Islam in the Modern World: Challenged by the West, Threatened by Fundamentalism, Keeping Faith with Tradition - Hardcover

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061905801 ISBN 13: 9780061905803

Publisher: Harperone, 2011

Synopsis

A top U.S. authority on Islam discusses today's most burning issues, including holy wars, women's roles, the rise of fundamentalism and the future of the Middle East. 20,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

"An erudite and unusually accessible look into the ongoing struggle for the heart of Islam."--Booklist

An erudite and unusually accessible look into the ongoing struggle for the heart of Islam. --Booklist"

From the Back Cover:

As Muslims grow in numbers, and as Islam's role in world affairs becomes larger, we've begun to see the breakdown of unity among believers. The misunderstandings and friction between Islamic civilization and the modern West continue, but even within Islam, Iran's clerics are split, militant fundamentalists clash with students from Islamic universities, and moderate Muslim-Americans think nothing like Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia. Islam seems to be at war with itself. Extremist factions whose angry rhetoric currently shapes our fears and prejudices have attempted to co-opt the Islamic faith. In Islam in the Modern World, one of the foremost Islamic scholars in the United States takes that faith back, describing and defending traditional Islam against all critics—without and within the faith.

This book deals with the hot-button issues of concern to the West:

• holy wars
• women's roles in Islam
• the rise of fundamentalism
• the future of Shi‘ism in Iran

Additionally, the author explores lesser-known controversies within Islam, such as the challenge of modern science to religious belief, controversial art and architecture in Islamic cities, the role of the madrassas in education, and urban conditions and challenges in the Islamic world. Islam in the Modern World offers an inside look at this increasingly factious religion with increasing global relevance.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harperone
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0061905801
• ISBN 13: 9780061905803
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 472