Religion : Islam

Faith and Sword gives a concise history of what has arguably been the longest conflict in human history – a conflict that continues, in a new form, to this day. The overtly religious Christian-Muslim struggle lasted for nearly thirteen centuries, and for most of that period the Muslims were in the ascendant. The Christians eventually halted the tide of Arab conquest, but their counterstroke in the Crusades ended in failure and the Muslim threat was renewed by the Ottoman Turks. Only after 1600 did the Christians finally begin to gain the upper hand, with the fall of the Ottoman empire after the First World War seeming to mark the final victory of the Christians. Between 1918 and 1979, however, the Christian-Muslim conflict continued, but in a less obviously religious form. Christendom became the largely secularised West, and Muslim success in throwing off European colonialism owed more to secular nationalists than religious leaders. After the Iranian revolution of 1979 the picture changed again: religious fundamentalism revived on the Muslim side and the USA became its principal target. Today the USA has never been more militarily dominant, yet it is rendered insecure by a tiny minority of religious militants whose outlook is said to have been superseded by the march of history. Alan G. Jamieson provides a wide-ranging and detailed survey of this conflict through all its stages, and shows how the present situation has emerged. He ranges widely in time, from the original Arab conquests in the seventh century to the present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. All areas of conflict are included, from Morocco to Indonesia, and from Russia to Somalia. This authoritative and readable study will appeal equally to scholars, students and the general reader, giving an accessible introduction to one of the most important conflicts of our time. more...

Price: $29.95

Providing a much-needed source of reference and examining how the Islamic view of marriage, family formation and child rearing has developed over the centuries, this book is a comprehensive and ground-breaking work in the field. more...

Price: $180.00

Intended for those wishing to learn about the Muslim culture, its people and its teachings, this work explores the lives and thoughts of fifty influential individuals in Islam, and surveys a heritage that spans 1500 years. It covers key figures such as Prophet Muhammad, Suleiman 'the Magnificent', and El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X). more...

Price: $23.95

Recovering the stories of fifteen Islamic queens, this remarkable exploration tells how these women ascended the throne, how they governed and exercised their power, and how their forgotten reigns influence the ways in which politics is practiced in Islam more...

Price: $60.00

Offering a global overview of Islamic hagiography, this book describes the characters beyond the Qur'an and Hadith. It is suitable for approaching the vast geographical and chronological sweep of Islamic civilization. more...

Price: $15.95