Author: Eminent ContributorsEditor: Hastings DonnanPublisher: Sage PublicationsYear: 2002Language: EnglishPages: 196ISBN/UPC (if available): 8178290766 DescriptionThis book documents the diversity and richness of contemporary knowledge about Islam and Muslim society, and offers a lucid guide to understanding Islam.. To help readers make sense of Islam this work examines the range of disciplinary approaches involved in its study.‘Interpreting Islam’ documents the diversity and richness of contemporary knowledge about Islam and Muslim society.The perpetuation of myths and stereotypes in the West has meant that Islam is much misunderstood. To help readers make sense of Islam this book examines the range of disciplinary approaches involved in its study. It focuses not only on what these approaches have emphasized but also on what they have left out, as well as on their varied responses to the challenge of representing ‘other’ cultures.Interdisciplinary in scope and organization, the book explores the bewildering and seemingly anarchic diversity of perspectives for interpreting and making comprehensible contemporary Islam. Contributors reflect critically on the political, social, cultural autobiographical, and disciplinary contexts of their research to understand how the study of Islam in the West has been shaped and developed.Written with the requirements of students in mind, this book offers a lucid guide to understanding Islam. It will be of interest to students of Islamic studies, sociology, politics, anthropology, and culture.ContentsList of ContributorsAcknowledgementsONEInterpreting interpretations of IslamTWOOrientalism, or the politics of the textTHREEResearching the radical: The quest for a new perspectiveFOURIslam in the mediaFIVEInterpreting Islam in American SchoolsSIXIdeological dimensions of Islam: A critical paradigmSEVENKissing cousins: Anthropologists on IslamEIGHTIslam and the sea: The causes of a failureNINEOrganized charity in the Arab-Islamic world: A view from the NGOsTENSilver sounds in the inner citadel? Reflections on musicology and Islam Index
