But because every path eventually leads to the same destination, which path one takes is irrelevant., However, Saudi Arabia quickly discovered what the rest of the world would soon learn. The front pages of No god But God include the familiar Muslim acclamation, In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Aslan, however, is a reformist. Everything you ever wanted to know about Islam, but were too afraid or too benighted to ask. 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 . God willing., As a text, the Quran is more than the foundation of the Islamic religion; it is the source of Arabic grammar. This updated edition addresses the events of the past decade, analyzing . According to the Islamic statement of witness, or shahada, "There is no god but Allah". As one would expect, Muhammads innovations did not sit well with the male members of his community. -- who casually overturned some of Mohammad's famously moderate teachings after he died, by claiming they'd heard Mohammad say otherwise. This converted drying-ground and cemetery will serve as the first masjid, or mosque, of a new kind of community, one so revolutionary that many years later, when Muslim scholars seek to establish a distinctly Islamic calendar, they will begin not with the birth of the Prophet, nor with the onset of Revelation, but with the year Muhammad and his band of Emigrants came to this small federation of villages to start a new society. Copyright FreeBookNotes.com 2014-2023. Yet regardless of whether one is labeled a Modernist or a Traditionalist, a reformist or a fundamentalist, a feminist or a, must recognize that greater knowledge about Islam is not enough to alter peoples perceptions of Muslims. The first, tafsir, is primarily concerned with elucidating the literal meaning of the text, while the second, tawil, is more concerned with the hidden, esoteric meaning of the Quran. But if the intent was to present a vision of how muslims should understand their faith under the challenge of modernity, it falls way short. We are informed the Prophet was "indecisive", an "empty vessel", a "hooked nose" Arab, that the Quran *was dictated by* its environment, that the 5 daily prayers are apocryphal, and for that matter the entire hadith corpus should be thrown out the window, etc. Read Reza Aslan's biography on RezaAslan.com. Aslan, however, does seem to think of an Islamic democracy as in some sense an Islamic state. He was not the lifelong monotheist portrayed in traditional Muslim accounts. Aslan goes on to say that this does not mean that the religious authorities would have no influence on the state. He says that such influence can only be moral, not political. Very good primer on Islam--it's a thorough and sweeping history and very engaging and well-written. He is author of many books, includingEvil and the Evidence for God(Temple University Press, 1995), Faith, Film, and Philosophy: Big Ideas on the Big Screen(InterVarsity Press, forthcoming), andPhilosophy of Religion(Rowman and Littlefield, also forthcoming). If you decide to subscribe to our newsletter, it will be a way to stay in touch, without being bothered by frequent emails. But the cleansing is inevitable, and the tide of reform cannot be stopped. prophet/messenger. For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. Myth typically includes miracles, and heroic portrayals of people involved. Heres an illustration of his outlook: If the childhood stories about Muhammed seem familiar, it is because they function as a prophetic topos: a conventional literary theme that can be found in most mythologies. The four men left Mecca and went their separate ways, preaching the new religion and seeking out others in the same condition. The book very elegantly explains this magnificent yet misunderstood faith, Islam. are 1 Short Summary and 7 Book Reviews. This updated edition addresses the events of the past decade, analyzing how they have influenced Islam's position in modern culture. Pre-Islamic Background. As the quintessential colonialist, Cromer had no interest in the plight of Muslim women; the veil was, for him, an icon of the backwardness of Islam, and the most visible justification for Europes civilizing mission in the Middle East., Grateful for their generosity, Muhammad orders the land to be leveled, the graves dug up, and the palm trees cut down for timber to build a modest home. English, l-nsi il popolo ; i popoli ; le nazioni Read more , The five pillars of Islam (arkn al-Islm ; also Read more , A doxology (Ancient Greek: doxologia, from , doxa, glory Read more , raqiya sky ; firmament ; heaven Read more , Assiah (or Asiyah, also known as Olam Asiyah, Read more , Abrahamic Study Hall 2015-2023 - Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy - About Us, I just wanted to remind you of a statement that represents the thinking here at ASH (Abrahamic Study Hall): This became the site of Medina, the City of the Prophet. Aslan details the significance of Medina in Chapter 3, where he makes the arresting statement, Today, Medina is simultaneously the archetype of Islamic democracy and the impetus for Islamic militancy (52). Faith is a way of moving and being in the world; religion is a body of traditions and practices and institutions that preserve the story of how to move and be in the world that way. . Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016. It would seem that for a state to be Islamic in any meaningful sense, it would have to be informed by Islamic religious ideals. Someone recommended this book and it turned out to be a great choice. Overall the book deals with the history of Islam from the perspective of the prophet, Mohammed as a social reformer fighting for equal rights for men. I just wanted to remind you of a statement that represents the thinking here at ASH (Abrahamic Study Hall): Alone we can do so little, yet together we can do much. And now I am Yourself. Aslan explains the development of Muhammads prophetic consciousness as a series of smaller, indescribable supernatural experiences that climaxed in a final violent encounter with the divine (36). 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. All Right Reserved. User-submitted reviews on Amazon often have helpful information about themes, characters, and other relevant topics. vocabulary. I also thought it shameful the glancing way he wrote about Sept. 11. Because of the variability of the Arabic language, both of these translations are grammatically, syntactically, and definitionally correct. I hope Islamic reformists are successful in curbing the excesses of fanatics. . What is important is what these stories say about our prophets, our messiahs, our kings: that theirs is a holy and eternal vocation, established by God from the moment of creation. He is the founder of AslanMedia.com, an online journal for news and entertainment about the Middle East and the world, and co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen Studios, the premier entertainment brand for creative content from and about the Greater Middle East. When fourteen centuries ago Muhammed launched a revolution in Mecca to replace the archaic, rigid, and inequitable strictures of tribal society with a radically new vision of divine morality and social egalitarianism, he tore apart the fabric of traditional Arab society. That verse, however, was addressed not to women in general, but exclusively to Muhammads wives:, But perhaps the most important innovation in the doctrine of jihad was its outright prohibition of all but strictly defensive wars. While the Shiah sometimes employ this definition for their religious leaders as well, they also recognize a fixed number of Imamsthe number of whom depends on the sect of Shiismwho, as the Prophets legitimate successors, bear the responsibility of guarding and preserving Muhammads divine message., Despite the common perception in the West, the Muslim conquerors did not force conversion upon the conquered peoples; indeed, they did not even encourage it. Therefore, the entity God can be seen as dead in so much of the identity or character God no longer exists, but is still there in the universe. He cannot offer them wine, which is the essence of the fruit. Certainly, it contains the moral framework for living a holy and righteous life as a Muslim. R. Douglas Geivet, PhD, is professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. ASH is a website for cultural outreach, and to unite people who seek goodness and knowledge. The Reformation in Europe was tied to the rise of the power of the nation-state and the end of religion as a political power. In his book No God but God, Reza Aslan claims that "In all, there are said to be three hundred sixty idols housed in and around the Kaba, representing every god recognized in the Arabian Peninsula." Therefore people from all over Arabia congregated in this area to worship their gods. Second, the book is devoted mostly to historical documentation. It is hard to imagine that these ideals would not privilege Muslim believers over other members of society. Muhammads Companions (those who had lived and worked closely with him) assumed rule, and their oral pronouncements were loosely codified in a series of haditha, a grab bag of rules and regulations that by the ninth century were subject to radically differing interpretations exploited by competing claimants to Islamic purity. If there is only one God, then there may be only one truth, and that can easily lead to bloody conflicts of irreconcilable absolutisms., One would be tempted to call the members of such a new community Muslims (literally those who are submissive to God). He then returned to the men and gave them each a bunch. I found a copy of No God but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam in my uni's library, and from what I've heard, it's a revisionist take on the origins and codification of Islam that seeks to bridge traditional interpretations of the Qur'an and hadiths with their historical background - almost like a religion-oriented Guns, Gunpowder It seems, based on what he does say, that the United States of America could become an Islamic state. BuffaloLib's library catalog tends to include a brief plot synopsis and a collection of selected trade reviews for each entry. Despite that, it cannot be the primary source of reference when it comes to Prophet Muhammads biography for few of the account of events are arbitrary and moot point to what I as a Muslim has been born and raised taught with. In No God But God, Aslan uses the same skilled hand to offer a history not only of the religion of Islam, but how Islam came to be practiced as it is today in all its variety all over the world. Muhammads exile effectively ended in 622 AD. A very good, eye-opening, mind-blowing read on the foundation and development of Islam as a religion, movement, identify, community, or in short, the. Of course you may argue that every author has their own belief and whatnot. muslim profession of faith, "there is no god, but god and muhammad is god's messenger." yathrib. First, a majority of Westerners think, Muslims are hereprobably to staybut as long as they mind their own business and dont disrupt my way of life, Ive got no problem with that. After all, Muslims constitute about half of 1 percent of the total U.S. population (somewhere between 5 and 6 million), there hasnt been a serious terrorist incident in the United States since 9/11, and most of our Muslim neighbors seem to have assimilated into the mainstream. Even presuming the raft of hostile orientalists he draws from represented the most neutral and authoritative of western scholarship on Islam, the author's own tone and framing make it needlessly more odious. BrothersJudd reviews vary significantly in style and length, focusing more on the individual reviewers personal opinion of the title and only a cursory plot summary. Contrary to popular perception in the West, Islam is a religion firmly rooted in the prophetic traditions of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Thus, with each successive generation, the chain of transmission, or isnad, that was supposed to authenticate the hadith grew longer and more convoluted, so that in less than two centuries after Muhammads death, there were already some seven hundred thousand hadith being circulated throughout the Muslim lands, the great majority of which were unquestionably fabricated by individuals who sought to legitimize their own particular beliefs and practices by connecting them with the Prophet. Ill read anything he cares to write. The fact is that for fifteen centuries, the science of Quranic commentary has been the exclusive domain of Muslim men. We are all living in it., Today, Medina is simultaneously the archetype of Islamic democracy and the impetus for Islamic militancy. His memoir gets most exciting toward the end where he describes his escape from radical Islam, facilitated in a crucial way by the appeal of Christianity. Not that I totally trusted Aslan's account. . Al-Tabari recounts how some of these men brought their grievances to Muhammad, asking, How can one give the right of inheritance to women and children, who do not work and do not earn their living? Having divorced myself from Islam a couple of years back but continued to struggle with a lot of resentment regarding current "theological" and cultural affairs, coming across this book parted some clouds in my mind. In this interesting book, Aslan starts each section by presenting 'the idealized' view of a topic, as narrated by early Muslim scholars (what he terms as 'myth') and then presents what he believes 'really happened' (objective history). All of a sudden, the men realized that what each of them had desired was in fact the same thing, only they did not know how to express themselves to each other. Men are the support of women [qawwamuna ala an-nisa] as God gives some more means than others, and because they spend of their wealth (to provide for them). That is the reader's key to this fascinating account of the origins and development of Islam. It is to Arabic what Homer is to Greek, what Chaucer is to English: a snapshot of an evolving language, frozen forever in time, All religions are inextricably bound to the social, spiritual, and cultural milieux from which they arose and in which they developed. . But lately Ive learned that King fought for more than African American rights. From the Islamic perspective, however, the attacks on New York and Washington were part of an ongoing clash between those Muslims who strive to reconcile their religious values with the realities of the modern world, and those who react to modernism and reform by revertingsometimes fanaticallyto the fundamentals of their faith., God is, in other words, wholly Other: the Mysterium Tremendum, to borrow Rudolph Ottos famous phrase., The Kaba, like the Pyramids in Egypt or the Temple in Jerusalem, may have been constructed as an axis mundi, sometimes called a navel spot: a sacred space around which the whole of the universe revolves, the link between the earth and the solid dome of heaven., For the Sufi, reality is neither emptiness nor illusion; reality is God., The Spanish philosopher and physician Ibn Rushd (112698), better known as Averros in the West, pushed al-Jabbars conception of truth to its limit by proposing a two truths theory of knowledge in which religion and philosophy are placed in opposition to each other. Publishers Weekly reviews vary in length, with all focusing on a synopsis of the book and a look at the quality of writing. In No god but God, internationally acclaimed scholar Reza Aslan explains Islamthe origins and evolution of the faithin all its beauty and complexity. I'm not reverse FoxNewsing him and saying he must be a staunch muslim to write a book on Islam. Please see the supplementary resources provided below for other helpful content related to this book. We were woefully ignorant on the subject and needed to learn something about the religion. The book was a best seller. This should concern us. [About Islam]is the dynamic conviction that a persons spiritual and worldly responsibilities are one and the same, that an individuals duty to the community is indistinguishable from his or her duty to God., Over the last few years, the Islamic world has produced more female presidents and prime ministers than both Europe and North America combined.. . 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. Reviews tend to be written in a professional, detached voice and provide detailed coverage of the content included. In No god but God, challenging the "clash of civilizations" mentality that has distorted our view of Islam, Aslan explains this critical faith in all its complexity, beauty, and compassion. That year, 622 C.E., will forever be known as Year 1 A.H. (After Hijra); and the oasis that for centuries had been called Yathrib will henceforth be celebrated as Medinat an-Nabi: The City of the Prophet, or more simply, Medina., The Shiah believe that salvation requires the intercession of Muhammad, his son-in-law Ali, his grandsons Hasan and Husayn, and the rest of the Prophets legitimate successors, the Imams, who not only serve as humanitys intercessors on the Last Days, but who further function as the eternal executors (wali) of the divine Revelation., The word Imam has multiple connotations. On the other hand, the barrage of information is withering. Whereas a religion of many gods posits many myths to describe the human condition, a religion of one god tends to be monomythic; it not only rejects all other gods, it rejects all other explanations for God. (21). You will have a direct line to ASH, for any questions you have: you will only be one email away from ASH. These Muslims believe that the ideals of Islam and nationalism are diametrically opposed to each other, to quote Mawlana Mawdudi, founder of the Pakistani sociopolitical movement Jamaat-i Islami (the Islamic Association)., For European colonialists like Alfred, Lord Cromer, the British consul general to Egypt at the end of the nineteenth century, the veil was a symbol of the degradation of women and definitive proof that Islam as a social system has been a complete failure. Never mind that Cromer was the founder of the Mens League for Opposing Womens Suffrage in England. . xxxi-xxxii). Fourth, this methodology raises questions: Aslan is Muslim, but in what sense? Sites like SparkNotes with a No god but God study guide or cliff notes. It would be interesting to know whether Aslan would rather live in an Islamic democracy than in a democracy such as we have in the United States today. This is a major attraction that Christianity has for me. The final word in the verse, adribuhunna, which Fakhry has rendered as beat them, can equally mean turn away from them, go along with them, and, remarkably, even have consensual intercourse with them. If religion is indeed interpretation, then which meaning one chooses to accept and follow depends on what one is trying to extract from the text: if one views the Quran as empowering women, then Alis; if one looks to the Quran to justify violence against women, then Fakhrys.translators of the Quran.. "Religion, it must be understood, is not faith. Resources for Greater Impact: No god but God is a text written by Iranian-American Muslim scholar Reza Aslan. Who were the Hypsistarians: Inner life requires attention to the world, How to be happy: Happiness is a choice, not a genetic factor, Believe in yourself: keep pushing, every answer is inside you, Words of wisdom: Epicurus letter on happiness, Temple Mount: the Sacreds space and location for the encounter of realities, In Praise of Folly (Erasmus of Rotterdam), Epiphany: meaning and what people actually celebrate, Who is Satan: Why (sadly) it is important to know the Devil, Eid al-Adha: The remembrance in Islam of Abrahams faith, Sufism: what it is, and who the Sufis really are, Mohammed meaning of Seal of the Prophets, Timeline of Important milestones in Islamic history. We are fortunate to have accepted the teachings which completely safeguards against associating partners with God. No! Its history, briefly chronicled, makes a good primer for readers who have no idea of the origins of this faith. Also includes sites with a short overview, synopsis, book report, or summary of Reza Aslans No god but God. A linguist passing by overheard their quarrel. 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. No God but One: Allah or Jesus? Of course, such a process takes time. The argument became heated as each man insisted on having what he desired. Despite these concerns, I recommend Reza Aslans book. Dr. Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is author most recently of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. During a period of exile, Muhammad gathered supporters and received additional revelations, summed up in the shahadah: There is no god but God, and Muhammad is Gods messenger.. On one hand, we have a wealth of easy-to-read historical and cultural information about Islam in a great, readable format for Western audiences. But there is no reason to believe that such a term was used to designate a distinct religious movement until several years later or, it may be, until the death of the Prophet., In the Ummah, there was no tradition of veiling until around 627 C.E., when the so-called verse of hijab suddenly descended upon the community. The Quran suffered a similar fate, as different schools of interpretation emerged. Give the coin to me, he said. On the other, we have an author so blinded by personal bias that I routinely had to put the book down and walk away. . The phrase qawwamuna ala an-nisa can be understood as watch over, protect, support, attend to, look after, or be in charge of women. It is a must read! From this perspective, Reza Aslan retells the story of Islam. In fact, the Hungarian scholar Ignaz Goldziher has documented numerous hadith the transmitters of which claimed were derived from Muhammad but which were in reality verses from the Torah and Gospels, bits of rabbinic sayings, ancient Persian maxims, passages of Greek philosophy, Indian proverbs, and even an almost word-for-word reproduction of the Lords Prayer. I want to conclude by recommending another book. Of politics and history it is a good introduction for the non-muslim. Men are in charge of women, because Allah has made some of them excel the others, and because they spend some of their wealth. Reviews in The Guardian display a strong grasp of the subject matter, and are able to analyze whether the book accomplished its goal. As a Christian who grew up in a . CRI Web: www.equip.org Tel: 704.887.8200 Fax:704.887.8299 3 God include the familiar Muslim acclamation, "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the . This updated edition addresses the events of the past decade, analyzing . You will have a direct line to ASH, for any questions you have: you will only be one email away from ASH. This review first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 30, number 3 (2007). Rather, the Christian Reformation was an argument over the future of the faitha violent, bloody argument that engulfed Europe in devastation and war for more than a century., As is the case with most prophets, Muhammads birth was accompanied by signs and portents. Tafsir answers questions of context and chronology, providing an easily understandable framework for Muslims to live a righteous life. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Nabeel Qureshi seeks to remedy this dilemma in his latest book, No God but One: Allah or Jesus. Eventually Waraqa, Uthman, and Ubayd Allah converted to Christianity, proving how influential this faith was in the region. The reviewer describes their feelings about the story and characters along with a brief plot summary. The story he tells begins in the Arabian desert during the pre-Islamic era of the sixth century AD. The function of the clergy in an Islamic democracy is not to rule, but to preserve and, more important, to reflect the morality of the state (265). The intention of the United States government in supporting Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war was to curb the spread of Irans revolution, but it had the more disastrous effect of curbing its evolution., Some have argued, a few of them violently, that the Caliphate should be restored as the emblem of Muslim unity. At university he was converted to Islam because of its visible action on behalf of a class of oppressed people. Those who disobey God and His Messenger, and who try to overstep the boundaries of this [inheritance] law will be thrown into Hell, where they will dwell forever, suffering the most shameful punishment (4:14). ), the resources below will generally offer No god but God chapter summaries, quotes, and analysis of themes, characters, and symbols. He probes and asks many questions throughout, but he never seems to wonder why Mohammad never appointed a successor, and how the contenders and their descendants have been battling ever since (three of the four successors to Mohammad were poisoned or murdered), or why he didn't write down his revelations of the Quran at the time, which led to it being canonized and codified decades later by Uthman, a leader Aslan himself deems corrupt. Look at the quality of writing i 'm not reverse FoxNewsing him saying. 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no god but god summary