Islam

Fazlur Rahman'sIslamis aptly titled, in that this slim volume constitutes an incisive and surprisingly comprehensive history and analysis of Islam--its history, its conflicts, its legacy--and its prospects. From Mohammed to the late twentieth century, Rahman traces the development of Islam as a religion and, more importantly, as an intellectual tradition, offering both an easily understood introduction to the faith and an impassioned argument for its future direction.

Fazlur Rahman (1919-1988) was the Harold H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Islamic Thought at the University of Chicago. His many books include Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition and Prophecy in Islam: Philosophy and Orthodoxy, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

Foreword Preface Introduction 1 MUHAMMAD Muhammad and the Revelation - Muhammad's Struggle - Muhammad's Strategy - Jews and Christians - Conclusion 2 THE QUR'AN What is the Qur'an? - The Qur'anic Teaching - The Qur'anic Legislation - Commentaries on the Qur'an 3 ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRADITION Preliminary - The State of Western Scholarship - The Nature of the Prophet's Authority - Hadith and Sunna, or the Verbal and Practical Tradition - Classical Opposition to the Health - Development of the 'Science of the Hadith' 4 THE STRUCTURE OF THE LAW Preliminary - Early Developments: Qur'an and Sunna; Qiyas; Ijma or Consensus - Al-Shafi'i and After - The Law and the State - For- mation of the Legal Schools - Conclusion 5 DIALECTICAL THEOLOGY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOGMA The Early Phase - The Mu'tazila - Ash'arism and Maturidism - Philosophy and Kalam 6 THE SHARI'A Preliminary - Development of the Concept of Shari'a - The Tradi- tionalist Reform: Ibn Taymiya - The Shari'a and the Law 7 THE PHILOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT The Philosophical Tradition -Orthodoxy and Philosophy - Philo- sophic Religion 8 SUFI DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE Rise and Early Development of Sufism - Beginnings of Institutional Sufism - The Sufi Way - The Emergence of Orthodox Sufism - The Sufi Theosophy 9 SUFI ORGANIZATIONS Sufism and Popular Religion - The Sufi Orders - Sequel 10 SECTARIAN DEVELOPMENTS The Khawarij - The Shi'a - Sub-sects of the Shi'a 11 EDUCATION The Schools - The Character of Medieval Islamic Learning - Curri- culum and Instruction 12 PRE-MODERNIST REFORM MOVEMENTS Tensions within Pre-Modernist Islam - The Wahhabis - The Indian Reform Movements - The African Reform Movements 13 MODERN DEVELOPMENTS Preliminary - Intellectual Modernism - Political Modernism - Modernism and Society 14 LEGACY AND PROSPECTS Faith and History - The Legacy to be Reformulated: The Political Dogma; The Moral Principles; The Spiritual Ideals - The Present and the Future Epilogue Notes to the Chapters Bibliography Index