Explores various facets of the Islamic search for knowledge, with essays on aspects of Thought or Travel.

From pre-revolutionary Egypt to the Muslim Brotherhood, and from imprisonment to exile, this is the life of Fathi Osman: a leading Egyptian-born thinker at the forefront of modern Islamic reformism for nearly four decades. Joining the Muslim Brotherhood as a young man, Fathi Osman rose through the ranks of the organization thanks to his own considerable oratory skills and his relationship with leading Brotherhood figures, Sayyid Qutb and Hasan al-Hudaybi. But as he began to recognize the covert violent aspects of the Brotherhood, he increasingly distanced himself and voiced his opposition. He was, due to his association with the Muslim Brothers, imprisoned a number of times before he eventually left Egypt in self-imposed exile. Using interviews, family documents, and archival materials to chronicle Fathi Osman’s ideological development from spokesperson for the prototypical Islamist movement to formulator of a radical Islamic reformist ideology, Ghada Osman sheds light on the lure and inner workings of a major Islamist movement and the role of Islamic reform in the global arena. In the process, she has produced a dispassionate and thoroughly researched biography of a major figure of the twentieth-century Arab and Muslim intellectual world.

After September 11, Islam became nearly synonymous with fundamentalism in the eyes of Western media and literature. However widely held this view may be, it is at odds with Islam’s rich political history. Renowned Egyptian scholar Nasr Abû Zayd here considers the full breadth of contemporary Muslim writings to examine the diverse political, religious, and cultural views that inform discourse in the Islamic world. Reformation of Islamic Thought explores the writings of intellectuals from Egypt to Iran to Indonesia, probing their efforts to expand Islam beyond traditional and legalistic interpretations. Zayd reveals that many Muslim thinkers advocate culturally enlightened Islam with an emphasis on individual faith. He then investigates the extent of these Muslim reformers’ success in generating an authentic renewal of Islamic ideology, asking if such thinkers have escaped the traditionalist trap of presenting a negative image to the West. A fascinating and highly relevant study for our times, Reformation of Islamic Thought is an essential analysis of Islam’s present and future.

Offers a broad historical survey of the rules, values and interpretations relating to Salat, the five daily prayers of Islam.

The Confessions of Al Ghazzali is a short spiritual autobiography of Imam al Ghazali. The book covers a period in his life when he lived through a deep spiritual crisis of his beliefs. During that period, he retreated into seclusion, where he intensely meditated, prayed, and studied the branches of faith that were popular amongst the people at the time, namely philosophy, kalam theology, Isma'ilism, and the practice of the Sufis. Although he was a famous teacher at that time, he earnestly confessed his spiritual doubts and described how he reaffirmed his beliefs. It is an excellent book for anyone in a difficult spiritual period of life.

The Quran says, "Wherever you turn, there is the face of God," and, it tells us, "He is with you wherever you are." Muhammad remarked that spiritual virtue is to be found in serving God as if you see him, for, even if you do not see him, he sees you. The understanding that God is always present has animated the personal piety of Muslims from earliest times. These essays by well-known scholars and Sufi teachers as well as excerpts from classical Islamic literature suggest the great variety of routes that Muslims have followed to reach the vision of the Divine in all that exists. Book jacket.

John Herlihy takes readers on a journey of understanding to the heart of Islam, the world's fastest growing religion. Weaving details of Islam's central beliefs and practices--its Five Pillars--with intimate autobiographical details of his more than thirty years in the religion, Herlihy provides readers with an insightful glimpse into a religion that currently claims more than one billion adherents and yet remains so often misunderstood in the West. In Wisdom's Journey Herlihy speaks openly about his conversion to Islam and intimately retells his moving experiences while performing the pilgrimag.