Comparison of Carl Ernsts Following Muhammad and Mona Siddiquis How to Read the Quran - Book Report/Review Example

Comparative Book Review: Carl Ernst and Mona Siddiqui’s book ‘Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World’ by Carl W. Ernst is not an academic book, but rather a scholarly book with a target for the public. Ernst, an Islamic Studies specialist with a lot of focus on South and West Asia, in his book, addresses the Western preconception about the Islam. Ernst offers a clear insight, which is vivid and easily accessible, of the Islam faith found in the context. The author further explores the Islamic history evolution with a main focus of balancing with provisions on how the Muslims comprehend in contemporary the religion as one of their historical times. The author primarily directs the book towards the non-Muslims, whose assumptions that are driven by media are lamented constantly, but the book is also of interest as a refreshing departure from the standard Islam and Muslim accounts to the Muslims (Ernst, 14). Ernst’s book is well written and well spoken. Although the contents organization appeared idiosyncratic at the first glance, the flow of the book’s narrative is generally masterful. He was able to move successfully from the present to the past and back again in a logical and clear manner to follow. This however breaks down in the section where he discusses about the Islamic art, which rather uncomfortably sits in the spirituality chapter. This work is highly personalized since groundbreaking research is not presented nor proffers original material to the Islamic studies experts (Chopra, 56). It is however a masterful and elegant presentation in an accessible manner of a religious tradition, a heart plea for the understanding of the non-Muslims. The text is clearly based on knowledge not only on Islam but also from other faiths. This enables the author to offer the non-Muslim new perspectives. This also provides an illustration on the naivety of making assumptions that are monolithic about millions of people. Ernst is able to bring Islam successfully into the world religion fold while maintaining the diversity and specificity of Muslim Praxis. This book is a contribution which is worthy to the contemporary commentaries field on the original introduction to Islam and what it is for the non-Muslims. ‘How to Read the Qur’an’ on the other hand by Mona Siddiqui looks at how the Qur’an has been understood in the intellectual Islam tradition and in popular worship by the Muslim. Siddiqui explores various themes including law, prophecy, salvation, and sin. She also provides an explanation on what teachings the Qur’an offers on God’s last revelation in the human history concerning the particular place if Islam. Her major concern is that into the ethical and social relations, between the non-Muslims and the Muslims, For the Muslims to breathe new life, they must look to the Qur’an (Siddiqui, 207). The authors discuss various themes including a place for the Islam, the western perception, the spirituality and beliefs among many other themes, which are evident in their books. A place for the Islam Ernst in ‘Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World’, focuses on two major issues which he repeatedly returns. The first issue is that it is important to recognize the part that colonialism has played to shape the contemporary developments in Muslim world ("Following Muhammad: rethinking Islam in the contemporary world.” 86). the second issue is the erroneous tendency of the western to assume that the ‘true’ Islam representatives are the fundamentalists. Ernst draws comparisons with Judaism, Christians and other faiths to highlight the unacceptability of many assumptions that are generic about Muslims and Islam. He instead stresses the non-Muslim importance and recognizes the faith diversity and practice in space and time, which characterizes Islam, as it does to all the other religions of the world. He does this to position the Islam religion among the other religions of the world. Siddiqui on the other hand looks at how the Qur’an addresses gender and jihad and the ritual roles in Islam. She expresses that the Qur’an should no longer be viewed as the problem to the posed challenges by pluralism today but instead, it should be viewed as the solution (Gohari, 134). She is able to portray Islam as a religion, which can produce solutions to the challenges faced in the society. Western perception Both the authors handle the issues, which create a perception about the Islam in the society. Ernst puts a lot of emphasis on ‘rethinking’ Islam. In the first Chapter, Ernst explores the western perception and prejudices towards the Islam in periods of medieval and modern. He outlines some ways that can help to avoid the prejudices in our time. He also looks at the meaning of the term religion and how the changing western definitions have changed the perceptions of the westerns on other faiths. The survey of the way Muslims have defined Islam through assessing the vocabulary used today by the Muslims and the historical vocabulary has counterbalanced this. Although Siddiqui does not directly talk about western perceptions, she looks at the critical areas, which create these perceptions. The ideas in the 7th century book, the Qur’an have been challenged by modernity in the recent years. Siddiqui has a belief that the holy book should remain a flexible text, which is open, and containing overlap meanings that are multiple. The humane Islam openness as a sub-theme dominates the entire book. The chapters two to six of Siddiqui’s book explore on areas like the earliest suras, God’s final revelation being the Qur’an and the last Prophet being Muhammad, the differences between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, the five main rituals of the Islam including Salat, Shahada, Shari’a law, Hajj and Zakat (Armstrong, 34). In the seventh chapter, the recent hot topics of niqab and hijab and the women’s coverings are discussed. Spirituality and beliefs In his third chapter, Ernst looks at the Islam’s sources, that is, the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad He presents, through his life story, the prophet as an exemplar rather than giving his standard biography. He draws comparison with narratives of Jesus and Buddha as figures of history as well as faith to justify his approach. He also gives the comparison and contrast of the Qur’an and other scriptures and points its unique status of being the Word of God, comparable to Jesus who the Christian tradition describes as the Word of God rather than the Bible (Schoeler and Shawkat, 82). He also grants the Islam their unique character, and he places it in the context of the religions of the world. Ernst has a view that, as a matter of fact, both Islamic and Western civilizations are built on the same foundations, the Greek philosophical knowledge, and the Semitic prophetic revelation. He also looks at the colonialism impact on Islamic ethics and the response of Muslims towards the modern nation states founding, gender equality, the rise of science and such other issues. He looks at the spirituality of Islam in the form of Shi’i and Sufism spirituality, and he discusses the art of Islam and the value of that designation in the fifth chapter of his book. In the last chapter, he gives his view of the twenty first century re-imagination of Islam in creation of dialog between the non-Muslims and the Muslims and to disempower those who wish to promote clash of civilizations from both sides (Ernst, 23). Siddiqui on the other hand elucidates the faith’s history, beliefs, and people using the Islam’s holiest book. She gives an overview of the Islam, and the social context, which the sacred book was revealed, to Prophet Muhammad. In honor of this, Muslims celebrate Ramadhan (Armstrong, 89). It is said by the tradition that the followers of the prophet recorded the revelations on several media. Twenty years after the death of the prophet, there was the formation of the Qur’an as the unchangeable Uthmanic Mushaf. The Qur’an Both authors explore the holy book in their own way. Ernst investigates Islam ethics development on the Qur’an provided foundations and Hadith literature, and through interaction with several other traditions like Greek philosophy, their elaboration in the fourth chapter of his book. Siddiqui on ‘How to Read the Qur’an’ unlike Ernst introduces Islam’s holiest book and Islam itself. She handles the themes including Muhammad, Sunni, Hadith, Women’s rights among others. She uses ten chapters, which all revolve around the themes, which are quoted in the Qur’an passages. In chapter one, ‘The Book as a Guidance’, starts with suras of the Qur’an which is the first and most cited, that is, al Baqarah 2:1-7. It states, "This is the book. In it is guidance without doubt for those who fear God." (Gohari, 117). However, martyrdom or fundamentalism is not touched to any great degree and is referred to as misguided. The author treats Islam as being a religion of peace, human stewardship of the earth and understanding. This book is very clear and straight forward though it does not contain everything concerning Qur’an but rather it is a guide of how to go about in the beginning and where to start. I think that is a noble intention. This text looks too simplistic for someone who would intend to get deep into the Qur’an. It might also be too complicated for a first timer who would like to survey the text. In the book by Siddiqui, a few things interested me and caught my attention. One of them which illustrating the overarching theme, which talks about the Qur’an as a product of its time and a religious text as quoted: “The Qur’an was revealed in a historical context that the awareness to change contexts is important to understanding the eternal value and scriptural texts relevance. If the Qur’an is claimed to be a straight way where it is doubtable, the book must be in a position to provide guidance of application and application value. Its verses are unchanging but open to various interpretations and receptive in exploring the society as it changes.” (Siddiqui, 27). It reoccurred again at the end when the author comes full circle to talk about Muhammad and the Qur’an in today’s global context. As the final prophet of God, the teaching of Muhammad remained to be the source of religious and moral behavior for Muslims. However, this teaching must be seen within the overriding theme of the Qur’an –eternity and mercy of God. Though he was directed and inspected by God, he remains a respond to the voices of the historical exigencies of his time. If the purpose of the prophetic voice is to inspire moral and ethical societal framework, that voice need not to be trapped in the 7th-century Arabia, but be allowed to speak through the changing circumstance of humanity; the message of divine mercy must always be remembered.” (Siddiqui, 123). On my general opinion on the thesis of the authors, I tend to agree with their thesis about the relating of the Islam religion to the contemporary world. They talk about spirituality of Islam and relate the various activities and beliefs of the Islam and how they can be applied in the modern world and I agree with arguments of the authors. The arguments to me are valid keeping in mind the changing world. Besides this, all the authors struggle to place Islam in the religions of the world trying to link the history of Islam to the modern world. They discuss the pertinent issues affecting the Islam religion like the jihad, and giving their views on the same. They both talk about the theme of spirituality where they address the spiritual view of the Islam. Both books can be used as guides to understand the Islam religion. Both authors talk about the great Prophet Muhammad and his great contribution to the Islam and his effect on the belief (Chopra, 45). They both cover and explain some things on the Islamic laws. In conclusion, both the authors were skilled in their work and were clear on each topic they handled. They both handled the pertinent issues in the Islam religion giving their views on each. These authors were keen to explain in depth about the Islam religion, the introduction to Islam and the Qur’an as their holy text. They both supported their views and gave their opinion on the merging of the original historical Islam belief with the modern world. They discussed the contemporary issues in the society and how to address. They were keen to put comparison of their beliefs, the Islam religion with other religions and faith. They both were able to achieve their aims in reaching out to the society of both the Muslims and the non-Muslims (Guillaume, 64) REFERENCE 1. Armstrong, Karen. Islam: a short history. Modern Library Ed. New York: Modern Library, 2000. Print. 2. Chopra, Deepak. Muhammad: a story of the last prophet. New York: HarperOne, 2010. Print. 3. Ernst, Carl W. Following Muhammad: rethinking Islam in the contemporary world. Chapel Hill (N.C.): University of North Carolina press, 2003. Print. 4. "Following Muhammad: rethinking Islam in the contemporary world." Choice Reviews Online 41.08 (2004): 41-4591-41-4591. Print. 5. Gohari, M. J., and England Oxford. The Quran. Oxford: Quran Institute, 2007. Print. 6. Guillaume, Alfred. Islam. 2nd ed. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1956. Print. 7. Molloy, M. "Book Review: Design by the book." British Journalism Review 16.2 (2005): 89-90. Print. 8. Schoeler, Gregor, and Shawkat M. Toorawa. The genesis of literature in Islam: from the aural to the read. Rev. ed. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009. Print. 9. Siddiqui, Mona. How to read the Qurʼan. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2007. Print. 10. The Holy Bible: containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books: New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Print. Read More