Wednesday 10 July 2013

Five books to read on Islam

Thanks to Robert Spencer suggestions.  I have my list in the Library, but rather more than five. (I also have some in the column at left, a couple also on Spencer's list).
In my series on "Sharia: what does it say about....", I quote mainly the Classic Manual of Islamic Jurisprudence, "The Reliance of the Traveller". [Link at left]
Spencer notes two quotes from the New York Times and Barack Obama about the Al-Azhar University which has certified the "Reliance":

This is a manual of Islamic law endorsed as “conforming to the practice and faith of the orthodox Sunni community” by the most prestigious institution in Sunni Islam, Al-Azhar University in Cairo.... 
In October 2001, right after 9/11, the New York Times called al-Azhar “the revered mosque, the distinguished university, the leading voice of the Sunni Muslim establishment.” It quoted a Muslim cleric: “Al Azhar is the only institution in the world that has learned the moderate Islam and taught it in a moderate way without fanaticism, and without abiding by the teachings of a school that promotes rigidity or violence.”
In June 2009 at al-Azhar, Barack Obama said: “For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt’s advancement.”
In short, it would be hard to find a more authoritative source of jurisprudence than a book authorised by such an august academy.