Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies

Based on a symposium on the theme "Islam and the History of Religions," thismportant work features thoughtful essays on the study of Islam. On itsublication in 1985, this text influenced the transition of Islamic studiesrom Orientalism and area studies to religious studies, and is nowepublished in the Oneworld Classics in Religious Studies series.;Organizedround five themes in religious studies, the scholars in this volume call forn increase in the attention given to Islam as part of religious studies andor greater clarity in our understanding both of Islam and of religion inerms of Islam. They urge creative adaptation and application of history ofeligions methods to different fields of Islamic religious data, includingextual, social-historical, and ritual-symbolical. Constructive criticism ofong-accepted approaches to the study of Islam and attempts to apply theethods of other disciplines to Islamic religious data are here presented inhe interest of bringing about change and improvement in the study of Islams a religion.

Richard C. Martin is the principle author of Defenders of Reason in Islam, also published by Oneworld, and of other books and numerous articles on approaches to understanding Islamic religious phenomena. He is Professor of History of Religions and Islamic Studies at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.