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SURAT AL-Fatiha: Foundation
of the Qur'an
A Lecture by Hamid Algar
Although no distinction may be made among the parts of the Qur'an
in terms of relative excellence, it is obvious that the opening
surah has a special significance that goes beyond its placing
at the beginning of the Book. This is indicated among other things
by the numerous designations given to it, some by the Prophet
(pbh) himself; by the fact the uniquely it was revealed twice;
and by the fact that its recitation constitutes the core of the
prayer. Many commentators have seen in it, in fact, a concise
summary of the whole Qur'an, the implications of which the have
sought to draw out in many volumes. In this lecture the more
modest attempt is made to analyze some of its principal themes
and the miraculous conciseness with which they are expounded.
QIP 816 PB 56 pp. ISBN 1-889999-00-8 $ 5.95 |
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Understanding The Four Madhhabs:
The Facts about Ijtihad and Taqlid by Abdall Hakim Murad
Why are there four schools of Islamic Law? It is necessary
for Muslims to follow them, or should we take Islam direct from
the Qur'an and the Sunna ?
This short work outlines the answer which the great scholars
of the Sharia have given to these questions. Basing itself on
the realization that it is binding on every Muslim to follow
the Qur'an and the Sunna, it explains the scholars' view that
this is best achieved by following a great Mujtahid, and that
amateur efforts to derive the Sharia from the revealed sources
will lead to distortions of the Revelation.
Divided into two sections, one giving the main argument in
straightforward terms, and the other providing detailed notes
to back up the argument, this book is necessary reading for every
Muslim who wishes to follow the Qur'an and the Sunna accurately
and completely.
ISBN # 1-889999-07-5 $ 3.00
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PRINCIPLES OF SUFISM by Al-Qushayri
tr. from the Arabic by B. R. Von Schlegell
Principles of Sufism is the first English translation from
the Risala, the famous compendium of Sufi knowledge and practice
by al-Qushayri (d. 1072).
It includes all sections of the Risala concerning the fundamental
principles of Sufism, it omits only the biographical notices
at the beginning of the work and various highly technical matters
at its end.
One of the most widely read Sufi treatises in Arabic, the
Risala defines classical Sufism through the use of quotations
from the Qur'an, the Prophetic Traditions and reference to the
exemplary behavior of the ascetics and saints. Al_Qushayri illustrates
the principles of Sufism with tales and sayings of the first
generation of Muslims and of his contemporaries in the 5/11th
century. Readers are given a rich account of what Sufism as a
way of life implied for the early Muslims.
SUMZ 520 PB 365 pp. ISBN 0-933782-20-9 $ 19.95 |
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Wahhabism: A Critical Essay by Hamid
Algar
Wahhabism, a peculiar
interpretation of Islamic doctrine and practice that first arose in
mid-eighteenth century Arabia, is sometimes regarded as simply an extreme
or uncompromising form of Sunni Islam. This is incorrect, for at the very
outset the movement was stigmatized as aberrant by the leading Sunni
scholars of the day, because it rejected many of the traditional beliefs
and practices of Sunni Islam and declared permissible warfare against all
Muslims that disputed Wahhabi teachings. Nor can Wahhabism be regarded as
a movement of "purification" or "renewal," as the source of the genuinely
revivalist movements that were underway at the time. Not until Saudi oil
money was placed at the disposal of its propagandists did Wahhabism find
an echo outside the Arabian Peninsula.
The author discusses the rise of Wahhabism at the hands of Muhammad b.'Abd
al-Wahhab, a native of Najd in the eastern part of the Arabian peninsula,
the doctrines he elaborated to serve as the basis of the Wahhabi sect, and
the alliance he concluded with the Saudi family, then rulers of the
principality of al-Dir'iya. An early result of this union was a creeping
conquest of the Arabian Peninsula, misnamed as jihad; it culminated
in the sacking of Taif and the occupation of Mecca in 1803. This first
Wahhabi occupation was short-lived but Wahhabism triumphed anew with the
foundation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1925. Among the extensions of
Wahhabism beyond Arabia must be accounted the perverse and brutal regime
of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Hamid Algar, bom
in England in 1940, received his formal training in Islamic studies at
Cambridge University, from which he received his Ph.D. in 1965. Since
1965, he has been teaching at the University of California, Berkeley.
ISBN 1-889999-13-X 96 pp.
PB $12.95
ISBN
1-889999-31-8 96 pp. HB $22.95
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The Path of God's Bondsmen by Najm Al-Din
Razi tr. from the
Arabic by Hamid Algar  Description:
As unusually comprehensive survey of the main
concerns of Sufism, The Path of God’s Bondsmen from Origin to Return is a
summation of the Sufi tradition as it had developed by the
seventh/thirteenth century. It first discussed the theoretical bases of
Sufism, showing in conclusive detail their grounding in the Qur’an and the
exemplary model of the Prophet Muhammad. It then turns to an examination
of man’s inner morphology - the soul, the heart, and the spirit - the
means of advancement on the Sufi path, and the suprasensory phenomena that
accompany spiritual progress. The work concludes with a section on the
wayfaring of different classes, valuable for the light it sheds on the
structure of classical Perso-Muslim society.
The author, Najm al-Din Razi (d. 654/1256), was
an initiate of the Kubravi order. Fleeing from the Mongol invasion of
Iran, he sought refuge in Anatolia, and it was there, is about 620/1223,
that he completed this, his masterpiece. Written in an elegant Persian,
the work enjoyed great popularity wherever the Persian language has been
cultivated - Turkey, India, and Central Asia, we well as Iran. The
existence of Turkish and Chinese translations also testifies to its broad
influence.
The translator, Hamid Algar, is Professor of
Persian and Islamic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He
has published widely on both Sufism and Shi’ism.
“Hamid Algar’s translation, as is to be expected,
reads very well and reflects the spirit of the original very faithfully. .
. We welcome this long-awaited book with gratitude; it will remain one of
the basic works on Sufism in English.”
Annemarie Schimmel, International Journal of Middle
East Studies, XV (1983), pp. 584-585.
“Whoever seeks to understand Islamic esoterism owes a
debt of gratitude to Algar. By translating this demanding, voluminous and
occasionally quite difficult work, he has made a significant expression of
the human spirit accessible to many people for the first time and
interpreted it in exemplary fashion.”
Richard Gramlich,
Die Welt des Islams, XXII (1982).
ISBN 1-889999-33-4 $ 39.95
Pages: 537
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Social Justice in Islam by Sayyid Qutb
tr. from the Arabic by John B. Hardie and Hamid Algar  Description:
“Social Justice in Islam” is perhaps the best
known work of Sayyid Qutb, a leading figure in the Muslim Brethren of
Egypt who was executed by the regime of ‘Abd al-Nasir in 1966. Despite the
years that have passed since Sayyid Qutb’s death, the imprint of his
thought on the contemporary Islamic movements of the Arab world remains
profound. The Arabic original of “Social Justice in Islam” was first
published in 1949, but this book in particular retains its relevance in
many respects: the persistence of gross socio-economic inequality in most
Muslim societies; the need for viewing Islam as a totality, imperatively
demanding comprehensive implementation; and the depiction of the West as a
neo-Crusading force.
John B. Hardie’s English translation, first
published in 1953 and reprinted several times without modifications, has
been thoroughly revised and corrected for the present edition by Hamid
Algar, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of California,
Berkeley, who has also contributed an introduction analyzing the work and
the life of its author.
Paperback ISBN # 1-889999-11-3 $ 19.95
Hardback ISBN # 1-889999-12-1 $ 29.95
Pages: 352 |
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Roots of The Islamic Revolution in Iran
Four Lectures by Hamid Algar  Description:
In the summer of 1979, at a time when the viability of the Islamic
Republic of Iran was being widely questioned in the Western media and the
historical background of the revolution that had led to its establishment
was largely unknown, Hamid Algar delivered four lectures on the Islamic
Revolution at the Muslim Institute in London. In clear and concise
fashion, he examined the historical links between Iran and Shi'a Islam;
the life an personality of Imam Khomeini, leader of the Islamic
Revolution; the career and ideas of Ali Shari'ati, "religious
intellectual;" and the course of the events that in little more than a
year led to the overthrow of one of the most deeply entrenched
dictatorships in the Muslim world. Now reissued in substantially revised
form, the text of these lectures remains a useful introduction to the
revolution, arguably the most important event in modern Muslim history.
New translations made by the author from the writings of Iman Khmomeini
and Ali Shari'ati enhance the utility of the work.
Hamid Algar has been teaching topics on Islam and Iran at the
University of California, Berkeley, since 1965.
PB 180 pp. ISBN 1-889999-26-1 $ 14.95 HB 180 pp. ISBN 1-889999-27-X |
Copyright © 1998 All Rights
Reserved.