Acknowledgments | p. ix |
Preface | p. xvii |
Foreword | p. xxvii |
Introduction: Historical Context for Contemporary Interest in Islam | p. xxxi |
By Way of Definition | p. xxxv |
The Desert is Fertile | |
Abraham: First Monotheist and Common Parent | p. 3 |
From Animism to Allah: Pre-Islamic Arabia | p. 7 |
Geography as Latent History | p. 7 |
Religion in Pre-Islamic Arabia: "A Time of Ignorance" | p. 10 |
Can Anything Good Come Out of Mecca? The Life of Muhammad | p. 15 |
Muhammad's Youth | p. 16 |
Recite! | p. 18 |
Leader of Islam | p. 20 |
The Expansion of Islam | p. 25 |
Essential Islam | |
Beliefs of Islam | p. 31 |
The Oneness of God | p. 31 |
Divinity of the Quran | p. 41 |
Message of the Quran | p. 47 |
Prophethood of Muhammad | p. 48 |
The Wisdom of the Law | p. 56 |
The Inevitability of the Last Judgment: "The Final Weighing of Deeds" | p. 62 |
The Protection of the Angels | p. 66 |
The Positive Nature of Human Beings | p. 67 |
Ethics: Principles and Application | p. 71 |
Some Specific Guidelines | p. 72 |
The Five Pillars of Islam | p. 79 |
Witness to the Faith (Shahadah) | p. 79 |
Prayer (Salat) | p. 80 |
Fasting (Sawm) | p. 87 |
Almsgiving (Zakat) | p. 89 |
Pilgrimage (Hajj) | p. 90 |
Jihad: Striving, Struggle | p. 95 |
The Muslim Wedding and Funeral | p. 99 |
Divisions in Islam | p. 105 |
Sunni and Shiite: How Will Leadership Be Determined? | p. 105 |
The Sufi Dimension: From the Aridity of Orthodoxy to the Oasis of the Heart | p. 115 |
Some Current Issues | |
The Status of Women | p. 125 |
The Quran and Women: Historical Context | p. 126 |
The Quran and Women: Echo of Culture | p. 127 |
Seclusion and the Veil | p. 128 |
The Quran and Women: Challenge to Culture | p. 129 |
Human Rights | p. 133 |
Islam's Gifts to the West | |
Art | p. 141 |
Architecture | p. 145 |
Sciences | p. 151 |
Physics | p. 153 |
Ibn al-Haytham | p. 153 |
Mathematics | p. 155 |
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi | p. 155 |
Medicine | p. 157 |
Abu Bakr Muhammad al-Razi | p. 157 |
Literature | p. 159 |
Poetry | p. 159 |
Prose | p. 161 |
Philosophy | p. 163 |
Abu Ali al Husayn ibn Sina | p. 163 |
Abul Ibn Rushd | p. 164 |
Islam and Christianity | |
Jesus, Son of Mary | p. 169 |
Virgin Birth | p. 169 |
Jesus and the Gospel | p. 170 |
Crucifixion | p. 171 |
Jesus the Prophet | p. 172 |
Bases for Dialogue | p. 175 |
Differences | p. 177 |
Similarities | p. 179 |
What Christians Can Do to Better Understand Islam | p. 183 |
What Muslims Can Do to Better Understand Christianity | p. 185 |
Guidelines for Dialogue | p. 187 |
Concluding Reflections | |
The Heart of Islam: Continuity, Certainty, and Balance | p. 193 |
Continuity | p. 193 |
Certainty | p. 194 |
Balance | p. 196 |
Afterword | p. 199 |
Appendices | |
Islam's Calendar | |
Months in the Lunar Year | p. 201 |
Islamic Festivals and Muslim Cultural Celebrations | p. 201 |
Some Crucial Events in Islamic History | p. 202 |
Moments in American Muslim History | p. 202 |
Sample List of English Words Derived from Arabic | p. 205 |
Glossary of Arabic Terms | p. 206 |
Endnotes | p. 209 |
Suggested Bibliography | p. 211 |
Index | p. 215 |
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