Who Is Allah?

About the Book This vivid introduction to the heart of Islam offers a unique approach to understanding Allah, the central focus of Muslim religious expression. Drawing on history, culture, theology, politics, and the media, Bruce B. Lawrence identifies key religious practices by which Allah is revered and remembered, illuminating how the very name of Allah is interwoven into the everyday experience of mil lions of Muslims.

For Muslims, as for adherents of other religions, intentions as well as practices are paramount in one's religious life. Lawrence elucidates how public utterances, together with private pursuits, reflect the emotive, sensory, and intellectual aspirations of the devout. Ranging from the practice of the tongue (speaking) to practices in cyberspace (online religious activities), Lawrence explores how Allah is invoked, defined, remembered, and also debated. While the practice of the heart demonstrates how Allah is remembered in Sufism, the branch of Islam, the practice of the mind examines how theologians and philosophers have defined Allah in numerous contexts, often with conflicting aims. The practice of the ear marks the contemporary period, in which Lawrence locates and then assesses competing calls for jihad, or religious struggle, within the cacophony of an immensely diverse umma, the worldwide Muslim community.

About the Author Prof. Chaubey is an eminent Sanskritist and an authority on Vedic language, literature and culture. He was Professor-Director of VVBIS & IS (P.U.), Hoshiarpur and has been conferred the title of Professor Emeritus by Punjab University (2008).

BRUCE B. LAWRENCE, a leading scholar of Islam, is the author or editor of many books, including The Qur'an: A Biography and Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden. He is Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Professor of the Humanities and Professor of Islamic Studies Emeritus at Duke University.

Preface Who Is Allah? is the product of a lifetime engaged by Islam and sub jects relating to Islamic thought and culture, society and politics, across centuries in myriad contexts. It is aimed at a popular audience, as well as regular readers of books in the Islamic Civilization and Muslim Net works series published by the University of North Carolina Press. The conventions of Arabic are kept to a minimum, with just the hamza and 'ayn used to reflect the distinctive accents of Arabic-or Persian or Turk ish or Urdu-names and technical terms. In many instances English translations of common words are used after their first introduction in both Arabic and English.

Introduction Allah is said to be ubiquitous, all encompassing, and inescapable. Allah is a name but more than a name. Allah is the name for one beyond limits, including the limits of naming. How can we approach this puzzle? Can we dare to examine, interpret, and perhaps explain the pervasive name that supersedes all other names? Can we accept it as the thing that eludes all efforts to appropriate, to contain, and so to restrict it?

Perhaps we must be content with traces. And so we begin by looking at a prayer, a hymn, an aphorism, and a pop song. Later we also exam ine sources on the Internet, knowing that it is the reference point for many with the same queries as ours. But first we broach Allah in prayer. One popular Muslim prayer invokes the name Allah repeatedly

Book's Contents and Sample Pages