Renewing Islam By Service

Renewing Islam by Service offers a theological account of the contemporary Turkish faith-based service movement started by Fethullah Gülen, and placed against the backdrop of changes in modern Turkish society. The life and works of Gülen are analyzed against the background of developments in Turkish society, and of spiritual Islamic tendencies in the transition from the Ottoman empire to the secular republic. Pim Valkenberg includes stories of his personal experiences with supporters of this movement, in a number of dierent countries, and analyzes the spiritual practices and the faith-based service of this movement that is also compared to some important Christian religious movements.

Some find solace in repeating the past and some renew themselves at every instance.Renewal, constant renewal, is a blessing bestowed upon only a rare minority!To mercilessly question everything and to re-evaluate ones entire database with every new bit of information... To be in a state of contemplation at all times... This is the way of the one who has reached the consciousness of being a HUMAN.This book has been written for minds that wonder what their place is within this infinite existence. How happy for me if I could be of any service to those that research, question and contemplate!

The renewal of the Muslim faith, which has occurred not only in Asia but in other parts of the world, has prompted warnings of an imminent "clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West. Islam in an Era of Nation-States examines the history, politics, and meanings of this resurgence in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines and explores its implications for Southeast Asia, the larger Muslim world, and the West. This volume will be of interest to students of Islam, Southeast Asian history, and the anthropology of religion. In examining the politics and meanings of Islamic resurgence, it will also speak to political scientists, religious scholars, and others concerned with culture and politics in the late modern era.

In the early centuries of Islam the response of Muslims to problem-solving the various issues and challenges that faced their rapidly expanding community was to use intelligence and independent reasoning based on the Qur’an and Sunnah to address them. This practice is known as ijtihad. As the centuries wore on however the gates of ijtihad were generally closed in favor of following existing rulings developed by scholars by way of analogy. And as reason and intellect, now held captive to madhhabs (schools of thought) and earlier scholarly opinion stagnated, so did the Muslim world. Ijtihad and Renewal is an analysis of ijtihad and the role it can play for a positive Muslim revival in the modern world, a revival based on society-wide economic and educational reform and development. It makes the case that the grafting of solutions rooted in the past onto the complex and unique realities of our own age, in a one-size-fits-all perspective, has paralysed the vitality of Muslim thought, and confused its sense of direction, and that to revive the Muslim world from its centuries of decline and slumber we need to revive the practice of ijtihad. Focusing attention on thinking through solutions for ourselves based on our own times and context, using the Qur’an and Sunnah, as well as the wisdom and experience of the past distilled from these, as tools in this endeavor whilst not the only solution, is certainly a viable and powerful one.

Preaching Islamic Renewal examines the life and work of Muhammad Mitwalli Sha‘rawi, one of Egypt's most beloved and successful Islamic preachers. His wildly popular TV program aired every Friday for years until his death in 1998. At the height of his career, it was estimated that up to 30 million people tuned in to his show each week. Yet despite his pervasive and continued influence in Egypt and the wider Muslim world, Sha‘rawi was for a long time neglected by academics. While much of the academic literature that focuses on Islam in modern Egypt repeats the claim that traditionally trained Muslim scholars suffered the loss of religious authority, Sha‘rawi is instead an example of a well-trained Sunni scholar who became a national media sensation. As an advisor to the rulers of Egypt as well as the first Arab television preacher, he was one of the most important and controversial religious figures in late-twentieth-century Egypt. Thanks to the repurposing of his videos on television and on the Internet, Sha‘rawi’s performances are still regularly viewed. Jacquelene Brinton uses Sha‘rawi and his work as a lens to explore how traditional Muslim authorities have used various media to put forth a unique vision of how Islam can be renewed and revived in the contemporary world. Through his weekly television appearances he popularized long held theological and ethical beliefs and became a scholar-celebrity who impacted social and political life in Egypt.

This Companion to Comparative Theology offers a survey of historical developments, contemporary approaches and future directions in a field of theology that has experienced rapid growth and expansion in the past decades.

This book demonstrates why and how it is necessary to redesign Islamic Education curriculum in the K-12 sector globally. From Western public schools that integrate Muslim perspectives to be culturally responsive, to public and private schools in Muslim minority and majority contexts that teach Islamic studies as a core subject or teach from an Islamic perspective, the volume highlights the unique global and sociocultural contexts that support the disparate trajectories of Islamic Education curricula. Divided into three distinct parts, the text discusses current Islamic education curricula and considers new areas for inclusion as part of a general renewal effort that includes developing curricula from an Islamic worldview, and the current aspirations of Islamic education globally. By providing insights on key concepts related to teaching Islam, case studies of curriculum achievements and pitfalls, and suggested processes and pillars for curriculum development, contributors present possibilities for researchers and educators to think about teaching Islam differently. This text will benefit researchers, doctoral students, and academics in the fields of secondary education, Islamic education, and curriculum studies. Those interested in religious education as well as the sociology and theory of religion more broadly will also enjoy this volume.

A Common Word Between Us and You (ACW) is an open letter, dated 13 October 2007, from leaders of the Islamic religion to those of the Christian religion. It calls for peace between Muslims and Christians and seeks common ground and understanding between both religions. This volume examines the document from a number of perspectives. Exploring the events that led to ACW, it provides an overview of responses to the document and its use of scripture. It also relates the reception of ACW to several specific and contrasting contexts, and recommends new avenues for ACW-inspired discussion. Advancing debate and dialogue between Jews, Muslims and Christians, this volume promotes a distinctive methodology for inter-religious studies, and serves as an invaluable resource for students and scholars of theology and religious studies.

The book considers some of the solutions proposed by Muslim activists and thinkers in their attempts to renew (tajdid) their ways of life and thought in accord with the demands of the age in which they lived. The two ways of reacting are studied – the movements led by men of action and inspiration, and the thoughts of quietist scholars who laid greater emphasis on calm continuity. These two streams have often collided and particularly so in the contemporary age of greater violence. Other related problems are also considered: how a non-Muslim should regard the religion of the ‘other’; the ways modernization have been dealt with; and the two root causes of Muslim ‘rage’ today – the invasions of the West and the failure to reach an equitable solution to the problem of Palestine. Building on the author’s sixty-year experience researching the history of Islam, the book will appeal to students and scholars across the fields of Islamic studies, religious history and Middle Eastern politics.

Allah created the earth and then bestowed on man His favor to extract sustenance from it. He also creates the sun moon and the stars to create a just equilibrium and harmony in the universe. The sun provides energy for the growth, sustenance and wellbeing of the humans’ plants and the animals. Gradually man began to extract more than his personal needs from the earth and the boom of economics, trade and commerce started, creating, cycle’s imbalance, disharmony, wars, poverty, and injustice throughout the globe. This disharmony caused by greed not only blemished the humans, but the animal life also suffered by disappearance of species. Pollution and contamination of the environment resulted from race to accumulate and hoard the world’s wealth in a few hands. Man, disobeyed Allah’s universal laws and Allah’s Covenant. In return for all of Allah’s favors Allah commands: Justice, Al-‘Adl. Justice, fairness honesty, integrity and even-handed dealings are a prerequisite of every Muslim’s conduct when dealing with others whether socially or in business transaction Doing what is good and that is beautiful. Al-Ihsan. This attribute includes every positive quality such as goodness, beautiful, pleasing, harmony. Human beings have an obligation to do what is wholesome and beautiful in their relationship with Allah and His creatures. Provide for those near to you, qurba and kith and kin. Help them with wealth, kindness, compassion, humanity, and sympathy. Allah forbids Al-Fahasha, all evil deeds, lies, false testimony, fornication, selfishness, ingratitude, greed, and false belief. One must fulfill the Covenant of Allah and who so ever does beautiful and righteous deeds Allah will give him or her new life and reward them with greater wages. Allah commands justice, the doing of good and liberality to kith and kin and He forbids all shameful deeds and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that ye may receive admonition. Fulfill the Covenant of Allah when ye have entered into it and break not your covenants after ye have confirmed them: indeed, ye have made Allah your surety; for Allah knows all that you do. (Qur’an 16:90-91)ô Whoever works righteousness, man or woman and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best their actions. (Qur’an16:97) Tawhid the main pillar off Islam signifies that human’s economic life depends wholly on Allah’s Laws of the universe that their relationship to those who believe is through the obedience to the Covenant of Allah. Allah maintains in the Qur’an that there is no creature on earth the responsibility of whose sustenance is not assumed by Allah. No creature crawls on earth that Allah does not nourish. He knows its essential nature and its varying forms; every detail has its place in the obvious plan. (Qur’an 11:6) How are the people in need provided for their sustenance and needs of daily lives? All wealth belongs to Allah who bestows it on some persons more than others. This wealth is given in trust, whereby the possessor is obliged to give the surplus in Allah’s cause, to his kin, to the widows and orphans and to the needy first in his community and then in the other communities around him. Wealth is to be shared so that not a single individual of the Ummah, or indeed in the world should go hungry or without education and shelter.