Abstract
To talk of Islam as a monolithic religion with a uniform standard of behaviour throughout, is, to put it mildly, a fallacy.1 At best it is a misleading proposition overlooking the vast variety of cultures in which Islamic tradition and Muslims have developed throughout history and at worst it is a dangerous assumption risking misunderstanding, misperception and conflict at a local or wider level. Islam, like any other religion, has its varieties expressed through different sects, cultures and interpretations. Any individual or group claiming otherwise has a somewhat shallow or misguided understanding of this faith.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
There are many sources stating this. For one Western source see John L. Esposito, Unholy War ( Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002 ), p. 144.
Abdolkarim Soroush, Ghabz o Bast e Teorik e Shari’at [The Theoretical Contraction and Expansion of Shari’a], 3rd edn (Tehran: Serat Cultural Institute, 1994), p. 86. This point has been dealt with deftly throughout the above-mentioned book.
See A. G. Noorani, Islam and Jihad ( New Delhi: Leftword, 2002 ), p. 50.
W. Montgomery Watt, Islamic Political Philosophy (Edinburgh University Press, 1998, reprint), p. 125.
Arthur Goldschmidt Jr and Lawrence Davidson, A Concise History of the Middle East, 8th edn ( Colorado and Oxford: Westview Press, 2006 ), p. 81.
See L. Carl Brown, Religion and State ( New York: Columbia University Press, 2000 ), pp. 52–9.
See Carl W. Ernst, Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World (Chapel Hill, NC and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 2003), pp. 136 and 202.
Graham E. Fuller, A World without Islam ( New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2010 ), pp. 243–67.
See Abdolkarim Soroush, Reason, Freedom and Democracy in Islam (Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 30.
Jean-Paul Sartre, ‘Preface’, in Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (Penguin Books, 2001, reprint), p. 7.
Pat Buchanan, ‘Is Islam an Enemy of the United States?’ New Hampshire Sunday News, 25 November 1990.
See Katerina Dalacoura, Islam, Liberalism and Human Rights ( London: I. B. Tauris, 1998 ), pp. 59–68.
See Malise Ruthven, Islam in the World, 2nd edn ( New York: Oxford University Press, 2000 ), pp. 299–300.
Ali Shari’ati, Ma va Eqbal [We and Iqbal], Collected Works, vol. 5 ( Iran: Elham Publications, 1982 ), p. 109.
See Ali Shari’ati, Niyayesh [Prayers], Collected Works, vol. 8 ( Tehran: Hoseinieh Ershad Publications, 1979 ), p. 102.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2012 S. M. Farid Mirbagheri
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mirbagheri, S.M.F. (2012). Islamic Discourses: Definitions and Background. In: War and Peace in Islam. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137001313_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137001313_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-30612-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-00131-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)