Voices of Islam

Despite frequent and extensive publications on Islam, very few Americans, indeed very few non-Muslims, truly understand the faith or the more than one billion adherents who live it. This set presents the diversity and richness of Islam, filling in the blanks and expanding our knowledge and understanding. Portraying Muslims in all their humanity and diversity balances the images that have bombarded society and presents the reader with a fuller and more accurate picture of the Islamic faith and what it means to live as a Muslim-in Muslim communities, and as part of a broader tapestry of pluralism in the nations of the world.What does it mean to share Muslim concerns? To experience Muslim spirituality? What is the difference between Sunni and Shiite sects? Why do Muslims pray so frequently? What is the reality of Muslim marriage and gender relations? What is the meaning of jihad and martyrdom to a practicing Muslim? What role do the arts and humanities play in modern Muslim life? How are Islamic children raised? These questions and others are answered in these volumes, which bring together Muslim voices from around the world, including men and women, scholars and laypersons, fundamentalists and progressives, and others from various cultural, political, and Islamic backgrounds. Personal experiences and poetry are included to illustrate the many different expressions of Islam.

Volume 1: Voices of Tradition1. Set Introduction2. Introduction: Islam, Tradition, and Traditionalism3. Miracle of Sound at the Kaba4. Pillars of Religion and Faith5. Ramadan House Guest6. The Quran, the Word of God7. Drunkenness of the Word8. Encountering the Quran: Contexts and Approaches9. Moses and the Saint10. Prophets and Messengers of God11. "The Loom and The Bridge12. The Sunna: The Way of the Prophet Muhammad13. Vision of the Shariat14. The Sharia: Law as the Way of God15. A Man on the Road to God16. What Is Sunni Islam?17. What Is Shiite Islam?18. Beginning the Prayer19. What Is Sufism?IndexAbout the Editors and ContributorsVolume 2: Voices of the Spirit1. Introduction2. Abrahams Call: the Pilgrimage and the Call to Prayer3. Prayer at the Kaba4. The Importance and Meaning of Prayer in Islam5. Vigil6. Dhikr, A Door That When Knocked, Opens: An Essay on the Remembrance of God7. There Was No One Like Him8. A Spiritual Tour of the Prophets City (Medina)9. Sparrow on the Prophets Tomb10. In the Realm of Mercy: A Visit to a Shiite Shrine11. The Passion of Ashura in Shiite Islam12. The Hidden and the Most Hidden: The Heart as a Source of Spiritual Guidance13. Evil as the Absence of the Good14. The Blessed State of Fear: Reflections from Islam and Christianity15. Thomas Merton and a Sufi Saint16. The Sufi Way of Love and Peace17. Sufi Womens Spirituality: A Theology of Servitude18. Fatima al-Yashrutiyya: the Life and Practice of a Sufi Woman and Teacher19. Gods Madman20. Jihad in Islam (AKA Principles of Leadership in War and Peace)21. Letter to MankindIndexVolume 3: Voices of Life: Family, Home, and SocietyIntroduction: Daily Life in Islam1. The Fabric of Muslim Daily Life2. Islam, Culture, and Women in a Bangladesh Village3. Marriage in Islam4. The Spiritual Significance of Marriage in Islam5. Respect for the Mother in Islam6. Pregnancy and Childbirth in Islam7. The Birth of Aliya Maryam8. Even at Night, the Sun is There: Illness as a Blessing from God9. Caring for the Ill in Islam10. The Miracle of Pain11. Death and Burial in Islam12. Reflections on Death and Loss13. Die Before You Die14. Sufi Foundations of the Ethics of Social Life in Islam15. Islam and BusinessIndexAbout the Editors and ContributorsVolume 4: Voices of Beauty, Art, and Science1. Introduction: Beauty, Culture, and Creativity2. Islamic Art3. The Foundations of Islamic Art (from Sacred Art in East and West: Its Principles and Methods)4. The Common Language of Islamic Art (from Art of Islam, Language and Meaning)5. The Art and Ambience of Islamic Dress6. The Question of Images (from Art of Islam, Language and Meaning)7. The Art of Quran Calligraphy (from The Splendour of the Quran, 15-19)8. The Art of Quran Illumination (from The Splendour of the Quran, 20-29)9. Art and Liturgy (from Art of Islam, Language and Meaning)10. Music and Spirituality in Islam11. Regaining the Center: Gardens and Thresholds12. The Islamic Garden: History, Symbolism, and the Quran13. The Quranic Symbolism of Water14. Islamic Literatures: Writing in the Shade of the Quran15. Moths and Scattered Flames: Some Thoughts on Islam and Poetry16. Medicine and Healing in Traditional IslamBibliographyIndexVolume 5Voices of Diversity and Change1. Islamic Modernism and the Challenges of Reform2. Innovation and Heresy in Islam3. Is Islamic Philosophy Islamic?4. Islam for the People: Muslim Mens Voices on Race and Ethnicity in the American Ummah5. Islam in the African-American Experience6. Islam and Gender Justice7. Transitions in the Progress of Civilization: Theorizing, History, Practice and Tradition8. Sexual Diversity in Islam9. Sufism in the West: Islam in an Interspiritual Age10. I and Thou in a Fluid World: Beyond Islam vs. the WestIndex