MU Libraries New Books: Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc.

About the new book list

11/4/2009

The RSS feeds for the new books list is updated every Wednesday and contains a list of books added to the Ellis Library collection for the last six weeks. The titles are grouped by call number classification, and are listed by week and alphabetically by title.

Books for the most recent weeks are currently on the New Books Shelves inside the north entrance of Ellis Library. They can be checked out.

Continuity and change in the realms of Islam : studies in honour of Professor Urbain Vermeulen / edited by K. d'Hulster and J. van Steenbergen. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

Call #: BP53 .C658 2008

Islam in South Asia in practice / Barbara D. Metcalf, editor. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

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Juan Cole, author of "Engaging the Muslim World" )

Call #: BP63.A37 I864 2009

Shi'ism in America / Liyakat Nathani Takim. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

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Call #: BP192.7.U6 T35 2009

Submitting to God : women and Islam in urban Malaysia / Sylva Frisk. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

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Product Description

In recent decades, Malaysia has been profoundly changed both by forces of globalization, modernization, and industrialization and by a strong Islamization process. Some would argue that the situation of Malay women has worsened, but such a conclusion is challenged by this study of the everyday religious practice of pious women within Kuala Lumpur's affluent Malay middle class. Here, women play an active part in the Islamization process, not only by heightened personal religiosity but also by organizing and participating in public programs of religious education.

By organizing new forms of collective ritual and assuming new public roles as religious teachers, these religiously educated women are transforming the traditionally male-dominated gendered space of the mosque and breaking men's monopoly over positions of religious authority. Exploring this situation, Submitting to God challenges preconceptions of the nature of Islamization as well as current theories of female agency and power.

Call #: BP173.4 .F75 2009

Interpreting al-Tha'labī's Tales of the prophets : temptation, responsibility and loss / M.O. Klar. (10/21/2009)

10/21/2009

Call #: BP166.4.T53 K43 2009

Keys to the Arcana : Shahrastānī's esoteric commentary on the Qurʼan : a translation of the commentary on Sūrat al-Fātiḥa from Muḥammad b. ʻAbd al-Karīm al-Shahrastānī's Mafātīḥ al-asrār wa maṣābīḥ al-abrār / Toby Mayer with the Arabic text reproduced f (10/21/2009)

10/21/2009

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Product Description

Only preserved in a single manuscript in Tehran, this remarkable twelfth-century Qur'anic commentary by Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Karim al- Shahrastani marks the achievement of a lifelong, arduous quest for knowledge. Shahrastani began writing Mafatih al-asrar or Keys to the Arcana towards the end of his life and the work reflects the brilliant radicalism of his more private religious views. The introduction and opening chapter of this virtually unknown work is presented here in a bilingual edition, which also includes an introduction and contextual notes by Dr Toby Mayer.
In Keys to the Arcana, Shahrastani breaks down the text of the Qur'an and analyses it from a linguistic point of view, with reference to the history of Qur'anic interpretation. The author's ultimate aim is to use an elaborate set of complimentary concepts - the 'keys' of the work's title - to unearth the esoteric meanings of the Qur'anic verses, which he calls the 'arcana' of the verses (asrar al-ayat). A historian of religious and philosophical doctrines, Shahrastani has generally been considered to be a spokesman for the Sunni religious establishment under the Seljuqs. The complimentary concepts in question, however, appear to derive from the Isma'ili Shi'i intellectual tradition, indicating that the author may have been secretly involved in the Isma'ili movement.
Shahrastani 's unusually esoteric and highly systematic exegesis of the Qur'an provides a vivid picture of the mature state of scriptural commentary in the twelfth-century CE. Dr Mayer's meticulous translation of Shahrastani 's Introduction and Commentary on Surat al-Fatiha, supplemented by the Arabic text, allows the reader and scholar access to this intriguing Muslim intellectual work for the first time.

Call #: BP130.4 .S5163 2009

Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian context / by M. Reza Pirbhai. (10/21/2009)

10/21/2009

Call #: BP63.A37 P57 2009

Living Sufism : rituals in the Middle East and the Balkans / Nicolaas Biegman. (10/7/2009)

10/7/2009

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Product Description
This book offers intimate and moving portraits of Sufism as practiced in five countries. Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam, is as far from the strident and often violent fundamentalist strain of the religion that has so captured world attention as it is possible to be. Sufis in all parts of the Islamic world are broad-minded, tolerant, and non-violent, their quest only to find and approach God through all means, including poetry, music, and dance.

Historian Nicolaas Biegman has been observing and photographing Sufi practice and ritual in different Muslim lands for many years, and here in this collection of extraordinary photographs he feels the pulse of the Sufi experience, with its enormous variety in discipline and exuberance, intellectualism and spontaneity, in Egypt, Syria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Macedonia. In accompanying texts he explores what lies behind the rituals, and explains aspects of Sufi life and practice such as the position of women.

About the Author
NICOLAAS (NIEK) BIEGMAN holds a Ph.D. in Balkan history, and is an expert on Islam. He has produced a number of photographic books on Egypt, Haiti, Manhattan, and most recently a Sufi community in Skopje (God's Lovers)

Call #: BP188.8.M628 B54 2009

Muḥammad is not the father of any of your men : the making of the last prophet / David S. Powers. (10/7/2009)

10/7/2009

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Review

"A vitally important contribution to scholarship on the Qur'an and early Islam."—Fred M. Donner, University of Chicago

"Powers's ability to think through the creation of the narrative of the sonship of Zayd, his divorce, and Muhammad's marriage is truly compelling. The reader feels that the author is in total control of the material, even though it ranges so widely across the Near East and many disciplines."—Andrew Rippin, University of Victoria

Product Description

The Islamic claim to supersede Judaism and Christianity is embodied in the theological assertion that the office of prophecy is hereditary but that the line of descent ends with Muhammad, who is the seal, or last, of the prophets.

While Muhammad had no natural sons who reached the age of maturity, he is said to have adopted a man named Zayd, and mutual rights of inheritance were created between the two. Zayd b. Muhammad, also known as the Beloved of the Messenger of God, was the first adult male to become a Muslim and the only Muslim apart from Muhammad to be named in the Qur'an. But if prophecy is hereditary and Muhammad has a son, David Powers argues, then he might not be the Last Prophet. Conversely, if he is the Last Prophet, he cannot have a son.

In Muhammad Is Not the Father of Any of Your Men, Powers contends that a series of radical moves were made in the first two centuries of Islamic history to ensure Muhammad's position as the Last Prophet. He focuses on narrative accounts of Muhammad's repudiation of Zayd, of his marriage to Zayd's former wife, and of Zayd's martyrdom in battle against the Byzantines. Powers argues that theological imperatives drove changes in the historical record and led to the abolition or reform of key legal institutions. In what is likely to be the most controversial aspect of his book, he offers compelling physical evidence that the text of the Qur'an itself was altered.

About the Author
David S. Powers is Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University. He is author of Law, Society and Culture in the Maghrib, 1300-1500.

Call #: BP166.5 .P69 2009

Images of Muhammad : narratives of the prophet in Islam across the centuries / Tarif Khalidi. (9/30/2009)

9/30/2009

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Call #: BP75 .K4935 2009

Living Sufism : rituals in the Middle East and the Balkans / Nicolaas Biegman. (9/30/2009)

9/30/2009

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Call #: BP188.8.M628 B54 2009

Islam and the Métropole : a case study of religion and rhetoric in Algeria / Ben Hardman. (9/23/2009)

9/23/2009

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Call #: BP64.A5 H366 2009

Neo-Muslim intellectuals in the West and their contributions to Islamic thought and the formation of Western Islam : an exploratory investigation of the religious and literary activities of Western Neo-Muslim intellectuals / Salah Salem Abdel Razaq. (9/23/2009)

9/23/2009

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Product Description
This study is an exploration of the contributions made by neo-Muslim intellectuals to Islamic thought and the development of Islam in the West. It focuses on the works of contemporary neo-Muslim intellectuals that enjoy a wide circulation, especially among Muslim migrants in the West and throughout the Muslim world. Through their intellectual vision, they impart a certain understanding of Islam, which is acceptable in the Western context and culture. They produce a new Islamic literature which can be classified as a Western Islamic literature. The core questions of this study are: > - What are the main contributions made by neo-Muslim intellectuals to Islamic thought and the formation of Western Islam? - What is the main focus of their contributions: political, cultural, social, religious? The author presents an overview of the estimated numbers of converts in different European countries and presents detailed profiles of the main protagonists of the study. He reviews the contributions of neo-Muslim intellectuals to Western Islamic literature. He discusses their contributions to Islamic political thought and to Islamic politics. He studies the attitudes of these converts towards Western civilization. In conclusion, he analyses their views on non-Islamic religions, particularly their polemical views on Christianity.

Call #: BP52.5 .A344 2008

The four pillars of spiritual transformation : the adornment of the spirituality transformed (Ḥilyat al-abdāl) / Muḥyiddīn ibn 'Arabī introduction, translation, and Arabic edition, Stephen Hirtenstein. (9/16/2009)

9/16/2009

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Review

"[Ibn 'Arabi] profoundly influenced all subsequent Sufi teaching and thus stands as the most important link between the Sufis who went before him and those who came after him." —Ralph Austin, translator, Sufis of Andalusia

"The greatest mystical genius of the Arabs" —A. J. Arberry, author, Sufism

"One of Ibn 'Arabi's most accessible and widely studied works, the Hilyat al-abdal, highlights the practical foundation of spiritual discipline underlying all of his metaphysical and theological writings." —Professor James Winston Morris, Boston College

Product Description

Objective and illuminating, this treatise, written by Sufi leader Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi, presents a fundamental analysis of spiritual practice. Underscoring the importance of silence, seclusion, hunger, and vigilance, this guide demonstrates that these activities are both physical and spiritual. Providing the necessary tools for an enlightened life, this dual-language edition incorporates the first critical edition of the Arabic text, gathered from the best-surviving manuscripts. An introduction, and translation of chapter 53 of the renowned Futuhat al-Makkiyya, are also included.

About the Author

Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi was an eminent Sufi mystic and teacher in the Moorish culture of Andalusian Spain during the 12th century. Stephen Hirtenstein is the editor of the journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society and a director of Anqa Publishing. He is the translator of Divine Sayings, the cotranslator of The Seven Days of the Heart, and the author of The Unlimited Mercifier.

Call #: BP188.9 .I244513 2008