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`Interpreting Islam is a useful contribution in the field of Islamic studies, not because of the questions it happens to answer - not too many - but because it helps one udnerstand why some of the questions are at all posed' - Kingshuk Chatterjee, The Statesman
Islam is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the West. Myths and stereotypes surround it. This clear and penetrating volume helps readers to make sense of Islam. It offers a penetrating guide to the diversity and richness of contemporary knowledge about Islam and Muslim society. Throughout, the emphasis is upon the value of pluralistic approaches to Islam, rather than condensing complexity with unifying concepts such as `Orientalism'.
Interdisciplinary in scope and organization, the book cuts through the bewildering and seemingly anarchic diversity of contemporary knowledge about Islam and Muslim society. The methodological difficulties and advantages of Western researchers focusing on Islam are fully documented. The book demonstrates how gender, age, status and `insider'/`outsider' status impacts upon research and inflects research findings.
List of contents
Interpreting Interpretations of Islam - Hastings Donnan and Martin Stokes
Orientalism, or the Politics of the Text - Bryan S Turner
Researching the Radical - Beverley Milton-Edwards
The Quest for a New Perspective
Islam in the Media - Malise Ruthven
Interpreting Islam in American Schools - Susan L Douglass and Ross E Dunn
Ideological Dimensions of Islam - Ilyas Ba-Yunus
A Critical Paradigm
Kissing Cousins - Charles Lindholm
Anthropologists on Islam
Islam and the Sea - Xavier de Planhol
The Causes of a Failure
Organized Charity in the Arab-Islamic World - Jonathan Benthall
A View from the NGOs
Silver Sounds in the Inner Citadel? - Martin Stokes
Reflections on Musicology and Islam
About the author
Hastings Donan is Professor and Head of Anthropological Studies, Queen′s University, Belfast
Summary
Islam is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the West. Myths and stereotypes surround it. This clear and penetrating volume helps readers to make sense of Islam. It offers a penetrating guide to the diversity and richness of contemporary knowledge about Islam and Muslim society. Throughout, the emphasis is upon the value of pluralistic approaches to Islam, rather than condensing complexity with unifying concepts such as `Orientalism'. Interdisciplinary in scope and organization, the book cuts through the bewildering and seemingly anarchic diversity of contemporary knowledge about Islam and Muslim society. The methodological difficulties and advantages of Western researchers focusing on Islam are fully documented. The book demonstrates how gender, age, status and `insider' / `outsider' status impacts upon research and inflects research findings.
Report
`Interpreting Islam is a useful contribution in the field of Islamic studies, not because of the questions it happens to answer - not too many - but because it helps one udnerstand why some of the questions are at all posed' - Kingshuk Chatterjee, The Statesman
