Recommendations based on ""Off the Straight Path" Illicit Sex, Law, and Community in Ottoman Aleppo"

The Man Who Inspired the World's Fastest-Growing ReligionMuhammad presents a fascinating portrait of the founder of a religion that continues to change the course of world history. Muhammad's story is more relevant than ever because it offers crucial insight into the true origins of an increasingly radicalized Islam. Countering those who dismiss Islam as fanatical and violent, Armstrong offers a clear, accessible, and balanced portrait of the central figure of one of the world's great religions.

Fourteen Centuries Of Islamic Thought Have Produced A Legacy Of Interpretive Readings Of The Qu'ran Written Almost Entirely By Men. Now, With Qu'ran And Woman, Amina Wadud Provides A First Interpretive Reading By A Woman, A Reading Which Validates The Female Voice In The Qu'ran And Brings It Out Of The Shadows. Muslim Progressives Have Long Argued That It Is Not The Religion But Patriarchal Interpretation And Implementation Of The Qu'ran That Have Kept Women Oppressed. For Many, The Way To Reform Is The Reexamination And Reinterpretation Of Religious Texts. Qu'ran And Woman Contributes A Gender Inclusive Reading To One Of The Most Fundamental Disciplines In Islamic Thought, Qu'ranic Exegesis. Wadud Breaks Down Specific Texts And Key Words Which Have Been Used To Limit Women's Public And Private Role, Even To Justify Violence Toward Muslim Women, Revealing That Their Original Meaning And Context Defy Such Interpretations. What Her Analysis Clarifies Is The Lack Of Gender Bias, Precedence, Or Prejudice In The Essential Language Of The Qur'an. Despite Much Qu'ranic Evidence About The Significance Of Women, Gender Reform In Muslim Society Has Been Stubbornly Resisted. Wadud's Reading Of The Qu'ran Confirms Women's Equality And Constitutes Legitimate Grounds For Contesting The Unequal Treatment That Women Have Experienced Historically And Continue To Experience Legally In Muslim Communities. The Qu'ran Does Not Prescribe One Timeless And Unchanging Social Structure For Men And Women, Wadud Argues Lucidly, Affirming That The Qu'ran Holds Greater Possibilities For Guiding Human Society To A More Fulfilling And Productive Mutual Collaboration Between Men And Women Than As Yet Attained By Muslims Or Non-muslims.

A classic, pioneering account of the lives of women in Islamic history, republished for a new generation This pioneering study of the social and political lives of Muslim women has shaped a whole generation of scholarship. In it, Leila Ahmed explores the historical roots of contemporary debates, ambitiously surveying Islamic discourse on women from Arabia during the period in which Islam was founded to Iraq during the classical age to Egypt during the modern era. The book is now reissued as a Veritas paperback, with a new foreword by Kecia Ali situating the text in its scholarly context and explaining its enduring influence. “Ahmed’s book is a serious and independent-minded analysis of its subject, the best-informed, most sympathetic and reliable one that exists today.”—Edward W. Said “Destined to become a classic. . . . It gives [Muslim women] back our rightful place, at the center of our histories.”—Rana Kabbani, The Guardian

The "Conference of the Birds" is a 12th-century Sufi allegory that has been described as the Islamic "Canterbury Tales". Written by an Iranian Sufi, Farid ud-Din Attar, who was a major influence on the work of Rumi, it is the story of the birds' quest for an ideal king, and an allegory for the Sufi (or mystical Islamic) path to enlightenment. Though hugely popular and influential in the Islamic world, it is still relatively unfamiliar in the West. In this edition, the poet Raficq Abdulla has reinterpreted key extracts to make the insight of Sufism accessible to a contemporary reader. Each page is decorated with illustrations taken from Persian manuscripts in the Oriental collection at the British Library. The poem uses the birds' journey to describe the stages of Sufi enlightenment, and each bird represents a human archetype. At the end of the tale, the birds discover tht what they are seeking is none other than in Sufism, enlightenment is unity with the Divine, and the way to God is inward, through one's own soul.

François Déroche, Translated From French By Malcom Debevoise. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Electronic Reproduction. New York Available Via World Wide Web.

A hugely influential philosophical work of prose poetry, Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet is an inspirational, allegorical guide to living, and this Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Robin Waterfield. First published in the 1920's, The Prophet is perhaps the most famous work of religious fiction of the twentieth century, and has sold millions of copies in more than twenty languages. Gibran's Prophet speaks of many things central to daily life: love, marriage, death, beauty, passion, eating, work and play. The spiritual message he imparts, of finding divinity through love, blends eastern mysticism, religious faith and philosophy with simple advice. The Prophet became the bible of 1960s culture and was credited with founding the New Age movement, yet it still continues to inspire people around the world today. This edition is illustrated with Gibran's famous visionary paintings. Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) was a poet, philosopher and artist, who stands among the most important Arabic language authors of the early twentieth century. Born in Lebanon, he spent the last twenty years of his life in the United States, where for many years he was the leader of a Lebansese writing circle in New York. He is the author of numerous volumes, including The Garden of the Prophet, The Storm, The Beloved: Reflections on the Path of the Heart, The Vision, Reflections on the Way of the Soul, and Spirit Brides. If you enjoyed The Prophet, you might like Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. 'His work goes on from generation to generation' Daily Mail 'To read it was to transcend ordinary levels of perception, to become aware ... of a more intense level of being' Independent

"My all-time favorite collection of poems . . . [Gibran's] poetry always roots me in my humanity." --Rupi Kaur, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Milk and Honey, The Sun and Her Flowers, and Home BodyA stunning new hardcover edition--with a full linen case, copper stamping, turquoise gilded edges, and colored endpapers--of one of the world's most beloved and popular spiritual classics, featuring a new foreword by Rupi KaurA Penguin Classics HardcoverThe most famous work of spiritual fiction of the twentieth century, The Prophet is rooted in Kahlil Gibran's own experience as an immigrant and provides inspiration to anyone feeling adrift in a world in flux. As a prophet named Almustafa is about to board a ship to travel back to his homeland after twelve years in exile, he is stopped by a group of people who ask him to share his wisdom before he leaves. In twenty-eight poetic essays, he does so, offering profound and timeless insights on many aspects of life, including love, pain, friendship, family, beauty, religion, joy, sorrow, and death.An immediate success when first published in 1923, The Prophet is a modern classic, having been translated into more than forty languages and sold more than ten million copies in the United States alone. The message it imparts, of finding divinity through love, made it the bible of 1960s culture and continues to touch hearts and minds across generations and national borders. This edition is illustrated with twelve of Gibran's famous visionary paintings and features a foreword by Rupi Kaur.In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.For more than seventy-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 2,000 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Rumi's Masnavi is widely recognized as the greatest Sufi poem ever written, and is sometimes called 'the Koran in Persian'. The thirteenth-century Muslim mystic Rumi composed his work for the benefit of his disciples in the Sufi order named after him, better known as the whirling dervishes .In order to convey his message of divine love and unity he threaded together entertaining stories and penetrating homilies. Jawid Mojaddedi's sparkling new unabridged verse translation of Book One follows the original in presenting Rumi's most mature mystical teachings in simple and attractive rhyming couplets. - ;'The pen would smoothly write the things it knew But when it came to love it split in two, A donkey stuck in mud is logic's fate - Love's nature only love can demonstrate.' Rumi's Masnavi is widely recognized as the greatest Sufi poem ever written, and has been called 'the Koran in Persian'. The thirteenth-century Muslim mystic Rumi composed his work for the benefit of his disciples in the Sufi order named after him, better known as the whirling dervishes. In order to convey his message of divine love and unity he threaded together entertaining stories and penetrating homilies. Drawing from folk tales as well as sacred history, Rumi's poem is often funny as well as spiritually profound. Jawid Mojaddedi's sparkling new verse translation of Book One is consistent with the aims of the original work in presenting Rumi's most mature mystical teachings in simple and attractive rhyming couplets. -

The important role of the Prophet Muhammad in the everyday lives of Muslims is usually overlooked by Western scholars and has consequently never been understood by the Western world. Using original sources in the various Islamic languages, Annemarie Schimmel explains the central place of Muhammad in Muslim life, mystical thought, and poetry. She sees the veneration of Muhammad as having many parallels in other major religions. In order to understand Muslim piety it is necessary to take into account the long history of the veneration of Muhammad. Schimmel discusses aspects of his life, birth, marriage, miracles, and heavenly journey, all of which became subjects for religious devotions. By using poetic texts and artistic expressions and by examining daily Muslim religious practices, Schimmel shows us the gentler side of Islamic religious culture, providing a much-needed understanding of religion as it is experienced and practiced in the Islamic world. This is the first book in English to deal with all aspects of the veneration of the Prophet Muhammad. It is an expanded version of Schimmel?s Und Muhammad Ist Sein Prophet, originally published in German in 1981.

The appeal of Nasrudin is as universal and timeless as the truths he illustrates. This delightful collection of teaching stories in which Mulla Nasrudin is the main actor is both an outstanding anthology of humor and a book of Sufi wisdom.Here are stories by the Sufi masters Rumi, Jami, and Attar, plus others collected by Idries Shah from the Persian, Afghan, Turkish, and Arabic cultures.