Islam
Religion, History, and Civilization
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
The world’s leading Islamicist offers a concise, straightforward introduction to the history, beliefs, and practices of his faith. Seyyed Hossein Nasr presents a comprehensive overview of Islamic doctrines and beliefs, schools of Islamic thought, Islam in the contemporary world, and much more. While outlining the 1400 year history of Islam, Nasr also pays close attention to the diversity of a religion that is embraced by more than a billion people.
Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr was born in Tehran, Iran in 1933. He received his advanced education at M.I.T. and Harvard University, returning to teach at Tehran University from 1958-1979, where he also served as Dean of the Faculty of Letters and Vice Chancellor. He founded the Iranian Academy of Philosophy and served as its first president, and was also for several years president of Aryamehr University. Since 1984, he has been University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and President of the Foundation for Traditional Studies.
“Members of the ‘general Western republic’ will put this book down with a fuller grasp of why Islam has shaped the religious impulse of so many and why it still does.” — New York Times Book Review
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nasr, a professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University, is probably America's leading Islamicist, and he lives up to his reputation with this short yet comprehensive primer on Islam. Nasr presents the religion of more than a billion people today without prejudice or preference. In eight short chapters, he surveys all that can be described as "Islamic" the theology, people, history, cultures and more. His descriptions of how Islam spread through black Africa and China are concise and clear. Although certain readers may prefer a book that speaks more directly to the concerns raised by the attacks of 9/11 or that addresses hot topics like the treatment of women under Islam, Nasr unapologetically lays out a classical and timeless text. He is at his most engaging when discussing Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam, a topic that is usually underrepresented in similar books. Nasr also dives headfirst into Islam's more abstract and intellectual underpinnings, much to the satisfaction of the reader who seeks spiritual guidance in addition to education. "To understand Islam today," Nasr cautions, "it is first of all important to realize that the histories of different religions do not all follow the same trajectory." Readers who desire more than a simple current events profile, and who want to understand the core of the world's second-largest religion, will appreciate this introduction that manages to be sweeping in scope yet accessible in style.
