Christian and Islamic sermons from past and present, and their preachers, are analyzed to reveal the socio-cultural dynamics of religious speeches. Part I focuses on the explicit contribution of sermons in socio-cultural transformation processes. It shows how sermons connect with holy texts, religious norms of the specific group, and social-cultural contexts. Part II analyzes the dynamic tension between normativity and popularity. Rather than juxtaposing normative stances and the popularity of sermons, it shows how that normativity can itself contribute to popularity and the quest of popularity carries its own normative stances. Part III explores the ritual embeddedness of religious speech in the sermon in relation to social dynamics, normativity, and popularity, and shows how speech and rituals have a reciprocal relationship.

Christian and Islamic sermons from past and present, and their preachers, are analyzed to reveal the socio-cultural dynamics of religious speeches. Part I focuses on the explicit contribution of sermons in socio-cultural transformation processes. It shows how sermons connect with holy texts, religious norms of the specific group, and social-cultural contexts. Part II analyzes the dynamic tension between normativity and popularity. Rather than juxtaposing normative stances and the popularity of sermons, it shows how that normativity can itself contribute to popularity and the quest of popularity carries its own normative stances. Part III explores the ritual embeddedness of religious speech in the sermon in relation to social dynamics, normativity, and popularity, and shows how speech and rituals have a reciprocal relationship.

These studies focus on questions of religious interaction and change in India from the sixth century B.C. to the present day. They represent the work of scholars in a range of disciplines and who are resident mostly in Australia

"This third edition of Ira M. Lapidus's classic A History of Islamic Societies has been substantially revised to incorporate the insights of new scholarship and updated to include historical developments in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Lapidus's history explores the beginnings and transformations of Islamic civilizations in the Middle East and details Islam's worldwide diffusion to Africa, Spain, Turkey and the Balkans, Central, South and Southeast Asia, and North America, situating Islamic societies within their global, political, and economic contexts. It accounts for the impact of European imperialism on Islamic societies and traces the development of the modern national state system and the simultaneous Islamic revival from the early nineteenth century to the present. This book is essential for readers seeking to understand Muslim peoples."--Publisher information.

Muslim preaching has been central in forming public opinion, building grassroots organizations, and developing leadership cadres for the wider Islamist agenda. Based on in-depth field research in Egypt, Patrick Gaffney focuses on the preacher and the sermon as the single most important medium for propounding the message of Islam. He draws on social history, political commentary, and theological sources to reveal the subtle connections between religious rhetoric and political dissent. Many of the sermons discussed were given during the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, and Gaffney attempts to describe this militant movement and to compare it with official Islam. Finally, Gaffney presents examples of the sermons, so readers can better understand the full range of contemporary Islamic expression.

First published in 1988, Ira Lapidus' A History of Islamic Societies has become a classic in the field, enlightening students, scholars, and others with a thirst for knowledge about one of the world's great civilizations. This book, based on fully revised and updated parts one and two of this monumental work,describes the transformations of Islamic societies from their beginning in the seventh century, through their diffusion across the globe, into the challenges of the nineteenth century. The story focuses on the organization of families and tribes, religious groups and states, showing how they were transformed by their interactions with other religious and political communities. The book concludes with the European commercial and imperial interventions that initiated a new set of transformations in the Islamic world, and the onset of the modern era. Organized in narrative sections for the history of each major region, with innovative, analytic summary introductions and conclusions, this book is a unique endeavour.

This unique reference is the first comprehensive encyclopedia dedicated to the institutions, religion, politics, and culture in Muslim societies throughout the world. Placing particular emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World contains over 750 articles in four volumes. The focus throughout is on the Islamic dimension of the Muslim experience in recent history, and background articles ground the information in its historical context and ensure continuity. Entries address political and social action as well as formal texts, and emphasis is placed on the practice and theory of Islam in Muslim societies around the globe. Unlike more limited explorations of Islam, this work looks at Muslim societies in the Arab heartland as well as in South and Southeast Asia, and even in Europe and the Americas. Thus it is an invaluable resource offering extensive comparative and systematic analyses of Islamic beliefs, institutions, movements, practices, and peoples on an international scale. Topical categories covered include history and geography; schools of thought; religious beliefs; theology and philosophy; mysticism; religious practice, devotionalism, and ritual; religious law; politics; economics; culture and society; and biographies. Alphabetically arranged articles range from brief 500-word essays to major interpretive and synthetic treatments of topics such as the Islamic state, pilgrimage, law, marriage, and foreign relations. Related entries cover such topics as social and political movements, women, Muslim minorities, human rights, Islam in the West, and interreligious affairs. Truly multidisciplinary, this work reflects the breadth and depth of contemporary scholarship in Islamic studies, combining the tools of the humanities and social sciences to examine the interrelationship of religion, politics, and culture in Muslim societies and to explain the changing realities of Muslim life. Designed for easy use by both scholars and students, the work has an index and an extensive system of cross-references that provide easy access to the network of related articles throughout the encyclopedia. Entries are written by Muslim and non-Muslim scholars from around the world. Unique in its focus on the modern Islamic world, this encyclopedia is an invaluable reference for anyone concerned with Islam: scholars and students of many disciplines, government and media analysts who increasingly require an understanding of the Muslim world, and interested lay readers who are becoming more and more familiar with Islamic politics and culture.

CSA Sociological Abstracts abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,800+ serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers.