In many religions God is also conceived as perfect and unfathomable by humans, as all-powerful and all-knowing (omnipotent and omniscient), and as the source and ultimate ground of morality. No, Christianity and Islam are not two paths to the same God. . Tight composition, fast pacing, authoritative tone: it's no surprise it was a bestseller. But this will be more than a home. A book review of In Quest of the Historical Adam: A Biblical and Scientific Exploration by William Lane Craig (Eerdmans, 2021), Let Faith Oust Fact: A Review of The Whale, No Mindful Matter: The Explanatory Failure of Scientific Materialism, Seven or So Exhortations to College-Bound Students, Una montaa allanadaUna mirada a Brianna Wiest, A Mountain Made LowA Look at Brianna Wiest, Connect with the Christian Research Institute. If Muhammads male followers were disgruntled about the new inheritance laws, they must have been furious when, in a single revolutionary move, he both limited how many wives a man could marry and granted women the right to divorce their husbands., Religion is concerned not with genuine history, but with sacred history, which does not course through time like a river. 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. the text of islam. By the ninth century, when Islamic law was being fashioned, there were so many false hadith circulating through the community that Muslim legal scholars somewhat whimsically classified them into two categories: lies told for material gain and lies told for ideological advantage. The more one tries to squelch it, the stronger it becomes. Rather, it is solely through the slow and steady building of personal relationships that one discovers the fundamental truth that all people everywhere have the same dreams and aspirations, that all people struggle with the same fears and anxieties. Men are in charge of women, because Allah has made some of them excel the others, and because they spend some of their wealth. Very good primer on Islam--it's a thorough and sweeping history and very engaging and well-written. We were woefully ignorant on the subject and needed to learn something about the religion. FreeBookNotes has 2 more books by Reza Aslan, with a total of 3 study guides. The fact is that for fifteen centuries, the science of Quranic commentary has been the exclusive domain of Muslim men. ASH is a website for cultural outreach, and to unite people who seek goodness and knowledge. . . The French went to great lengths to cultivate class divisions in Algeria, the Belgians promoted tribal factionalism in Rwanda, and the British fostered sectarian schisms in Iraq, all in a futile attempt to minimize nationalist tendencies and stymie united calls for independence. This is an online articlefrom the Christian Research Journal. Christian Concerns. Chapter 7, In the Footsteps of Martyrs: From Shiism to Khomeinism, brings this sectarianism up-to-date. No god but God (Updated Edition) by Reza Aslan: 9780812982442 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books A fascinating, accessible introduction to Islam from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Zealot and host of Believer FINALIST FOR THE GUARDIAN. I am far more interested in the historical aspect of any religion than I'll ever be in its theology, and Reza Aslan proves to be thought-provoking at best. Aslans own account of Muhammads community indicates that non-Muslim citizens had more limited rights than the Muslims who shaped the ideals and social arrangements of their society. Which is what Aslan seems to do, as well. Muhammad, unfortunately, made no clear arrangements for a successor, and the era immediately following [his] death wasa tumultuous time for the Muslim community (66). The categorization and separation of native peoples was a common tactic for maintaining colonial control over territories whose national boundaries had been arbitrarily drawn with little consideration for the ethnic, cultural, or religious makeup of the local inhabitants. From the internationally bestselling author of No god but God comes a fascinating, provocative, and meticulously researched biography that calls into question everything we thought we knew about Jesus of Nazareth. At university he was converted to Islam because of its visible action on behalf of a class of oppressed people. No god but God is a text written by Iranian-American Muslim scholar Reza Aslan. Depending on the study guide provider (SparkNotes, Shmoop, etc. Despite these concerns, I recommend Reza Aslans book. As a Muslim, he is right to do all he can to hold fast his faith in a more peaceful outcome, but non-Muslims who would welcome the reforms he envisions would like to see evidence that they are prevailing against Islamic radicalism. This review first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 30, number 3 (2007). He doubts the authenticity of the traditional narrative and says only that, we can reasonably conclude that Muhammed was a Meccan and an orphan; that he worked for his uncles caravan from a young age; that this caravan made frequent trips throughout the region and would have encountered Christian, Zoroastrian, and Jewish tribes, all of whom were deeply involved in Arab society; and finally, that he must have been familiar with the religion and ideology of Hanifism, which pervaded Mecca and which very likely set the stage for Muhammeds own movement. This timetable reflects Aslans desire to educate non-Muslim Westerners about Islam in the wake of 9/11. Also includes sites with a short overview, synopsis, book report, or summary of Reza Aslans No god but God. 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. It is a must read! I also thought it shameful the glancing way he wrote about Sept. 11. 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. 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. Sunni and Shiites had always been merely exotic names but for the first time I could understand why these groups might despise each other all these centuries later. As a young man, Muhammad lived in Mecca, a city severely stratified along economic lines, where a group called the Quraysh held the reins of political power and religious influence. "No god but God" is a text written by Iranian-American Muslim scholar Reza Aslan. Like the infancy narratives in the Gospels, these stories are not intended to relate historical events, but to elucidate the mystery of the prophetic experience.Again, the historicity of these topoi is irrelevant. However, in their earliest stages, the hadith were muddled and totally unregulated, making their authentication almost impossible. . Respond with despotism, and it becomes the sole voice of opposition. You will have a direct line to ASH, for any questions you have: you will only be one email away from ASH. . It will not be considered reliable by Islamic Traditionalists, but Aslan makes a plausible case that their narrative is largely mythological. The book very elegantly explains this magnificent yet misunderstood faith, Islam. So why the four stars? On the other hand, the barrage of information is withering. 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. 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. Your Spirit mixed with my Spirit little by little, he wrote of God in his Diwan, by turns, through reunions and abandons. Public awareness of Islam, the worlds fastest-growing religion, has gone from the basement of our consciousness through the roof, and is now somewhere in the stratosphere, but six years hence, this still has not translated into useful knowledge for very many people. This in my language is stafil, said the Greek. (21). Third, Aslans account of the origin and development of Islam follows a dubious principle of secular historical practice. . Those inclined to believe in miracles may have difficulty with this approach, as he says that it doesn't matter whether miracles happened, but what role such myths play in shaping the beliefs of a particular religious community. Second, paradoxically, authors of books and magazine articles, bloggers, and interviewees on radio and television bombard us with perspective. This cornucopia of informants is a mixed blessing, however. . No! . What are we, especially those of us who are traditional Christian believers, to make of this, or of the rest of Aslans book? You have brought me my inab, the Arab said. He was in a monogamous relationship with her until she died. 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). A religious state of Islamic orientation also most likely would be rife with internal struggles, since there has never been a successful attempt to establish a monolithic interpretation of the meaning and significance of Islamic beliefs and practices (265). It also would be interesting to know how such a transformation might take place, and what the concrete result would be. Reza Aslan's book No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam has been appreciated by the world. . 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. 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