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Islam

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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• PRINT

We feature a handpicked selection of travel guides, maps, literature, books on art, nature and culture, all designed to help you get more out of your travels to Islam. Order an essential package, and we'll ship any additional items for free.

Item EXISL01. Buy these 5 items as a set for $143 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
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Islam, A Short History

by Karen Armstrong

• HISTORY
• 2002
• PAPER
• 230 PAGES

Armstrong brings authority and experience to this vivid, clear-headed survey of the history and impact of Islam from the birth of Muhammad to present-day challenges. The best short introduction to the subject. (ISL15, $15.95)

A Young Muslim's Guide to the Modern World

by Seyyed Hossein Nasr

• RELIGION
• 1994
• PAPER
• 270 PAGES

One of the great Islamic scholars explains the message of Islam and the challenges of the modern world in this clear, concise guide. (ISL14, $24.95)

Islam, The Straight Path

by John L. Esposito

• RELIGION
• 2010
• PAPER
• 304 PAGES

A well-written survey of the faith, practice and beliefs of Islam. It's a balanced tone intended for an undergraduate audience, yet it also functions as an excellent overview for the general reader. (MDE22, $54.95)

The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World

by Francis Robinson

• RELIGION
• 1999
• PAPER
• 328 PAGES

A concise history of Islam: its people and culture. (ISL09, $49.00)

The Essential Koran, The Heart of Islam

by Thoma Cleary

• RELIGION
• 1994
• PAPER
• 224 PAGES

Cleary annotates key passages of the Koran in this excellent introduction for non-Muslims. (REL57, $14.99)

 

Also Recommended

A History of God

by Karen Armstrong

• RELIGION
• 1994
• PAPER
• 460 PAGES

A lucid and compelling history of God as conceived by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. (ISR24, $17.00)

Al-Qur'an: A Contemporary Translation

by Ali Jamale Ahmed

• RELIGION
• 2001
• PAPER
• 571 PAGES

A handsome bilingual edition of the Holy Book of Islam as elegantly translated by the Pakistani novelist, critic and diplomat Ahmed Ali. (ISL02, $22.95)

Among the Believers, An Islamic Journey

by V.S. Naipaul

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1982
• PAPER
• 430 PAGES

A tenchant account set against the backdrop of Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Iran. (ISL17, $16.00)

Blaming Islam

by John R Bowen

• HISTORY
• 2012
• HARD COVER
• 112 PAGES

One in a series of thought-provoking books on important contemporary issues, this short book uncovers the myths behind the fears of Islam. (ISL103, $14.95)

Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World

by Edward W. Said

• HISTORY
• 1997
• PAPER
• 186 PAGES

An insightful, perceptive account of how the media has created an Islamic identity, by the influential scholar and thinker Edward Said. (ISL08, $16.00)

Cultural Schizophrenia, Islamic Societies Confronting the West

by Daryush Shayegan

• RELIGION
• 1997
• PAPER
• 200 PAGES

An illuminating account of the relationship between Islamic societies and the West (ISL38, $19.95)

Engaging the Muslim World

by Juan Cole

• HISTORY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 282 PAGES

In this well-reasoned primer, history professor and popular blogger Cole offers a clear analysis of American concerns about Islam and Muslim anxiety about the West. From Tehran to Beirut, Cole is an especially good guide to the many forms of Islam and how they play out politically. (MDE200, $17.00)

Europe and the Islamic World, A History

by Gilles Veinstein | Henry Laurens | John Toland

• HISTORY
• 2012
• HARD COVER
• 528 PAGES

Three eminent French historians trace the complex interplay, alliances, trade and conquests since the seventh century, when the armies of Constantinople and Medina fought for control of Syria and Palestine, (ISL105, $39.50)

Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East

by Donna Lee Bowen | Evelyn A. Early

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2001
• PAPER
• 411 PAGES

A diverse anthology of short articles and essays covering the experiences of ordinary life across the Miiddle East. (MDE34, $24.00)

Following Muhammad, Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World

by Carl W. Ernst

• HISTORY
• 2004
• PAPER
• 272 PAGES

An eloquent introduction to Islam for the general reader. Ernst illustrates the diversity of the faith, providing insight into its current debates about gender, politics and science. (ISL53, $23.00)

God's Crucible, Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215

by David Levering Lewis

• HISTORY
• 2008
• PAPER
• 384 PAGES

Lewis effortlessly interweaves the rise of Islamic empires into the fabric of early Europe in this sweeping, strikingly well written tale. (EUR283, $17.95)

In the Footsteps of the Prophet, Lessons from the Life of Muhammad

by Tariq Ramadan

• RELIGION
• 2007
• HARD COVER

An admirably clear, brief account of the life of Muhammed by a respected scholar of Islam. (ISL68, $74.00)

In the Shadow of the Prophet, The Struggle for the Soul of Islam

by Milton Viorst

• HISTORY
• 2001
• PAPER
• 306 PAGES

A wideranging analysis based on interviews with key figures in Iran and the Arab world. (ISL18, $17.50)

Islam and the West

by Bernard Lewis

• RELIGION
• 1994
• PAPER
• 217 PAGES

In this illuminating collection of essays, one of the great authorities on the Middle East explores the common ground shared by Islam and the West. (ARB12, $19.99)

Islam, A Guide for Jews and Christians

by F. E. Peters

• HISTORY
• 2003
• PAPER
• 285 PAGES

An accessible introduction to Islam highlighting the similarities to and differences from Judaism and Christianity. (REL25, $30.95)

Islam, A Very Short Introduction

by Malise Ruthven

• RELIGION
• 2006
• PAPER
• 544 PAGES

Ruthven's excellent little book covers Islam and its historical, geographical, political, spiritual and social setting with clarity. (ISL104, $11.95)

Islam: A Concise Introduction

by Neal Robinson

• RELIGION
• 1999
• PAPER
• 216 PAGES

A brief introduction to Islam. (ISL32, $19.95)

Islamic Art and Culture, A Visual History

by Nasser D. Khalili

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2006
• HARD COVER
• 192 PAGES

An oversized volume examining 1,200 years of cultural and art history from all corners of the Islamic world. (ISL64, $65.00)

Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam

by Gilles Kepel | Anthony Roberts

• RELIGION
• 2003
• PAPER
• 464 PAGES

A scholarly examination of the rise of militant Islamic extremism in the Middle East (ISL63, $24.00)

Muhammad, A Prophet for Our Time

by Karen Armstrong

• RELIGION
• 2007
• PAPER
• 240 PAGES

In this extended essay, a volume in the Eminent Lives series, Armstrong looks at the significance of Mohammed's life and teachings. (ISL60, $14.99)

Muslim Politics

by Dale Eickelman | James Piscatori

• RELIGION
• 2004
• PAPER
• 240 PAGES

A succinct overview of politics, tradition, authority, religion and ethnicity in the contemporary Muslim world. (ISL36, $31.95)

Nine Parts of Desire, The Hidden World of Islamic Women

by Geraldine Brooks

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1996
• PAPER
• 256 PAGES

A highly readable overview of the role of women in Islamic society, drawn from the author's many interviews with women throughout the Arab World. (ARB06, $15.00)

No god but God

by Reza Aslan

• RELIGION
• 2011
• PAPER
• 310 PAGES

A scholar of religion and commentator, Aslan looks back to Muhammad in Mecca and the original vision of Islam in this engaging report on the meaning and message of Islam in the 21st century, fully revised for this second edition. (ISL50, $17.00)

Price of Honor, Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World

by Jan Goodwin

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2003
• PAPER
• 363 PAGES

A heart-breaking account based on interviews with women from all walks of life in 10 countries in the Middle East, Arabia and Central Asia. (ISL19, $17.00)

Responses to 101 Questions on Islam

by John Renard

• RELIGION
• 1998
• PAPER
• 192 PAGES

A brief overview of beliefs and customs of Islam. (ISL31, $12.95)

Shattering the Myth, Islam Beyond Violence

by Bruce Lawrence

• RELIGION
• 1998
• PAPER
• 232 PAGES

A provocative look at multi-faceted experiences of Islam. (ISL35, $32.95)

The Crisis of Islam, Holy War and Unholy Terror

by Bernard Lewis

• HISTORY
• 2004
• PAPER
• 224 PAGES

Lewis examines the historical roots of the resentments of today's Islamic world. (MDE158, $15.00)

The Face Behind the Veil, The Extraordinary Lives of Muslim Women in America

by Donna Gehrke-White

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2006
• HARD COVER
• 299 PAGES

Journalist Gehrke-White reveals the faces and voices of Muslim women who live in America, yet still shroud themselves in the veil their religion requires. What surfaces are not the stories of women determined by their faith, but women actively involved in their culture and the formation of a trans-continental identity. (ISL62, $22.95)

The Future of Islam

by John Esposito

• RELIGION
• 2010
• HARD COVER
• 256 PAGES

One of America's leading experts on Islam, Esposito provides a lucid analysis of the Muslim world today. (ISL90, $24.95)

The Great Arab Conquests, How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live in

by Hugh Kennedy

• HISTORY
• 2008
• PAPER
• 464 PAGES

A scholarly history of the transformation of the world's religious and political landscape in the hundred years after the death of the Prophet. (MDE121, $17.00)

The Heart of Islam, Enduring Values for Humanity

by Seyyed Hossein Nasr

• RELIGION
• 2004
• PAPER
• 338 PAGES

A leading expert on Islam seeks to distinguish the central values of the religion from the actions of those responsible for contemporary violence, tracing the roots of each in Islamic scripture while identifying parallels between Islam and other major traditions. (ISL94, $13.99)

The Heirs of Mohammad, Islam's First Century and the Origins of the Sunni-shia Split

by Barnaby Rogerson

• RELIGION
• 2008
• PAPER
• 432 PAGES

Rogerson transports the reader back to the 7th-century in this gripping tale of the intrigue, politics and personalities surrounding the division of Islam into Shia and Sunni factions. (ISL65, $27.95)

The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism

by Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina

• HISTORY
• 2007
• PAPER
• 175 PAGES

An insightful examination of the Koran with an emphasis on pluralism, tolerance, ethics and the inherently democratic aspects of Islam. (ISL77, $25.00)

The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?

by John L. Esposito

• RELIGION
• 1999
• PAPER
• 328 PAGES

An insightful survey of Islam, its history and contemporary politics. (ISL03, $19.99)

The Koran

by N. J. Dawood

• RELIGION
• 2004
• PAPER
• 464 PAGES

The clear, fluent, authoritative English rendering of this holiest of Muslim texts preserves the characteristic flavor and rhythm of the original, following the sequence of the Koranic suras (ISL87, $13.00)

The Koran, A Very Short Introduction

by M. A. Cook

• HISTORY
• 2000
• PAPER

One in series of pocket books, this lucid introduction by a Princeton professor illuminates the significance and diversity of interpretations of the Koran. (ISL69, $11.95)

The Nature of Prejudice

by Gordon W. Allport

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1979
• PAPER

A pioneering social psychologist, Allport tackles the role of stereotyping, victimization, ethnic division, upbringing and group behavior with scholarship, anecdote and sparkling prose in the 25th anniversary edition of his classic. (GEN222, $25.00)

The Qur'an, A Biography

by Bruce Lawrence

• RELIGION
• 2008
• PAPER
• 231 PAGES

A distinguished historian of religion shows how the Qur'an embodies Islam, describing the origins of the faith in 7th-century Arabia and its current practice (ISL92, $13.00)

The Trouble with Islam Today, A Muslim's Call For Reform In Her Faith

by Irshad Manji

• RELIGION
• 2005
• PAPER
• 234 PAGES

In this succinct analysis of current religious ideas, Manji offers a practical vision of how Islam can empower women, promote respect for religious minorities and encourage independent thought. (ISL95, $14.99)

Understanding Islam: An Introduction to the Muslim World

by Thomas W. Lippman

• RELIGION
• 1995
• PAPER
• 198 PAGES

A concise introduction to the Muslim world and Islamic faith. (ISL04, $15.00)

Unholy War, Terror in the Name of Islam

by John Esposito

• RELIGION
• 2002
• PAPER

A chronicle of the rise of extremist groups and anti-American feeling in Muslim society. (ISL22, $74.00)

Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think

by John Esposito | Dalia Mogahed

• HISTORY
• 2008
• HARD COVER
• 204 PAGES

Esposito and Mogahed draw on in-depth Gallup research to offer insight into what the Muslim world actually believes about key global issues. (ISL80, $22.95)

Windows of the Soul, My Journeys in the Muslim World

by Alexandra Avakian

• RELIGION
• 2008
• HARD COVER
• 208 PAGES

Prestigious photojournalist Avakian recounts in her own unforgettable images and words the experience of documenting the Muslim world. She covers the most notorious conflicts of our time, from violence in Gaza and Somalia, to the daily life of Hezbollah, to the famine in Sudan. (ISL75, $45.00)

Women and Gender in Islam, Historical Roots of a Modern Debate

by Leila Ahmed

• RELIGION
• 1993
• PAPER
• 304 PAGES

A history and analysis of the role of women in Islamic societies. (ISL37, $23.00)

Formation of Islamic Art

by Oleg Grabar

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 1987
• PAPER
• 232 PAGES

A classic on the art and architecture of the Islamic World by a prominent authority. (ARB28, $34.00)

Islamic Art and Architecture

by Robert Hillenbrand

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 1999
• PAPER
• 288 PAGES

Covering one thousand years and the geographic scope of Islam, this book is a wide-ranging guide to the arts of Islam, including architecture, calligraphy, ceramics and textiles. (CAS17, $21.95)

Islamic Arts

by Jonathan Bloom | Sheila Blair

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 1997
• PAPER
• 445 PAGES

With color photographs, maps and site plans, throughout this survey of 1,000 years of Islamic architecture, design and decoration is a wonderfully illuminating, stimulating introduction tot he subject for anyone with an interest in art. (ISL01, $29.95)

Mosque

by David Macaulay

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2003
• HARD COVER
• 96 PAGES
• FAMILY

In the spirit of his classic books on engineering and architecture, Macaulay winningly presents the art, architecture, design and construction of a 16th-century Turkish mosque. With a fictional tale and well-integrated (and superbly accurate) color illustrations. (TKY89, $19.00)

Beyond Belief, Islamic Excursions Among the Converted People

by V.S. Naipaul

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1999
• PAPER
• 432 PAGES

Revisiting his "Among the Believers", Naipaul returns to the Islamic nations of Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia and Iran. (ASA14, $17.00)

Muhammad, A Biography of the Prophet

by Karen Armstrong

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 1993
• PAPER
• 290 PAGES

The life of the Prophet in the context of seventh-century Arabia. (ARB09, $15.00)

Scheherazade Goes West: Different Cultures, Different Harems

by Fatima Mernissi

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2002
• PAPER
• 240 PAGES

With humor and depth, Mernissi (Dreams of Trespass) weaves biography, culture and a witty meditation on the myth and meanings of harems, sex and beauty in the Western and Muslim worlds. An independent-thinking modern Moroccan, Mernissi is a sociology professor in Rabat. (MRC87, $16.95)

The Bin Ladens, An Arabian Family in the American Century

by Steve Coll

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2008
• PAPER
• 671 PAGES

A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the best-selling Ghost Wars traces the Bin Laden family's rise to power and privilege, describes the diverse lifestyles of the generation to which Osama bin Laden belongs, and discusses their attempts to recover from the effects of September 11. (ARB104, $18.00)

The Road to Mecca

by Muhammad Asad

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2001
• PAPER
• 372 PAGES

The extraordinary account of how Leopold Weiss, born in Lvov in 1900, became a Muslim. A journalist, Asad writes of his travels, transformation and attachment to Islam and the Arab world. (ISL23, $17.95)

Children of the Alley

by Naguib Mahfouz

• LITERATURE
• 1996
• PAPER
• 464 PAGES

Providing great insight into a modern Muslim's view of the world, Mahfouz turns the history of an alley in Cairo into a rich parable, retelling the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. (EGY248, $16.00)

Leo Africanus

by Amin Maalouf

• LITERATURE
• 1992
• PAPER
• 360 PAGES

A fictional memoir of the first 40 years in the life of Leo Africanus, a Muslim whose travels led him throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. (MED55, $16.95)

Shahnameh, The Persian Book of Kings

by Abolqasem Ferdowsi | Azar Nafisi | Dick Davis

• LITERATURE
• 2007
• PAPER
• 877 PAGES

A sparkling new translation, in verse and prose, of the beloved 10th-century Persian epic. (MDE161, $27.00)

The Adventures of Amir Hamza

by Ghalib Lakhnavi | Musharraf Ali Farooqi

• LITERATURE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 448 PAGES

A deft new translation of the rip-roaring tales of the storied life and fabulous exploits of the Prophet Mohammed's uncle Hamza and his heroic encounters with emperors, merchants, viziers, courtesans, warriors and magical beings. (IDA391, $18.00)

The Anchor Book of Modern Arabic Fiction

by Denys Johnson-Davies

• ANTHOLOGY
• 2006
• PAPER
• 512 PAGES

A sweeping and remarkably diverse collection of the work of 79 writers representing 14 countries. (ARB86, $17.00)

The Conference of Birds

by Farid-Ud-Din Attar

• LITERATURE
• 1984
• PAPER
• 234 PAGES

A classic example of mystic Sufi verse, stunningly translated into English. Attar's masterpiece has had tremendous influence on the West, and was adapted into a fine English poem by Chaucer in the late 14th century. (IRN12, $15.00)

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