An Introduction to Islam

Abstract

David Waines, Islamic lecturer at Lancaster University, divides AnIntroduction to Islam into three parts. Part 1 deals with the Qur'an and theSunnah in the formative period, and part 2 is devoted to Islamic teachingsand practices, including separate chapters on Islamic law, theology, Sufism,and Shi'ism. The connecting thread in these first two parts is the ways inwhich Muslim scholars have explored "revelation and the experience oftheir Prophet, Muhammad" (p. 3). Part 3 treats Islam in the modern world,recounting the period over the last two centuries during which Muslimshave been challenged by western hegemony and have sought to establish amodem sense of Islamic identity.This is a comprehensive, wide-ranging, and up-to-date treatment ofIslamic history and culture. It is by no means the only recent introductionon Islam by a western scholar: Victor Danner's The Islamic Tradition: AnIntroduction (1988) deals with the Islamic intellectual and spiritual traditionwithin the context of other religious traditions. Frederick M. Dermy'sAn Introduction to Islam (1985) offers a comprehensive, simple account ofIslam, and Annemarie Schinunels' Islam: An Introduction is a concise and ...