An important book that provides a balanced history and structure of Islam. Islam is talked about widely by Muslims and non-Muslimsst, and yet both groups exhibit a singular lack of knowledge about the subject. – Strongly Recommended.
NAME: Hadith, What, Why, and When.... FILE: R2721 AUTHOR: Alan Paton PUBLISHER: Parkhill Books BINDING: soft back PAGES: 245 PRICE: £10.61 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: The Sunna, Quran, Muhammad, Canonical Collections, Scope, Terminology, Hadith, Oral Transmission, Formal Collection, Writing of Hadiths, Musannafs, Authentication Standards, Al-Shafi’i, Isnad Evaluation, Sahihan, Quran Only Movement, Goldziher, Schacht, Juynboll, Isnad Patterns, Beyond ICMA 1, ICMA 2
ISBN: 978-1-98067-934-9
IMAGE: B2721.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/y9blmwrh LINKS: DESCRIPTION: An important book that provides a balanced history and structure of Islam. Islam is talked about widely by Muslims and non-Muslimsst, and yet both groups exhibit a singular lack of knowledge about the subject. – Strongly Recommended. All religions start with one man or a small group of men. The basis of the religion is usually written down in a book as the word of God(s) at some point, implying that no detail can be challenged and must be accepted as the one truth. Many religions then go on to demand terrible vengeance on anyone who refuses to accept this set of beliefs. As the majority of religions are now ancient in origin, the book of the religion also includes a social code that may be a full-blown legal and administrative system, secular laws and punishments enveloped in the religion. The result is that many millions have been killed or mutilated down the centuries in the name of religions. The three Abramic religions, Hebrew, Christian and Islam, have been particularly bloody in their history and all are written around brutal societies that are significantly different from most modern societies. Jews and Christians have, generally, quietly forgotten about some of the old instructions that are completely incompatible with most modern societies. Over the Centuries, most religions, including the Abramic religions, have splintered into factions. Although each faction may subscribe to basic elements of their religious heritage, they significantly differ in their beliefs to the point where they could almost be different religions. The result is that violence is not confined solely to other very different religions, but sees factions of one religion attacking each other with equal, and sometimes greater, violence. One reason that Islam is discussed so frequently and with considerable hostility is that the understanding of the history and structure is so poorly understood and men of violence seek to exploit this lack of understanding for other ends. The author has produced an extraordinary work of study. Inevitably there will be some who violently object to the contents, but it should provide a welcome source of information to provide the basis for further study and conciliation. For many non-Muslims, the basis of Islam is contained and described in the Quran and this book is regarded widely as an equivalent to the Christian Bible, even though the Bible is two books in one, the second book having very considerable differences from the first. In Islam, the Hadith (or Hadiths) contain a collection of statements and instructions that have been written down in the past as additions and explanations of the Quran. These documents come from a wide range of individuals during the history of Islam and some have very dubious origins and authenticity. This provides enormous scope for an individual to focus on a small part of the Hadith to weave a story to justify actions that many Muslims would shrink from and where many Islamic scholars would find singular fault with. Today, the other Abramic religions no longer expect their teachings in secular matters to override secular law, but Islam still features a full secular code which places it immediately in contravention of national and international laws in what are not fundamentalist Islamic States. What the author has done is to collect together the strands of what many think of as a monolithic religion and explain the history and relationship of the documents that collectively chart that historical development. He has explained this in a down-to-earth manner that can be understood by non-Muslims, but in a way which may prove equally helpful to Muslims. It is a most interesting and provoking work. It is not the only attempt to set out the basis and factionalism of Islam in a non-Arabic language, but it offers perhaps the best balance and most comprehensive study, together with appendices that will aid further reading and study. This is a must-read book.