The Apostolic Fathers: an introduction
Wilhelm Pratscher ed.
Baylor Univ., 2010
270.1 A645a
"An excellent, readable, and highly engaging introduction to the writings of the Apostolic Fathers and the world of early second-century Christianity. . . . This book is essential reading for anybody interested in the origins and development of earliest Christianity." --Paul Foster, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh
The Atheist's Guide to Reality: enjoying life without illusions
Alex Rosenberg
WW Norton, 2011
211.8 R813a
"This eccentric, funny treatise on "scientism,"...takes a perverse delight in "nice nihilism." Rosenberg doesn't believe in free will, morality, or secular humanism, and apparently you shouldn't either, dummy...this dismemberment of mainstream worldviews abounds with clever barbs and dry one-liners." --(Village Voice )
Ismaili Modern: globalization and identity in a Muslim Community
Jonah Steinberg
UNC, 2011
297.822 S819i
"The Isma'ili Muslims, a major sect of Shi'i Islam, form a community that is intriguing in its deterritorialized social organization. Informed by the richness of Isma'ili history, theories of transnationalism and globalization, and firsthand ethnographic fieldwork in the Himalayan regions of Tajikistan and Pakistan as well as in Europe, Jonah Steinberg investigates Isma'ili Muslims and the development of their remarkable and expansive twenty-first-century global structures.' -publisher
"[A] pioneering study."
-Literary Supplement
Maulana Muhammad Ali
AAIIL, 2001
297.125 A398m
"Hadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith collections are regarded as important tools for determining the Sunnah, or Muslim way of life, by all traditional schools of jurisprudence. There are many collections of Hadith (traditions and sayings of the Prophet and other Islamic leaders), as well as English translations of them. The Hadith provided below are from "A Manual of Hadith," a collection and translation by Maulana Muhammad Ali in 1944. These were chosen primarily for their availability and respectability, and should serve to provide non-Muslims with an introduction to the contents of Hadith." -publisher
Contents:
Translator's Preface 1. How Divine Revelation Came to the Holy Prophet 2. Faith and Submission 3. Knowledge 4. Purification 5. The Mosque 6. Adhan and Iqamah 7. Jama'ah or Congregation 8. The Imam 9. Institution of Prayer 10. Prayer-Service 11. Friday Service 12. 'Id Service 13. Superogatory Prayers 14. Miscellenaneous Prayers 15. Burial Service 16. Charity and Zakat 17. Fasting 18. Pilgrimage 19. Jihad 20. Marriage 21. Divorce 22. Buying and Selling 23. Cultivation of Land 24. Matters Relating to Service 25. Debts and Mortgage 26. Gifts 27. Wills and Inheritance 28. Foods and Drinks 29. Toilet 30. Ethics 31.
The Marvels of the Heart: book 21 of the Revival of the Religious Sciences
Al-Ghazali
Fons Vitae, 2010
297.45 G411k
"Marvels of the Heart is thought to be the key volume of the 40-book Ihya' 'Ulum-Al Din—Revival of the Religious Sciences—, the most read work in the Muslim world after the Qur’an, and considered by many to be the Summa Theologica of Islam. These traditional teaching stories, which use the theme of the heart as a mirror, illustrate key tenets of Islam on the requirements of religion, living in society, and the inner life of the soul." -publisher
"This is a book which all Muslims should cherish in their personal libraries. Without it one would lose the beauty and richness of our Islamic heritage." —Dr. Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti of Bosnia
Religion in America: a political history
Denis Lacorne
Columbia Univ., 2011
261.7097 L143r
"Lacorne is an acute yet friendly observer of US politics and culture. The parts of the book that form a straightforward essay on religion in America are wise, sympathetic, and vividly written. But his weaving of this account into the story of France's long obsession with America is fascinating in its own right, and casts light on the larger theme. Sorting through the insights and misconceptions of his predecessors is unexpectedly revealing: quite often funny, too." -
(Financial Times )
contents:
America, the land of religious utopias
Rehabilitation of the Puritans
Evangelical awakenings
Bible wars
Religion, race and national identity
Godless America
Rise of the Religious Right
Wall of separation between church and state
Obama's faith freindly secularism