Islam: Between Message and History

Description

This book could easily be called 'A Guide for the Modern Muslim', for someone to whom the sentiments of his or her ancestors resonate but who cannot accept the canonised formulas of a stultified education. Charfi spells out what, for him, is the essential message of Islam, followed by a history of its unfolding through the person of the Prophet Muhammad, who was a visionary seeking to change the ideals, attitudes and behaviours of the society in which he lived. The message and its history are delineated as two separate things, conflated by tradition. Charfi's reflections cross those horizons where few Muslim scholars have dared until now to tread. He confronts with great lucidity those difficult questions with which Muslims are struggling, attempting to reconsider them from a moral and political perspective that is independent of the frameworks produced by tradition." Introduction by Moncef Ben Abdeljelil 1 Part One: Characteristics of the Message of Muhammad 1 History and Theory 27 2 The Preaching of Muhammad 37 3 Distinctive Characteristics of Muhammad’s Message 49 4 Legislation 59 5 The Seal of Prophecy 77 Part Two: The Message in History Introduction 87 1 The Prophet’s Successors 89 2 Institutionalised Islam 101 3 The Elaboration of Institutional Theory 111 Notes 157 Index 180