| 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 |
| Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |