this, or of the rest of Aslans book? The site is known for a sarcastic, irreverent tone and a strong conservative bent. A religious state of Islamic orientation also most likely would be rife with internal struggles, since there has never been a successful attempt to establish a monolithic interpretation of the meaning and significance of Islamic beliefs and practices (265). Are they now going to inherit just like men who have worked to earn that money? Muhammads response to these complaints was both unsympathetic and shockingly unyielding. Philosophy, however, is itself truth; its purpose is merely to express reality through the faculty of human reason., Thus, the Quran promises that all those who believethe Jews, the Sabians, the Christiansanyone who believes in God and the Last Days, and who does good deeds, will have nothing to fear. . Aslan explains the development of Muhammads prophetic consciousness as a series of smaller, indescribable supernatural experiences that climaxed in a final violent encounter with the divine (36). The first, tafsir, is primarily concerned with elucidating the literal meaning of the text, while the second, tawil, is more concerned with the hidden, esoteric meaning of the Quran. This updated edition addresses the events of the past decade, analyzing . I adored Zealot and was charmed by Aslans ability to present a complicated history and an important mythology with clarity and precision. The final word in the verse, adribuhunna, which Fakhry has rendered as beat them, can equally mean turn away from them, go along with them, and, remarkably, even have consensual intercourse with them. If religion is indeed interpretation, then which meaning one chooses to accept and follow depends on what one is trying to extract from the text: if one views the Quran as empowering women, then Alis; if one looks to the Quran to justify violence against women, then Fakhrys.translators of the Quran.. Language On the other, we have an author so blinded by personal bias that I routinely had to put the book down and walk away. There is no God but one, and He is Jesus" (349). ), it was neither widely adopted nor universally construed by the early Christian communities., Certainly the shahadah contained an important theological innovation, but that innovation was not monotheism. He took pot shots at Christianity and Judaism, and his comments about those religions contained several inaccuracies, such as Aaron having brought the Jews to the Promised Land. Given sentence below refers to a numbered sentence in the passage. Brenna Clarke Gray, . A very good, eye-opening, mind-blowing read on the foundation and development of Islam as a religion, movement, identify, community, or in short, the. English, l-nsi il popolo ; i popoli ; le nazioni Read more , The five pillars of Islam (arkn al-Islm ; also Read more , A doxology (Ancient Greek: doxologia, from , doxa, glory Read more , raqiya sky ; firmament ; heaven Read more , Assiah (or Asiyah, also known as Olam Asiyah, Read more , Abrahamic Study Hall 2015-2023 - Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy - About Us, I just wanted to remind you of a statement that represents the thinking here at ASH (Abrahamic Study Hall): Sites with a book review or quick commentary on No god but God by Reza Aslan. Email Address: Follow Muhammad, unfortunately, made no clear arrangements for a successor, and the era immediately following [his] death wasa tumultuous time for the Muslim community (66). No god but God (Updated Edition) by Reza Aslan: 9780812982442 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books A fascinating, accessible introduction to Islam from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Zealot and host of Believer FINALIST FOR THE GUARDIAN. certainly are nothing but names, images and forms. We believe in God, and in that which has been revealed to us, which is that which was revealed to Abraham and Ismail and Jacob and the tribes [of Israel], as well as that which the Lord revealed to Moses and to Jesus and to all the other Prophets. Reviews in The Guardian display a strong grasp of the subject matter, and are able to analyze whether the book accomplished its goal. The chief victors in the intero-Islamic skirmishes took shape in sharp contrast to what Muhammad had envisioned. During a period of exile, Muhammad gathered supporters and received additional revelations, summed up in the shahadah: There is no god but God, and Muhammad is Gods messenger.. Wherever you turn, there is the face of God says the Quran God is Mighty and Wise (2:115). The Meaning of Life: What is our purpose on Earth? In his book No God but God, Reza Aslan claims that "In all, there are said to be three hundred sixty idols housed in and around the Kaba, representing every god recognized in the Arabian Peninsula." Therefore people from all over Arabia congregated in this area to worship their gods. No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam is a 2005 non-fiction book written by Iranian-American Muslim scholar Reza Aslan.The book describes the history of Islam and argues for a liberal interpretation of the religion. Very good primer on Islam--it's a thorough and sweeping history and very engaging and well-written. nabi/rasul. (with Bonus Content) A Former Muslim Investigates the Evidence for Islam and Christianity Author: Nabeel Qureshi Publisher: Zondervan ISBN: Category: Religion Page: 319 View: 182 DOWNLOAD NOW BONUS: This eBook includes downloadable videos and a Q&A with Nabeel Qureshi that are not found in the print edition. Also includes sites with a short overview, synopsis, book report, or summary of Reza Aslans No god but God. But that day will no doubt come. And since the doctrine of Tawhid insists on the oneness of God, the Sufis argue, then reality must also be unique. And still has his faith despite everything it was fascinating to see overlap... But names, images and forms and was charmed by Aslans ability to present a complicated history an. Innovations did not sit well with the male members of his community must also be unique a! He came upon a small federation of villages and an oasis where wished... Were dramatically polarizing totally worth the wait who have worked to earn money. 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