Teaching humanity: an alternative introduction to Islam / Vernon James Schubel.
Schubel, Vernon James, 1953- author.
2023
BP130.2
Available Online

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Title Teaching humanity: an alternative introduction to Islam / Vernon James Schubel.
Author Schubel, Vernon James, 1953- author.
ISBN 9783031223624 (electronic bk.)
3031223624 (electronic bk.)
3031223616
9783031223617
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22362-4
Imprint Cham, Switzerland : Palgrave Macmillan, 2023.
Language English
Description 1 online resource (xviii, 277 pages) : illustrations (black and white).
Other Standard Identifiers 10.1007/978-3-031-22362-4 doi
Call Number BP130.2
Dewey Decimal Classification 297.1/22601
Summary This book introduces Islam through a "humanistic" lens, by highlighting the affective traditions and expressions associated with Sufism and Shi'ism. While most introductory books emphasize the sharia, and especially the Five Pillars, as the primary defining characteristic of Islam, Vernon James Schubel provides an alternative introduction which instead underscores the importance of humanity and the human being within Islamic thought and practice. The book stresses the diversity of Islamic beliefs and practices, presenting them as varied responses to the shared multivalent concepts of tawhid (the unity of God), nubuwwa (prophecy) and qiyama (the Day of Judgment). Readers are introduced to essential aspects of Islam including the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the Quran, the development of the sharia, and the emergence of the Sunni, Shia and Sufi traditions. The book concludes with a call to redefine mainstream Islam, as a religious tradition focused on the centrality of love and rooted in the importance of humanity and universal human virtues. Vernon James Schubel is Professor of Religious Studies at Kenyon College where he also helped to establish its Asian and Middle East Studies and Islamic Civilization and Cultures programs. He is the author of numerous articles on Islam and the monograph, Religious Performance in Contemporary Islam: Shii Devotional Rituals in South Asia.
Bibliography, etc. Note Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-269) and index.
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description Description based on print version record.
Available in Other Form Print version: 9783031223617
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1 Introduction: Teaching HumanityIslam as a Humanistic Tradition
Islam as a Humanistic Tradition
Defining Humanism and the Humanities
Orientalism and the Study of Islam
Islam as a Legalistic Tradition
Three Men and an Elephant: Describing Islam
Islam: The Straight Path, or Is It?
Islam or Islam(s)?: Accounting for Islamic Diversity
Talal Asad: Islam as a Discursive Tradition
Shahab Ahmed and the Critique of Asad
The Pre-Text
The Con-Text: The Product of Engagement
Islam as an Affective Tradition
Challenging Textual Essentialism
Moving Beyond the Text: There Is a Reason They Call It Folk Wisdom Teaching Humanity: An Alternative Introduction to Islam
Questions for Discussion
2 Islams Diverse Paths, Part One: Patterns of Belief
Defining Islam
Islams Diverse Paths
Islam: A Man and A Book
Islam: Unity in Diversity
Usul al-Din: The Roots of Religion
Tawhid: The Unity of God
Mansur Al-Hallaj: The Secret of Ana al-Haqq
Nubuwwa: Belief in Prophets
A Brief Outline of the Life of the Historical Muhammad
Following Muhammad: The Prophet as a Model for Later Generations Qiyama: Belief in the Day of Judgment
Conclusion
Questions for Discussion
3 Islams Diverse Paths, Part Two: Patterns of Practice and Identity
The Path of Law: The Sharia
Ibadat and Muamalat: Sharia as Ritual and Social Practice
Muamalat: Sharia as Social Practice
Sharia: Islamic Law?
The Path of Morality and Etiquette: Akhlaq and Adab
Paths of Love: Mahabba and Ishq
Walking the Path of Love: The Story of Layla and Majnun
Islams Diverse Communities: Shia, Sunni, and Sufi
The Force of History: From Saqifa to Karbala
A Man and a Book: Accounting for Sunni and Shii Islam
Shii Islam: The Path of Devotional Allegiance
Shii Islams Diverse Paths
Sunni Islam: The Islam of the Sunna and the Community
Belief in the Awliya Allah: The Sufi Tradition
Wahdat al-Wujud and the Sufi Tradition
Conclusion: Islam as a Humanistic Tradition
Questions for Discussion
4 Teaching Humanity: The Human Being as the Object and Means of Revelation in Islamic Piety
Approaching the Quran
The Quran as Sacred Presence
The Form and Content of the Quran
Quranic Verses: Affirmations of Tawhid and Qiyama
Quranic Verses: Practice and Ethics
Quranic Verses: Narratives
Interpreting the Quran
Muhkamat and Mutashabihat Verses
Teachers of Humanity: Prophets, Imams, and Awliya
Adam in the Quran
Iblis and Adam in the Quran
Mansur al-Hallaj and the Creation of Adam
The Alevi Understanding of the Adam and Iblis Story
The Narrative of Khidr and Musa
Conclusion: Humanity in the Quran
Questions for Discussion
5 Patterns of Devotional Allegiance: Gods Friends (Awliya Allah) and Perfected Persons (al-Insan al-Kamil)
Devotional Allegiance to the Prophet Muhammad
Love and Devotional Allegiance to the Prophet Muhammad
Love and Devotion for Ali b. Abu Talib
Karbala: Shii Islams Spiritual Fulcrum
Karbala as a Meme
Karbala as a Root Paradigm
Victor Turner on Human Nature: Communitas and Structure
Etic and Emic
Devotional Allegiance in the Sufi Tradition
The Story of Baba Farid Shakr Ganj and Mullah Sahab
Interpretation
Ahmet Yesevi in the Vilayetname
The Proclamation of the Praiseworthy Qualities of Hoca Ahmet Yesevi Hezretleri Analysis
Conclusion
Questions for Discussion
6 My Qibla Is a Man: Islam Beyond the Sharia
Defining Alevilik
The Nature of Alevi Religion
Alevilik as Shii Piety
Alevilik as a Sufi Tradition
The Cem
The Origin of the Cem in the Mira of the Prophet
Contemporary Alevilik
Urban Cems and Cem Evis
Alevi Music and Performance
The Saz and the Minaret
Contemporary Alevi Literature
Narratives from the Vilayetname
The Narrative of the Lineage and Birth of Hac Bekta in the Vilayetname
The Vilayetname as an Islamic Text
The Narrative of Gven Abdal
My Qibla is a Man: Islam Beyond the Law
Questions for Discussion
7 Conclusion: Not an Excess of Religion, But a Lack of HumanityIn Search of Mainstream Islam
Radical Muslims and Muslim Extremists
How to Write About Muslims
Islam and Humanity
The Reformers and Their Legacy
In Search of Mainstream Islam
I Created Everything for You and You for Me: An Alternative View of Islam
Creating Insan al-Kamil: The End of Humanity
Mainstream Islam and Sharia
Mainstream Islam and Modernity
Conclusion
Questions for Discussion
Glossary
Bibliography.

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