Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-242) and index.
A cave in the desert: what is Islam? -- Islam and monotheism -- The early history of Islam -- The islamic ideal -- The spread of Islam -- Where Muslims live now -- Who's in charge here? the construction of Islam -- Denominations -- Interpretation -- The Ulema -- The sharia -- The Ulema today -- Smiles and frowns: types of Muslim -- Tradition and modernity -- Modernity -- Religiosity -- Tolerance -- God and angels: the Muslim world-view -- God and creation -- Angels and jinn and unseen forces -- Saints and miracles -- Birth, death, destiny, and judgment -- How to do Islam: worship -- Prayer -- Alms -- Fasting -- Pilgrimage -- Reading the Koran -- Remembering God -- Inside the hareem: the family -- Men and women -- Sex and segregation -- Marriage -- Children -- Polygamy and divorce -- Death and inheritance -- Feminism -- Food, frocks, and funds: daily life -- General principles -- Food and drink -- Dress -- The arts -- Business -- In and out: community life -- The Umma -- Mazhabs and muftis -- Local communities -- Race -- Crime -- Punishment -- Violence -- Good Muslims, bad Muslims: ethics -- Slander and hypocrisy -- Virtues and vices -- More Moors: other denominations -- Shiism -- Wahhabism -- Smaller denominations and sects -- The nation of Islam -- Traditionalism -- Murder in the name of God: Islam and politics -- The medieval Muslim state -- Religion and state today -- The origins of political Islam -- Islamism today -- Support for Islamism -- Alternatives to Islamism -- The clash of civilizations: Islam and the West -- Islam and non-Muslims -- Muslims and Israel -- The Muslim world and the West -- Muslims in the West -- Conclusion.
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"The need to understand Islam and Muslims has never been greater, both because of conflicts that dominate the news and because of the increasing presence of Muslims in Western societies. There are hundreds of books that introduce the Western reader to Islam, and dozens of books that explore various Muslim societies (usually Arab ones). Islam & Muslims is the first to bring together both, explaining Islam in theory and in practice across the diverse Muslim world. Readers learn not just what Islam says about everything from the nature of God to marriage to prayer to politics, but also how individual Muslims (traditional or modern, devout or barely observant) apply teachings in everyday life."--Jacket.