As a Christian who grew up in a . But the cleansing is inevitable, and the tide of reform cannot be stopped. The sporadic revelations that came to Muhammad were recounted orally, addressing injustices in Arabian society, such as the distribution of wealth among the Quraysh. We got a stomach bug in the house.. Zachs down and out . The narrative begins in seventh-century Arabia, where the Prophet Muhammad set out to create a society based on social egalitarianism and equality of the sexes. In No god but God, internationally acclaimed scholar Reza Aslan explains Islamthe origins and evolution of the faithin all its beauty and complexity. . . True, there is only one God, but that is just the beginning. Read Reza Aslan's biography on RezaAslan.com. His strategy is to document the history of Islam, describe inner tensions within that historical context, and relate the resulting picture to current conditions, in a manner that is neither reckless nor misleading. Why, then, should we be alarmed? Sites with a short overview, synopsis, book report, or summary of No god but God by Reza Aslan. The book deals with the history of Islam and provides arguments over the liberal interpretation of the religion. "Religion, it must be understood, is not faith. For some, Muhammads actions in Medina serve as the model for Muslim-Jewish relations; for others, they demonstrate the insurmountable conflict that has always existed, and will always exist, between the two sons of Abraham. Rather, it is solely through the slow and steady building of personal relationships that one discovers the fundamental truth that all people everywhere have the same dreams and aspirations, that all people struggle with the same fears and anxieties. By the ninth century, when Islamic law was being fashioned, there were so many false hadith circulating through the community that Muslim legal scholars somewhat whimsically classified them into two categories: lies told for material gain and lies told for ideological advantage. The phrase qawwamuna ala an-nisa can be understood as watch over, protect, support, attend to, look after, or be in charge of women. According to Ibn Rushd, religion simplifies the truth for the masses by resorting to easily recognizable signs and symbols, regardless of the doctrinal contradictions and rational incongruities that inevitably result from the formation and rigid interpretation of dogma. Its history is better known and better founded. And el-Tabari points out that the first Muslim fast corresponded with, They made a solemn covenant to return to the pristine religion of Abraham, whom they considered neither Jewish nor Christian, but a pure monotheist: a hanif (from the Arabic root huf, meaning to turn away from, such as someone who turns away from idolatry). Counter it with cruelty, and it gains adherents. This website generates no revenue, has no banner ads, and does not collect information to sell to third parties. I felt clouds parting in my brain and was able to comprehend some of the glories of the religion, and the hatred and factionalism, too. Cliff Notes , Cliffnotes , and Cliff's Notes are trademarks of Wiley Publishing, Inc. SparkNotes and Spark Notes are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. This updated edition addresses the events of the past decade, analyzing how they have influenced Islam's position in modern culture.Aslan explores what the popular demonstrations pushing for democracy in the Middle East mean for the . Aslans own account of Muhammads community indicates that non-Muslim citizens had more limited rights than the Muslims who shaped the ideals and social arrangements of their society. Come to prosperity, come to prosperity. Written in clear prose and filled with memorable stories both personal and traditional, I found my mind and heart easily staying engaged with this book. It is not important whether the stories describing the childhood of Muhammed, Jesus, or David are true. Alarmists warn of the imminent dissolution of civilization, longsuffering multiculturalists call for sharp discrimination between the militant minority and the peace-loving majority within the Muslim community, and others greet Muslim immigration with the expectation that little will change in American culture as a result of the assimilation of Muslims. Because of the variability of the Arabic language, both of these translations are grammatically, syntactically, and definitionally correct. You will have a direct line to ASH, for any questions you have: you will only be one email away from ASH. Try to appease it, and it will take control., It took many years to cleanse Arabia of its false idols. It will take many more to cleanse Islam of its new false idolsbigotry and fanaticismworshipped by those who have replaced Muhammads original vision of tolerance and unity with their own ideals of hatred and discord. I hope Islamic reformists are successful in curbing the excesses of fanatics. ()- ' ' . The Hanifists were pre-Islamic monotheists who were in some significant sense indigenous to the Arabian peninsula. Aslan is clear-eyed about the challenges facing contemporary Islam and offers helpful evidence for dismantling arguments against the faith (useful if, you know, youre friends with Bill Maher or just spend a lot of time on the internet). I'm just saying this book is speaking to and from a position so far removed from the Islamic scholarly tradition that I can make no use of it. -- who casually overturned some of Mohammad's famously moderate teachings after he died, by claiming they'd heard Mohammad say otherwise. Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. day in America, the first I ever truly celebrated in full appreciation because only a few months ago I discovered that I had this eminent mans legacy all backwards. An astounding work. As the events of the Indian Revolt demonstrated, the British believed that the best way to curb nationalist sentiment was to classify the indigenous population not as Indians, but as Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, etc. I am not certain how useful the comparison is for Aslan today, especially with his desire for an Islamically informed, indigenous democracy. He was not the lifelong monotheist portrayed in traditional Muslim accounts. The site is known for a sarcastic, irreverent tone and a strong conservative bent. Our Bible study class decided we wanted to learn something about Muslims. There is no god but God may refer to: The beginning of the shahada, the Muslim profession of faith Tawhid, the Muslim concept of the oneness and uniqueness of God No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, a 2005 book about Islam by Reza Aslan A Bill Kenny song sung by Elvis Presley on the album He Touched Me (album) If the husband died, his wife would inherit a portion of his property; if he divorced her, the entire dowry was hers to take back to her family. He wrote about this journey in the New York Times bestselling book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus. While the details of the Amirs religion have been lost to history, most scholars are convinced that by the sixth century C.E., [Quoting the Quranic passage in chapter 3 verse 84]. I disagree with Aslan - it matters a great deal whether the beliefs of a religious community are shaped by actual historical events (including amazing ones) or whether such beliefs are based on falsehood. This updated edition addresses the events of the past decade, analyzing . This updated edition addresses the events of the past decade, analyzing . The Meaning of Life: What is our purpose on Earth? It is a story with two dominant themes, one geopolitical, the other religious. Certainly, it contains the moral framework for living a holy and righteous life as a Muslim. It is hard to imagine that these ideals would not privilege Muslim believers over other members of society. (266). Rather, sacred history is like a hallowed tree whose roots dig deep into primordial time and whose branches weave in and out of genuine history with little concern for the boundaries of space and time., [God] has established for you [the Arabs] the same religion enjoined on Noah, on Abraham, on Moses, and on Jesus, the Quran says (42:13)., The single most important factor in the performance of any Muslim ritual is the believers intention, which must be consciously proclaimed before the ritual can begin., The reformation of Christianity was a terrifying process, but it was not, as it has so often been presented, a collision between Protestant reform and Catholic intransigence. As a young man, Muhammad lived in Mecca, a city severely stratified along economic lines, where a group called the Quraysh held the reins of political power and religious influence. Second, the book is devoted mostly to historical documentation. It was the followers who came after both of them that twisted their message. Each chapter of the book deals with a specific topic within Islam. Nabeel concludes: "There is no God but one, and He is Father, Spirit, and Son. He suggests that if ever there is a conflict between the two, it must be the interpretation of Islam that yields to the reality of democracy, not the other way around (266). From this perspective, Reza Aslan retells the story of Islam. He is the copy of God, in the words of al-Arabis greatest disciple, Abdul Karim al-Jili: he is the mirror in which the divine attributes are perfectly reflected; the medium through which God is made manifest., More than a thousand years before Christ, Zarathustra preached the existence of a heaven and a hell, the idea of a bodily resurrection, the promise of a universal savior who would one day be miraculously born to a young maiden, and the expectation of a final cosmic battle that would take place at the end of time between the angelic forces of good and the demonic forces of evil., It is a shame that this word, myth, which originally signified nothing more than stories of the supernatural, has come to be regarded as synonymous with falsehood, when in fact myths are always true. A must-read book for anyone who is not only interested in learning more about the world of Islam in the past and nowadays, but also for all those who seek the historical truth of facts through the path of the Abrahamic religions. Gartenstein-Ross grew up in southern Oregon as a secular Jew. In traditional Eastern philosophy, this notion of radical unity is often called monism: the idea that all things, despite their variety, can be reduced to a single thing unified in space, time, essence, or quality. A fascinating, accessible introduction to Islam from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Zealot and host of BelieverFINALIST FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD In No god but God, internationally acclaimed scholar Reza Aslan explains Islamthe origins and evolution of the faithin all its beauty and complexity. The book very elegantly explains this magnificent yet misunderstood faith, Islam. In one I say well done, and thank you Reza Aslan, for your clear prose, your sympathetic defense of Islam, the remarkable way you cram so much--religious history, political history, theology, religious practice--into so few pages. His arc of the moral universe would bend towards not only racial justice but justice of all kinds. . Browse books: Recent| popular| #| a| b| c| d| e| f| g| h| i| j| k| l| m| n| o| p| q| r| s| t| u| v| w| x| y| z|. . In Sunni Islam, the imam is merely the person who stands at the head of the mosque and leads the congregation in prayer. 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