A Concise Guide to Islam (Introducing Islam)

For many in the English-speaking world Islam remains a mysterious religion. What is Islam in the first place? Does it mean "peace" or does it mean "submission"? Can it mean both? What is jihad? Sharia? Hadith? Who is Allah? What is a caliph caliphate or infidel? In this compact volume an expert in the study of Islam provides explanations for more than one hundred important Islamic concepts and terms which are divided into major sections: texts history faith and belief practice and religious duties jurisprudence and movements. Ayman Ibrahim first introduces the section then defines each concept or term briefly. Readers can read a chapter at a time or flip through the book to find concepts or terms as needed. Each term is described based on original Muslim sources mainly written in Arabic as well as ample scholarly studies. This introductory guide is written for anyone with little to no knowledge of Islam. It complements the author's A Concise Guide to the Quran and A Concise Guide to the Life of Muhammad. Together these three volumes are useful as a set of resources on Islam.