Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction
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Description
About The Book
As the founder of Islam, a religion with over one billion followers, Muhammad is beyond all doubt one of the most influential figures in world history. But learning about his life and understanding his importance has always proven difficult, as our only source of knowledge comes from the biography of him written by his followers, the reliability of which has been questioned by Western scholars.
This Very Short Introduction provides a superb introduction to the major aspects of Muhammad's life and its importance, providing both Muslim and Western historical perspectives. It explains the prominent roles that Muhammad's persona has played in the Islamic world throughout history, from the medieval to the modern period.
The book also sheds light on modern controversies such as the Satanic Verses, for which author Salman Rushdie was condemned for blasphemy, and the uproar over Danish cartoons of Muhammad, which triggered violent protests around the world. As these recent events show, whatever the truth about Muhammad's life, his persona still plays a crucial role in Muslim life and civilization.
Table Of Contents
Preface
1. The Life of the Messenger of God
2. Shaping Muhammad in History
3. Muhammad in Islamic Civilization
Further Reading
About The Series
Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
About the Contributor(s)
About the author
Jonathan A C Brown: Jonathan A C Brown (b. 1977 CE) is an American scholar of Islam and among the most widely read academic voices on hadith in the English language. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., in an Episcopalian family, he embraced Islam in 1997 as an undergraduate. He took his B.A. in history at Georgetown University and his doctorate in Islamic thought at the University of Chicago in 2006, with Arabic study in Cairo along the way. After teaching at the University of Washington, he returned to Georgetown, where he holds the Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service and is affiliated with the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. He follows the Hanbali school in law. Brown's scholarship centers on the hadith sciences, Islamic law, and the place of the Sunna in the modern world. His landmark study The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim examined how the great hadith collections gained their authority. His more accessible works, Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World, Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction, and Misquoting Muhammad, have introduced many readers to how the Prophet's words have been transmitted, interpreted, and contested. He has also written on slavery, race, and Islamic legal reform, and serves as editor in chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law.
Specifications
EAN 13 / ISBN
9780199559282
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Author
Jonathan A C Brown
Pages
144
Year Published
2011
Size
W-4.6 in | H-6.8 in | D-0.4 in
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