This tribe, in due course, evolved its own laws of social governance and developed into a religious cult. We are all living in it. Aslans Particular Brand of Islam. Muhammad, unfortunately, made no clear arrangements for a successor, and the era immediately following [his] death wasa tumultuous time for the Muslim community (66). Gartenstein-Ross is no longer a Muslim, but he believes that moderate Muslims will play a role in dealing effectively with radicals. Your existence is my own, and it is also my will., All that matters is to be on a path, to be constantly moving toward the topone measured, controlled, and strictly supervised step at a timepassing diligently through specific abodes and stations along the Way, each of which is marked by an ineffable experience of spiritual evolution, until one finally reaches the end of the journey: that moment of enlightenment in which the veil of reality is stripped away, the ego obliterated, and the self utterly consumed by God., The loss of Abu Talibs protection was certainly demoralizing, if not detrimental to Muhammads physical security. It may take another generation or so for this era of anti-Muslim frenzy to be looked back upon with the same shame and derision with which the current generation views the anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish hysterics of the past. Verified answer. . He valued her and she was his advisor, advocate, lover and friend. I disagree with Aslan - it matters a great deal whether the beliefs of a religious community are shaped by actual historical events (including amazing ones) or whether such beliefs are based on falsehood. And they believe that in this very place Abraham was on the point of sacrificing Ishmael, before being stopped by the promise that he too, like his brother Isaac, would beget a great nation, whose descendants now roam the sandy valley of Mecca like a whirlwind in the desert., Religion, it must be understood, is not faith. Because of the variability of the Arabic language, both of these translations are grammatically, syntactically, and definitionally correct. And since the doctrine of Tawhid insists on the oneness of God, the Sufis argue, then reality must also be unique. He relies on this in his defense of the early history of Islam and of the peculiarities of Islamic tradition and the challenges of Quranic interpretation. The book deals with the history of Islam and provides arguments over the liberal interpretation of the religion. Intra-Islamic Sectarianism. . certainly are nothing but names, images and forms. He is the copy of God, in the words of al-Arabis greatest disciple, Abdul Karim al-Jili: he is the mirror in which the divine attributes are perfectly reflected; the medium through which God is made manifest., More than a thousand years before Christ, Zarathustra preached the existence of a heaven and a hell, the idea of a bodily resurrection, the promise of a universal savior who would one day be miraculously born to a young maiden, and the expectation of a final cosmic battle that would take place at the end of time between the angelic forces of good and the demonic forces of evil., It is a shame that this word, myth, which originally signified nothing more than stories of the supernatural, has come to be regarded as synonymous with falsehood, when in fact myths are always true. You will have a direct line to ASH, for any questions you have: you will only be one email away from ASH. Chapter 7, In the Footsteps of Martyrs: From Shiism to Khomeinism, brings this sectarianism up-to-date. The sporadic revelations that came to Muhammad were recounted orally, addressing injustices in Arabian society, such as the distribution of wealth among the Quraysh. Tight composition, fast pacing, authoritative tone: it's no surprise it was a bestseller. 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. When I thought Martin Luther King Jr., I would think of the Civil Rights Movement, the March on Washington, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the seminal I Have a Dream. My understanding of him was limited to a single optic, that of racial justice. I'm just saying this book is speaking to and from a position so far removed from the Islamic scholarly tradition that I can make no use of it. He suggests that if ever there is a conflict between the two, it must be the interpretation of Islam that yields to the reality of democracy, not the other way around (266). Our Bible study class decided we wanted to learn something about Muslims. Entries also contain a short biography of the author. And because each one of these exegetes inevitably brings to the Quran his own ideology and his own preconceived notions, it should not be surprising to learn that certain verses have most often been read in their most misogynist interpretation., There are two distinct methods of interpreting the Quran. On the other, we have an author so blinded by personal bias that I routinely had to put the book down and walk away. I want to write two reviews for this book. nabi/rasul. This website generates no revenue, has no banner ads, and does not collect information to sell to third parties. . I'm not reverse FoxNewsing him and saying he must be a staunch muslim to write a book on Islam. Faith in GOD and dedication is the Way to succeed. are 1 Short Summary and 7 Book Reviews. FreeBookNotes found 8 sites with book summaries or analysis of No god but God. Islamic Modernists like the Egyptian writer and political philosopher Ali Abd ar-Raziq (d. 1966) pointed to Muhammads community in Medina as proof that Islam advocated the separation of religious and temporal power, while Muslim extremists in Afghanistan and Iran have used the same community to fashion various models of Islamic theocracy. Counter it with cruelty, and it gains adherents. God resembles nothing in either essence or attributes., Muhammads example must have had a lasting effect on his early followers: as Nabia Abbott has shown, throughout the first two centuries of Islam, Muslims regularly read the Torah alongside the Quran., Consider, for example, how the following verse (4:34) regarding the obligations of men toward women has been rendered into English by two different but widely read contemporafirst is from the Princeton edition, translated by Ahmed Ali; the second is from Majid Fakhrys translation, published by New York University: No! I also thought it shameful the glancing way he wrote about Sept. 11. Language However, in their earliest stages, the hadith were muddled and totally unregulated, making their authentication almost impossible. If you decide to subscribe to our newsletter, it will be a way to stay in touch, without being bothered by frequent emails. So in addition to the fixed number of Imams who succeeded Muhammads earthly authority, there must also exist an ever-present or pre-existent Imam who, as the eternal guardian of the Revelation, functions as the Proof of God on Earth. Thus, the first Imam was neither Muhammad nor Ali but Adam., It has often been noted that the biblical stories recounted in the Quran, especially those dealing with Jesus, imply a familiarity with the traditions and narratives of the Christian faith., Indeed, everything that is currently being said about Americas diverse Muslim populationthat they are foreign and exotic and un-Americanwas said about Catholic and Jewish immigrants nearly a century ago., Karima bint Ahmad (d. 1069) and Fatima bint Ali (d. 1087), for example, are regarded as two of the most important transmitters of the Prophets traditions, while Zaynab bint al-Shari (d. 1220) and Daqiqa bint Murshid (d. 1345), both textual scholars, occupied an eminent place in early Islamic scholarship. He segues to this chapter with this brief paragraph: Fourteen hundred years of rabid debate over what it means to be a Muslim; of passionate arguments over the interpretation of the Quran and the application of Islamic law; of trying to reconcile a fractured community through appeals to Divine Unity; of tribal feuds, crusades, and world warsand Islam has finally begun its fifteenth century (248). Reza Aslan shows a snapshot of Islam from its origin to its evolution. . There is no God but one, and He is Jesus" (349). A democratic state can be established upon any normative moral framework as long as pluralism remains the source of its legitimacy. 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. It is hard to imagine that these ideals would not privilege Muslim believers over other members of society. Gartenstein-Ross grew up in southern Oregon as a secular Jew. As a Christian who grew up in a . I am not certain how useful the comparison is for Aslan today, especially with his desire for an Islamically informed, indigenous democracy. . This article first appeared in the Viewpoint column of the Christian Research Journal, volume 45, Este artculo es una exclusiva en lnea de Christian Research Journal. The book was a best seller. Belief in the existence of God (or gods) is definitional of theism and characteristic of many (though not all) religious traditions. prophet/messenger. The book details the succession of various caliphs who led the religion and skillfully veers off into side-stories about more modern developments such as the revolution in Iran, the results of. Brenna Clarke Gray, . What are we, especially those of us who are traditional Christian believers, to make of this, or of the rest of Aslans book? 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. Other chapters explore the concept of jihad, Sufi mysticism, and the Islamic response to colonialism up through the early twentieth century. There are, of course, many paths to the summit-some better than others. shahada. Two thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher and miracle worker walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establish what he called the "Kingdom of God." 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. Publishers Weekly reviews vary in length, with all focusing on a synopsis of the book and a look at the quality of writing. And yet, like the United States, these countries are considered democracies, not because they are secular but because they are, at least in theory, dedicated to pluralism., The only question that matters with regard to a religion and its mythology is What do these stories mean?, There is absolutely nothing divine about the Shariah and in no way can it possibly be considered fixed and infallible. Come to prayer, come to prayer. This would be compelling if 1) he ever returns to this argument in any sustained fashion later in the book and 2) if he understood the Reformation as anything more than a violent religious response to modernity that threw off authority. 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. The hadith, insofar as they addressed issues not dealt with in the Quran, would become an indispensable tool in the formation of Islamic law. Aslan, however, does seem to think of an Islamic democracy as in some sense an Islamic state. 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 . From this perspective, Reza Aslan retells the story of Islam. Islamic clergy may be able to exert considerable influence within a democratic state, by seeking to establish an Islam-friendly consensus among the people of that state. 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). We were woefully ignorant on the subject and needed to learn something about the religion. 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. But the cleansing is inevitable, and the tide of reform cannot be stopped. He was not the lifelong monotheist portrayed in traditional Muslim accounts. This book can be a good starting point to those who want to discover more about Islam. BuffaloLib's library catalog tends to include a brief plot synopsis and a collection of selected trade reviews for each entry. Come to prosperity, come to prosperity. Do read the book. We found no such entries for this book title. 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. First, the historical narrative Aslan presents is engaging, informative, eminently readable, and, under close scrutiny, fairly reliable. Aslan focuses primarily on the practices of early Islam, but also discusses life within the Abbasid Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the modern Muslim world. The Islamic Reformation is already here. People might make the same arguments for why pantheism isn't strictly a form of theism as they do deism. It is here, at the end of the journey, when the individual has been stripped of his ego, that he becomes one with the Universal Spirit and achieves unity with the Divine. , . He blames Western imperialism and the misinterpretations of Islamic law by past scholars for the current controversies within Islam, questioning the clash of civilizations thesis that peoples cultural and religious identity will be the primary source of world conflict in the post Cold War era. . The author argues that the Quran does not command women to be covered with the veil, and that the concept of jihad was intended solely for defensive purposes. This is a welcome tendency in his book.) 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). 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. The argument became heated as each man insisted on having what he desired. The chief victors in the intero-Islamic skirmishes took shape in sharp contrast to what Muhammad had envisioned. 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. The book describes the history of Islam and argues for a liberal interpretation of the religion. Certainly, it contains the moral framework for living a holy and righteous life as a Muslim. This timetable reflects Aslans desire to educate non-Muslim Westerners about Islam in the wake of 9/11. Perhaps then we will recognize the intimate connections that bind us all together beyond any cultural, ethnic, or religious affiliations. I have extremely mixed feelings about this book. You have brought me my inab, the Arab said. La Ilaha Illallah: There Is No God but Allah 14th April 2023 La ilaha illallah -There is no god but Allah -is the basis of the unity of God. Pre-Islamic Background. Nabeel concludes: "There is no God but one, and He is Father, Spirit, and Son. The phrase qawwamuna ala an-nisa can be understood as watch over, protect, support, attend to, look after, or be in charge of women. Cultural, ethnic, or religious affiliations email away from ASH also contain a short of! 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