Islam: The Straight Path [Hardcover]

John L. Esposito (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0195112334 | ISBN-13: 978-0195112337 | Edition: 3

The Gulf War, the World Trade Center bombing, conflicts in Afghanistan, Algeria, and Bosnia--these crises have dominated the headlines and global politics. Yet few of us know anything about Islam, a religion with one billion followers worldwide. Now John L. Esposito offers a timely new edition of Islam: The Straight Path, his widely acclaimed guide to Islamic history, faith, culture, and politics.
Esposito provides a succinct, up-to-date survey of the Islamic experience, an introduction to the faith, belief, and practice of Islam from its origins to the present. He traces the emergence of this dynamic faith and its impact on world history and he discusses the formation of Islamic belief and practice in such areas as law, theology, philosophy, and mysticism. Equally important, Esposito provides much needed information on contemporary Islam. This third edition has been updated throughout and is enhanced by new material that more accurately reflects the true diversity of Muslim cultures. In particular, Esposito broadens the study of Islam beyond the Middle East with a new study of Pakistan as well as a new section on the Muslim presence in the US and the impact of such figures as Malcolm X, Warith uddin Muhammad, and Louis Farrakhan. In the final chapter, Esposito discusses modern Muslim thinking on religious pluralism, democracy, and human rights.
With years of teaching and travel in the Islamic world, Esposito offers an informed portrait of Muslim faith and thought. Lucidly written and expansive in scope, this new edition of a volume highly respected in the Islamic world provides keen insights into the world's second largest religion.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Esposito, a well-respected scholar and prolific writer on things Islamic, is the founding director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University and, most recently, general editor of the four-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World (LJ 3/15/95). Here we have the third edition of a book first published in 1988 (LJ 9/15/88) outlining Muslim origins, history, doctrine, and culture?generally in a Middle Eastern context. This edition, which contains a useful bibliography and thorough index, incorporates recent developments in the Middle East and adds material on Pakistan and on the growth of Islam in America. Free of any evident anti-Muslim or anti-Christian bias, Esposito's scholarly prose is both straightforward and highly readable, with technical terms always clearly defined. Nevertheless, this is a work for serious students. Recommended for academic libraries and public libraries with substantial collections in religion.?James F. DeRoche, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The best one-volume introduction."--Voice Literary Supplement

Reviews of the first edition: "Explains in a very cogent manner the religious ramifications of contemporary Islamic society"--Booklist

"Accurate and well-informed, but written in a clear and lively style"--Albert Hourani, Oxford University --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3 edition (January 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195112334
• ISBN-13: 978-0195112337
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,408,326 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John L. Esposito is University Professor of Religion and International Affairs at Georgetown University and Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin-Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. He is the editor of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islam and The Oxford History of Islam, and author of Unholy War, What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam, and many other acclaimed works.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best introduction to Islam, August 12, 2000

By 

Tim Paris - See all my reviews

This review is from: Islam: The Straight Path (Paperback)

Most westerners equate Islam with terrorism. The reason is simple: Muslims rarely make the evening news unless engaged in hijackings, suicide bomb attacks or bloody confrontations with Israelis or with their co-religionists. In this 3rd edition of his book on Islam, John Esposito does much to correct this and other pervasive misconceptions surrounding this great world religion.

Esposito traces the historical development of Islam from its genesis with Muhammad and the Quran, through the great ages of Islamic fluorescence and expansion-- the Umayyad (661-750) and Abbasid (750-1258) caliphates -- right up to the modern period, when "neorevivalists" struggled to reconcile the fundamental principles of Islam with secular and western-dominated contemporary life.

Along the way, Esposito elaborates the basic tenets of Islam, describes the great Muslim thinkers and their ideas and explains clearly the basic interpretations and movements (e.g., Shiism, Sufism) which have animated the development of the Muslim religion over the centuries. He also describes the different turns Islam has taken in different political contexts (contrast secular Turkey with the theocracies of Saudi Arabia and the Sudan).

The picture of Islam which emerges from Esposito's treatment is one of considerable complexity, yet always anchored in the fundamental principles adumbrated in the Quran. Islam: The Straight Path is perhaps the best introduction to Islamic belief and history in print. The 250 page text is accompanied by a bibliography and a helpful glossary. This book is highly recommended for students being introduced to Islam and its history and, indeed, for anyone interested in learning something of the world's second largest religion.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Introductory Text on Islam, March 28, 2004

By 

Corn Soup "sick of irony" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Islam: The Straight Path (Paperback)

This book is by far the best introductory text on Islam that I have encountered. The important thing to keep in mind is that it is an introductory text, and its function as such should be kept in mind. The book provides an excellent overview, broken down into 6 different issues/subjects of the Islamic world, and the text is further broken down into clearly delineated and manageable chunks, just as an introductory text should be. Especially good is the elegant and concise way in which the history of the beginnings of Islam are laid out. Perhaps less strong is some of the discussion of the different ways that Muslims have approached the issue of reforming Islam, which I found to be repetitive and vague at the same time.
One person was disappointed that the author often mentions a lot of names and concepts, and then doesn't describe them much. Well, that is the PURPOSE of an introductory text, to introduce people to ideas that they can then pursue further in specialized texts if they are interested. Similary, why would one expect to find information on minority non-Islam religious groups or the African slave trade in a book about Islam? The former would be found in a comparitive religion text, the latter, perhaps in a history of Islamic people, but not an introductory text on Islam.

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Islam, March 3, 2003

By 

Sadia (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Islam: The Straight Path (Paperback)

The Straight Path is a straightforward and accessible historical introduction to Islam theology, politics, and law. John Esposito, the author, begins with Muhammad and the Quran, basic Islamic dogma, and the creation of the Islamic community. He then sketches the history of the Islamic world in the medieval period, covering the Umayyads, the Abbasid Caliphate, the Crusades and the later Islamic empires, which are Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal. Some of the divisions within Islam are the Sunni/Shia spilt, the Ismailis, the Druze and the diversity of its mystical and legal traditions.
Next, Esposito explains Islamic theology and law in depth. Medieval theological conflicts centered on the relationship of faith, the status of grave sinners, and the connection between the absolute power of God and human free will. An essential figure was the tenth century synthesizer al-Ashari, whose followers became the leaders of the dominant school of Sunni theology. The five pillars of Islam are the professions of faith, prayer, almsgiving, the Ramadan fast and Hajj; the pilgrimage to Mecca. Finally, Esposito also touches on family law - divorce and inheritance, the relation between customary practice and Quranic prescription by showing the rules about veiling and seclusion, Sufism and Shia differences.
With its primarily historic approach, The Straight Path only succeeds to give a feel for the role Islam plays in the lives of particular believers. Overall, The Straight Path works well, giving a moral feel for Islam's ancient depth and geographical reach.