Contents

I

The Qur’ān: The Word of God

15

1. God Speaks to Man

16

2. He Speaks Through the Prophets

26

3. He Reveals Himself

39

4. He Commands

43

5. He Rewards and Punishes

51

II

The Ḥadīth: The News of God's Messenger

57

1. Muhammad the Messenger

59

2. The Founding of the Community

69

3. Muhammad as Founder and Legislator

80

4. Muhammad as Model and Guide

84

5. The Preservation of the Prophetic Practice (Sunna)

88

III

The Law: Fiqh, Sharī‘a

92

1. ‘Ibādāt

95

2. The Regulation of Personal Status

118

3. The Ordinance of the Community

122

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4. The Bidding Unto Good (Al-amr bi al-Ma‘ruf)

125

5. The Rejecting of the Reprehensible (Al-nāhī ‘an al-munkar)

129

6. The Universality of the Law

132

IV

Ṡūfism: The Interior Religion of the Community

136

1. The Ascetics

137

2. The Ecstatics

144

3. The Antinomians

149

4. The Poets

155

5. The Dervishes

168

V

Kalām: The Statements of the Theologians

173

1. Abū Ḥanīfa

174

2. Al-Māturīdī

179

3. Al-Ash‘arī

188

4. Al-Juwaynī

193

5. Al-Ghazālī

196

6. Ibn Taymīya

205

VI

The Dissidents of the Community

211

1. The Khārijīs

213

p. 9

2. The Zaydīs

219

3. The Twelvers

224

4. The Seveners

231

References and Notes

243

Guide to Pronunciation of Terms

251

Index

253