Islam: The Religion and the People

Overview

For most Westerners, Islam remains a mystery. In this brief, exceptionally readable book, Bernard Lewis reveals Islam to the rest of us: what its adherents believe, how their faith has shaped them, and the rich and diverse cultures and politics they have created over nearly 1,400 years. Lewis is the world's leading expert on Islam: his views have influenced world leaders for decades. Now, he's written the definitive introduction to Islam for the rest of us. Islam is indispensable reading for everyone who wants to understand the faith, culture, and peoples of Islam and respond effectively to the global challenges that involve Islam, from terror to oil. Drawing on a lifetime of scholarship, Lewis answers questions like: What are the pillars of the Islamic faith? What does Islam really say about jihad? About the differences between men and women? About tolerance and the rights of non-Moslems? What are the differences between Sunni and Shi'a? Can there be Islamic democracies? What does the Prophet say about free enterprise and profit? What really caused the rise of radical Islam? How can Moslems live their faith in societies that are largely non-Moslem, such as Europe and the U.S.? Whatever your political, personal, or religious views, you need to get past the common myths about Islam, and understand its reality. In that quest, there's no better guide than Bernard Lewis, and there's no better book than Islam.

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Author Information

Bio of Bernard Lewis

Bernard Lewis is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emeritus at Princeton University and the author of The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist; The Emergence of Modern Turkey; The Arabs in History; and What Went Wrong : Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, among other books. Lewis is internationally recognized as one of our era's greatest historians of the Middle East. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages, including Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Indonesian. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Wharton School Publishing

Filesize

2.14 MB

Number of Pages

256

eBook ISBN

0137154909