Living Islam: How Muslims Experience Faith

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Description

The story of Islam is not one story, but many stories involving peoples of different races, ethnicities, and cultures. Every religious tradition is marked by internal diversity, manifested through its various communities of interpretation. Islam likewise is multifaceted, as are Muslim life and faith. Living Islam invites readers to appreciate ways in which Muslims from diverse backgrounds and traditions interpret and experience their faith. Adopting a cultural studies approach, Ali Asani begins by posing questions such as Which Islam and Whose Islam, and he considers different conceptions of being Muslim. He then illustrates multidimensional ways in which Muslims relate to the Prophet Muhammad, including as messenger, model, intercessor, and beloved. Drawing on Muslim devotional practices and exploring the Islamic artscape, he showcases how the beauty of the transcendent can be experienced through sonic, visual and poetic arts.

Reviews

In presenting Islam as it has been experienced by Muslims, and presenting it in an accessible and sympathetic way, Ali Asani has produced a book that will not only be useful to students embarking on the study of Islam, but will also help foster interreligious understanding. -- Fitzroy Morrissey, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Law, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and Pembroke College, University of Oxford, UK
Prof. Asani is one of our key scholars of Islam. In this marvelous book, he gets to the heart of what it means to be a Muslim in the world today. -- Amir Hussain, Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California

Author Bio

Ali Asani is Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures at Harvard University, US. At Harvard he has served as the Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and Director of the Prince Alwaleed Islamic Studies Program. He is the author of Celebrating Muhammad (1995), The Harvard Collection of Ismaili Literatures in Indic Languages (1992) and Ecstasy and Enlightenment (2002).