Islam in Historical Perspective [Paperback]

Alexander (Sasha) Knysh (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321398777 | ISBN-13: 978-0321398772 | Publication Date: January 2, 2011 | Edition: 1

Islam in Historical Perspective, 1st Edition, organically integrates the history of Islamic societies with a discussion of how Muslim scriptures, laws, moral values and myths have shaped the lives and thought of individual Muslims and various Muslim communities from the rise of Islam until today.   It provides readers with little or no prior knowledge of Islam and Islamic societies with a large body of carefully selected historical and scriptural evidence that enables them to form a comprehensive and balanced vision of Islam’s evolution from its inception up to the present day.  

 

This book shows how Muslims have made sense of their life experiences by constantly interpreting and re-interpreting Islam’s foundational ideas in accordance with ever-changing social and political conditions.  In addition to its combined historical and chronological approach, Islam in Historical Perspective offers in-depth discussions of intellectual dialogues and struggles within the Islamic tradition. The author shows Islam to be a social and political force, while also addressing  Muslim devotional practices, artistic creativity and  structures of everyday life.

 

The goal of this book is to help readers to develop personal empathy and enthusiasm for the subject of their study, which is absolutely essential for the success of any college course in the humanities. To enliven the narrative,  the author provides a wealth of historical anecdotes and quotations from original sources that are designed to illustrate his principal points in a memorable, striking and entertaining way. 

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alexander (Sasha) Knysh was trained as an Arabist and historian of the Islamic Middle East in the former Soviet Union. He combines expertise in Arabic literature (both pre-modern and modern) with the knowledge of the history, religions, and cultures of the Middle East and Eurasia. He has been teaching and conducting research in  these fields of academic endeavor over the past  thirty years. In 1994, Professor Knysh joined the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan as an Assistant Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies. In 1998, he was promoted to the rank of Professor of Islamic Studies. From 1998 until 2004, he served as chair of the department. In 1997-1998, he held the Sharjah Chair of Islamic Studies at the Department of Arabic and Middle East Studies, University of Exeter, UK. Although this was a permanent academic appointment, he chose to return to Michigan after one year in England.

More recently, Prof. Knysh has been working on several academic projects, including   the history of Islam in Yemen and a study of the changing representations of Islam and the Muslims in Russian academic and popular discourses and mass media following the collapse of the former Soviet Union. His latest project, "Islam and Empire in the Northern Caucasus," explores the history and ideological underpinnings of Muslim resistance to the Russian conquest and subsequent domination of the North Caucasus in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Simultaneously, he continues to pursue his original interest in the history of Sufi movements and thought in Islam; thus, he is currently serving as the section editor for "Sufism" on the Editorial Board of the Encyclopedia of Islam (3rd edition), E.J. Brill, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Longman; 1 edition (January 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321398777
• ISBN-13: 978-0321398772
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #310,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars it is a fantasy book far away from history and reality, January 11, 2012

By 

Christian exmuslim - See all my reviews

This review is from: Islam in Historical Perspective (Paperback)

It's really hard these days to find somebody speaking the truth about Islam, the brave one is the one who said truth and then the Muslims because Islam is a peaceful religion they ask for his blood, so the author of this book decide to take the safe highway praising Muhammad and Islam and making money and lying and every work in this book, as an example she said and I quote "This book shows how Muslims have made sense of their life experiences by constantly interpreting and re-interpreting Islam's foundational ideas in accordance with ever-changing social and political conditions." The interpretation and reinterpretation part is proof that Islam is like a snake the change the meaning of the words of the book based on the location and time, as an example if you ask a Muslim about chapter 4 verse number 34 with saying the man he can beat his wife a Muslim live in the West he would say it saying "beat them lightly"if you ask a Muslim living Islamic country they will say there is nowhere the word like is exist in the horn and you can be done the way you want as long you don't break their bones as the prophet said in the hadith, another example about the verses of kidding a Muslim live in the West he will say those verses are made to defend ourselves not to fight others a Muslim living Islamic country was say those are verses need to fight the enemies wouldn't accept Islam, and don't take my words go read yourself chapter 9 verse number 29 I read interpretation of Ibn Kathir, if you read and learn about Islam the Muslims claim that you have to learn Arabic to understand Islam, and quran and hadith, so how the author who do not know one Arabic word and she is reading what Muslims translate to her she can get a really great understanding of Islam?. And she said that Muslims made sense of the life, I wonder why should not say Muslims made sense of the death, because one of Muslim he to commit suicide bombing hoping to go to heaven and get the 72 virgins, is that because their life make sense and their death make sense? The fact that there is a lot of Western who sold their honesty for the sake of dollars make a book praising Muhammad you make good money Muslims loves you your safe and nobody would kill you, I advice you to read a real book about Islam which is politically incorrect, made my Arabic speaking in a high educated person who is qualified with his degrees about Islam to be a judge in the Islamic low court, get the The Deception of Allah Volume 1 (study in depth of Islam, investigating Muhammad and Islam, volume 1) and see yourself why am it was near to get such a book have agreed to study of history of Muhammad his family and his tribe, the city of Mecca and many other things about Arabia in general, and how Muhammad became a prophet and what the target of Islam to be exist, who was Allah, for study about women rights in Islam and cold is coming with the proves and reference accepted by Muslims for the last 1400 years get the book and be the judge yourself.The Deception of Allah Volume 1 (study in depth of Islam, investigating Muhammad and Islam, volume 1)