Islam in the Middle East: A Living Tradition

This concise book offers a nuanced introduction to Islam in the Middle East. It presentsIslam as both a unified tradition of theological dogma and practices that transcends cultural differences and a dynamic tradition that is historically informed, locally shaped, and continually reinterpreted. Using numerous ethnographic examples from the Middle East and North Africa, Islam in the Middle East: A Living Tradition offers a succinct overview of the Islamic tradition as practiced. This approach to Islam is based on a general anthropological principle that Islam must be studied as it is understood by Muslims. That is, that its dogmatic principles and its numerous practices should be approached as the product of history. Designed for students and nonspecialists, Islam in the Middle East: A Living Tradition charts the doctrinal foundations of Islam; the role of religious scholars; the five pillars; the mystical world of saintly brotherhoods and spirit–possession cults; and the efforts of Muslim modernists and Islamist activists in shaping Islamic “orthodoxy” and engaging with Western modernity.

Acknowledgments. Transliteration and Abbreviations. Preface. Introduction. 1. The Islamic Community through History. 2. The Foundations of Islamic Doctrine and the Community of Believers. 3. Authority and Knowledge. 4. The Five Pillars. 5. Islamic Mysticism. 6. Islamic Reformism. 7. Islamism: A General Overview. 8. Islamism at the Local Level. Notes. References. Index

G.P. Makris (PhD, London School of Economics and Political Science) is Assistant Professor of Social Anthropology at Panteion University, Athens.

"Makris gives a sensitive account of women′s status in Muslim societies, their traditional and modern situations and rights, and criticizes the limited ethnocentric judgements of simplistic Western commentators, especially in the context of ′development.′" ( Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute , September 2009) "Books such as Islam in the Middle East remind us that academics can play a positive role in challenging the meanings that practitioners ascribe to the world’s religions and regions. Let us hope the book not only appears on university reading lists but that it also finds a way into the briefcases of politicians in London and Washington." ( Times Higher Educational Supplement ) "Islam in the Middle East provides a comprehensive introduction to a living religious tradition that is currently at the centre of much international attention." ( Journal of Social Anthropology )