Interpreting Islam

by Hastings Donnan

• ISBN13: 9780761954224
• ISBN10: 0761954228
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-02-15
• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd

Summary

Islam is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the West. Myths and stereotypes surround it. This clear and penetrating volume helps readers to make sense of Islam. It offers a penetrating guide to the diversity and richness of contemporary knowledge about Islam and Muslim society. Throughout, the emphasis is upon the value of pluralistic approaches to Islam, rather than condensing complexity with unifying concepts such as 'Orientalism'. Interdisciplinary in scope and organization, the book cuts through the bewildering and seemingly anarchic diversity of contemporary knowledge about Islam and Muslim society. The methodological difficulties and advantages of Western researchers focusing on Islam are fully documented. The book demonstrates how gender, age, status and 'insider' / 'outsider' status impacts upon research and inflects research findings.

Table of Contents

List of contributors	vi
Acknowledgements	ix
Interpreting interpretations of Islam	1	(19)
Hastings Donnan
Martin Stokes
Orientalism, or the politics of the text	20	(12)
Bryan S. Turner
Researching the radical: The quest for a new perspective	32	(19)
Beverley Milton-Edwards
Islam in the media	51	(25)
Malise Ruthven
Interpreting Islam in American schools	76	(23)
Susan L. Douglass
Ross E. Dunn
Ideological dimensions of Islam: A critical paradigm	99	(11)
Ilyas Ba-Yunus
Kissing cousins: Anthropologists on Islam	110	(20)
Charles Lindholm
Islam and the sea: The causes of a failure	130	(20)
Xavier de Planhol
Organized charity in the Arab-Islamic world: A view from the NGOs	150	(17)
Jonathan Benthall
Silver sounds in the inner citadel? Reflections on musicology and Islam	167	(23)
Martin Stokes
Index	190