Islam

In this groundbreaking volume, eminent and up-and-coming scholars, representing a diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, address the question of non-Muslim salvation: according to the Islamic ethos (however understood), what can be said about the status and fate of non-Muslims? Each of the volume’s contributors responds to this often asked “salvation question”—a question with profound theological and practical implications—from different angles: while some limit themselves to its historical dimensions, others approach it as theologians and philosophers, yet others focus on the relationship between this-worldly relations with Others and next-worldly conceptions of salvation. Individually and collectively, the essays comprising this volume advance the discourse on religious diversity and our understanding of Islamic thought and Muslim societies. Between Heaven and Hell is possibly the first ever multi-authored volume on salvation in Islamic thought, at least in English. It does not conclude with neat resolutions; instead, it offers fascinating expositions, debates, and points of departure for further contemplation. Aside from the editor of the volume, Mohammad Hassan Khalil, and the author of the foreword, Tariq Ramadan, the contributors include William C. Chittick, Farid Esack, Mohammad Fadel, David M. Freidenreich, Marcia Hermansen, Jerusha Lamptey, Bruce B. Lawrence, Muhammad Legenhausen, Yasir Qadhi, A. Kevin Reinhart, Sajjad Rizvi, Reza Shah-Kazemi, and Tim Winter.

Muḥyī l-Dīn Ibn `Arabī (1165–1240) has been one of the most influential figures in the development of Sufism. Although his prose works have been hugely influential, his prolific poetry has received very little attention. This book contains an in-depth analysis of one collection of his poetry, the Būlāq Dīwān. Chapter 1 argues that the Dīwān has been neglected because of its complex and unusual nature, which confounds readers’ expectations. Chapter 2 discusses Ibn `Arabī’s understanding of poetics, which is closely intertwined with his metaphysics and poetic inspiration: the rhythms of poetry echo those of creation, and meaning combines with form just as the spirit descends on matter. The following chapters embark on a close reading of selected poems, exploring such peculiar verse forms as poetic responses to chapters of the Qur’an; imitations of earlier poets; a set of poems using the same metre and rhyme; poems that use only one rhyme word; and cycles of acrostic poems. Frequent comparisons are made with other medieval Arabic, Persian, and European poets, many of whom are virtually unstudied in their own right. Chapter 9 summarizes the findings and explores the poet’s mixed reception in later centuries. Ibn `Arabī emerges as a highly original poet whose work casts a fresh light on the period and on classical Arabic literature as a whole.

The articles in this volume examine different types of “sacred spaces” and the ways in which Muslims and members of other religious groups legitimize them and/or interact with each other at such real or imagined locations. The roles and identities of individuals considered holy (and why they are so designated) are discussed

The Republic of Turkey has recently gone through remarkable political and socioeconomic transformations. As Turkish democracy and civilian rule have been consolidated, the country has also witnessed a transformation in national orientation, once again playing a leadership role in the heart of the Muslim world. Turkey's example of being a dynamic Muslim democracy and emerging economic power has inspired reformists in the Arab world and beyond. In order to fully grasp these historic transformations, one has to consider the central intellectual and social rule played by the followers of the Turkish religious leader and reformist Fethullah Gülen. Gülen and his movement have been hailed by supporters as being pivotal in forging a Muslim path toward modernity that is compatible with liberal democracy and socioeconomic development. Critics, however, view the movement as being far from benign and argue that it promotes a covert authoritarian and fundamentalist agenda. This book provides a critical understanding of Gülen and his movement. The book examines the interplay between ideology, faith, and socioeconomic and political factors in fostering pathways to specific forms of modernity and development. This book provides a theoretically guided and empirically rooted narrative of alternative Islamic forms of modernity by focusing on Turkey and the Gülen movement. It argues that the Gülen movement represents not only an alternative Islamic form of modernity but also a force to recast the boundary between state and society; the self and community; and between reason and revelation. The book concludes that the Gülen movement embodies Janus‐faced features of modernity: liberal yet communitarian; cosmopolitan yet puritan; both national and transnational. By tracing the movement's historical and social development, the book provides a convincing narrative of how a marginalized and persecuted pietistic community evolved into a major transnational religious and social reform movement with the aim of fostering an Islamic Enlightenment. The book's analysis and conclusions are highly relevant for not only understanding transformational developments in Turkey but also potentially in a number of other major Muslim countries as well.