189342
9780060099244
"Nasr explicitly sets out to present the beliefs and enduring values of Islam in a way both 'acceptable to mainstream Islamic thought and comprehensible to the general Western public.' THE HEART OF ISLAM succeeds in this....Still, defensiveness constitutes a minor note in a mainly joyous expression of the Islamic imagination. Indeed, the nobility of the Islamic tradition is on eloquent display. So are the various and competing spiritual and political manifestations of Islamic piety, from Sunnism and Shiism (analogous to denominations) to the puritanical Wahhabism dominating Saudi Arabia. Members of the ''general Western public'' will put this book down with a fuller grasp of why Islam has shaped the religious impulse of so many, and why it still does. For that reason alone, THE HEART OF ISLAM should find a wide readership.Nasr, Seyyed Hossein is the author of 'Heart of Islam Enduring Values for Humanity', published 2002 under ISBN 9780060099244 and ISBN 0060099240.
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