No god but God (Updated Edition): The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam

Reliable or not, the Sunna was grossly inadequate for addressing the myriad legal issues that arose as Islam expanded into an empire. A number of other sources had to be developed to cope with those concerns not expressly dealt with in the Quran and the Sunna. Chief among these was the use of analogical arguments, or qiyas, which allowed the Ulama

Like their pagan counterparts, Muslim pilgrims travel to Mecca to experience the transformative effects of the Ka‘ba. But unlike the pagan sanctuary, the Muslim Ka‘ba is not a repository of the gods. Rather, it is a symbol for the living presence of the one and only God. The Ka‘ba, it must be understood, has no architectural significance. It is a c

As Hamid Algar has pointed out, had it not been for the extraordinary circumstances under which Wahhabism emerged, it would undoubtedly have “passed into history as a marginal and short-lived sectarian movement.” Not only was this a spiritually and intellectually insignificant movement in a religion founded principally upon spiritualism and intelle

When the circumambulations are complete, the pilgrim moves on to a series of rituals that, according to tradition, were established by Muhammad in the last year of his life. These include running back and forth between the twin hills, Safah and Marwah, to commemorate Hagar’s search for water; traveling to Mt. Arafat (the refuge of Adam and Eve afte

Although considered the link between humanity and the divine, the Kahins did not communicate directly with the gods but rather accessed them through the Jinn and other spirits who were such an integral part of the Jahiliyyah religious experience. Even so, neither the Kahins nor anyone else, for that matter, had access to Allah. In fact, the god who

So successful was this revolutionary experiment in social egalitarianism that from 622 to 624 C.E. the Ummah multiplied rapidly, both from the addition of new Ansar in Medina and from the influx of new Emigrants eager to join in what was taking place in the City of the Prophet. Though, in truth, this was still only Yathrib. It could not properly be

Soon after Ismail’s Safavid Dynasty came to an end in the eighteenth century, Twelver Shi‘ism, though remaining the “state religion” in Iran, reverted to its former political quietism, prompting the ayatollahs to cultivate once more the ideology of taqiyyah and to refrain from directly interfering in the administrations of the Qajar Dynasty, which

On July 23, 1952, a group of disaffected military leaders who called themselves the Free Officer Corps launched a coup d’état against Egypt’s inept monarchy and unilaterally declared the country free of colonial control. The coup was instigated by the head of the armed forces, General Muhammad Naguib. But everyone in Egypt knew that the real power

Practically speaking, Pan-Arabism was deemed easier to achieve…

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During the month of Ramadan, no one may eat, drink, or have sexual intercourse…

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