Richard Antoun documents and exemplifies the single most important institution for the propagation of Islam, the Friday congregational sermon delivered in the mosque by the Muslim preacher. In his analysis of various sermons collected in a Jordanian village and in Amman, the author vividly demonstrates the scope of the Islamic corpus (beliefs, ritual norms, and ethics), its flexibility with respect to current social issues and specific social structures, and its capacity for interpretation and manipulation. Focusing on the pivotal role of preacher as "culture broker," Antoun compares the process of "the social organization of tradition" in rural Jordan with similar processes outside the Muslim world. He then highlights the experiential dimension of Islam. The sermons discussed range over such topics as family ethics, political attitudes, pilgrimage, education, magic, work, compassion, and individual salvation. Originally published in 1989. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

An American Muslim Guide to the Art and Life of Preaching explores the art and craft of creating effective Islamic sermons and delivering them with care, passion, and integrity. The life of the preacher is also addressed, and a model of spiritual formation is provided for those serving Muslim communities of faith in positions of religious leadership. Sultan's vision and approach to preaching is holistic. This book is as much about the knowledge and care placed behind a sermon as it is about the tone, tenor, and shape of that sermon. It is as much about the character of the person delivering these words as it is about the nature and shape of the words themselves. It is as much about tending to the people of faith that fill the worship space as it is about the aesthetics and arrangement of that same space. This means that this book on preaching is not meant for preachers alone. It was written for us all, whether we are called to address and care for a congregation, or we are one of the many called to be part of one. While the book is clearly written for Muslim preachers and Islamic preaching, many of the insights in the book could easily apply to preaching in Christian or other settings. Reflecting on a theology of the spoken word in the Islamic tradition, Martin Nguyen remarks that the sermon in and of itself is not automatically worthy of praise. Rather, its value for the life of faith is measured by its message, its mode of delivery, and the model of living that accompanies it. An appendix to the book includes a collection of duʿāʾs, or supplicatory prayers, that were composed and delivered by women from the Princeton Muslim Life Community.

Focuses on Middle Eastern Muslim majority societies in the period from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. This work contains papers which highlight the scope and variety of religious authorities in Muslim societies.

Preaching has been central to Muslim communities throughout the centuries. The liturgical Friday sermon is a prime example, although other genres that are less commonly known also serve important functions. This book addresses the ways in which Muslims relate various forms of religious oratory to authoritative tradition in 21st-century Islamic practice, while striving to adapt to local contexts and the changing circumstances of politics, media and society. This is the first book of its kind to look at homiletics beyond a specific country focus. Taking into consideration the historical developments of Muslim preaching, it offers a collection of thoroughly contextualised case studies of oratory in Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Sweden and the USA. The analyses presented here show shared emphasis on struggles for legitimacy, efforts to speak authoritatively, as well as discursive opportunities and constraints.

A fascinating journey into Islam's diverse history of ideas, making an argument for an "Islamic Enlightenment" today In Reopening Muslim Minds, Mustafa Akyol, senior fellow at the Cato Institute and opinion writer for The New York Times, both diagnoses “the crisis of Islam” in the modern world, and offers a way forward. Diving deeply into Islamic theology, and also sharing lessons from his own life story, he reveals how Muslims lost the universalism that made them a great civilization in their earlier centuries. He especially demonstrates how values often associated with Western Enlightenment — freedom, reason, tolerance, and an appreciation of science — had Islamic counterparts, which sadly were cast aside in favor of more dogmatic views, often for political ends. Elucidating complex ideas with engaging prose and storytelling, Reopening Muslim Minds borrows lost visions from medieval Muslim thinkers such as Ibn Rushd (aka Averroes), to offer a new Muslim worldview on a range of sensitive issues: human rights, equality for women, freedom of religion, or freedom from religion. While frankly acknowledging the problems in the world of Islam today, Akyol offers a clear and hopeful vision for its future.

Preaching Islamic Renewal examines the life and work of Muhammad Mitwalli Sha‘rawi, one of Egypt's most beloved and successful Islamic preachers. His wildly popular TV program aired every Friday for years until his death in 1998. At the height of his career, it was estimated that up to 30 million people tuned in to his show each week. Yet despite his pervasive and continued influence in Egypt and the wider Muslim world, Sha‘rawi was for a long time neglected by academics. While much of the academic literature that focuses on Islam in modern Egypt repeats the claim that traditionally trained Muslim scholars suffered the loss of religious authority, Sha‘rawi is instead an example of a well-trained Sunni scholar who became a national media sensation. As an advisor to the rulers of Egypt as well as the first Arab television preacher, he was one of the most important and controversial religious figures in late-twentieth-century Egypt. Thanks to the repurposing of his videos on television and on the Internet, Sha‘rawi’s performances are still regularly viewed. Jacquelene Brinton uses Sha‘rawi and his work as a lens to explore how traditional Muslim authorities have used various media to put forth a unique vision of how Islam can be renewed and revived in the contemporary world. Through his weekly television appearances he popularized long held theological and ethical beliefs and became a scholar-celebrity who impacted social and political life in Egypt.