Islam: The Straight Path - Contents

Contents

The book consists of 6 chapters:

1. Muhammad and the Quran: Messenger and Message
2. The Muslim Community in History
3. Religious Life: Belief and Practice
4. Modern Interpretations of Islam
5. Contemporary Islam: Religion and Politics
6. Islam and Change: Issues of Authority and Interpretation

The first three chapters give a presentation of standard subjects covered in the history of Islam. The first chapter discusses the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the Muslim holy scripture, the Quran. The chapters also cover social realities of the early Muslim community, as well as Islam's cultural and political expansion during the Caliphate and Sultanate periods. Muslim fundamental tenets of belief and practices are also discussed as is the development of Islamic theology, law and Sufism.

Esposito wrote this book after he observed that most books on Islam gave less attention to the modern period than to the pre-modern Islam. Thus, Islam: The Straight Path devotes half its content (the last three chapters) to the development of Islam in modern and reformist times.

In addition to the main text of the book, a full auxiliary information is also provided by notes, a select bibliography, a glossary of largely Arabic terminology and a comprehensive index.

The book also has many brief case studies, that are aimed at exemplifying the themes and issues embodied in contemporary Muslim experience. William Swatos, from Black Hawk College, writes that these concise analyses are one of the book's most important contributions.