Submission, Faith & Beauty

Islam is the most maligned religion in the West. We have grown accustomed to assertions about Islam that appear almost daily in the media or in the statements of Western leaders that would be considered unacceptable and condemned as the bigoted and racist remarks that they are, if they were made about any other major world religion.
 
The Western view of Islam is rooted in centuries of mistrust, ignorance, and stereotypical attitudes—the inherited biases of the pre-modern clash of civilizations. These attitudes are no longer viable or warranted given the immense interdependence shared between the West and the Muslims.
 
In addition, there is the very real presence in the West of millions of law-abiding Muslim citizens, now threatened and feared by large numbers of people who see them as adherents of a fierce and fanatical faith that demands of its followers blind obedience to a system of belief rooted in hatred.

The civilizational project will not be secure until there is mutual understanding between the three militant civilizations of the West, Islamdom, and China. Knowledge of Islam has, in effect, become a serious security issue in geopolitics. It is to forward this mutual understanding that Zaytuna Institute commissioned this thoughtful and well-written work that beautifully and succinctly summarizes the core beliefs of the Muslim faith. This small book can do much to edify those concerned citizens in the West about the beauty and truth of Islam—and, by doing so, help guide the Western understanding of the religion from one based upon distortions, to one rooted in authentic knowledge.

About the Author:
Joseph Lumbard is Chair of the Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Program at Brandeis University. A former Advisor for Interfaith Affairs to His Majesty King Abdallah II of Jordan, he has published articles on Sufism, Philosophy and Interfaith relations. He has edited Islam, Fundamentalism and the Betrayal of Tradition, the only volume to examine the rise of strident puritanical interpretations of Islam from a traditional perspective. He is an editor for the Harper Collins Study Quran and is currently writing Towards a Judeo-Christian-Islamic Tradition, an examination of the scriptural foundations for establishing common ground among the Abrahamic traditions.

This thoughtful and well-written work beautifully and succinctly summarizes the core beliefs of the Muslim faith. Employing a famous encounter between the Prophet Muhammad ( Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) and the Angel Gabriel as the outline, Lumbard conveys a holistic view of Islam as it has been understood by devout and practicing Muslims for over 1000 years.

This is an especially accessible introduction to the basic beliefs of Islam. Rather than imposing the definitions of others from outside the faith, it allows the classical texts of Islam to speak directly to the modern reader. “From one perspective,” writes Dr. Lumbard, “submission, faith, and beautification are the three fundamental dimensions of the submitting way; they complement and complete each other. They are envisioned as three partially overlapping circles, and the place where all three circles overlap is the ideal that all Muslims strive to attain. One who embodies all three in their fullest depth and breadth is closer to living as a true human being in what the Qur’an refers to as the true nature (fitrah).”