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| The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity | 
 enlarge | Author: Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Publisher: HarperOne
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $5.63
You Save: $8.32 (60%)
New (40) Used (31) from $4.81
Avg. Customer Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 86573
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 1
ISBN: 0060730641
Dewey Decimal Number: 297
EAN: 9780060730642
ASIN: 0060730641
Publication Date: September 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Thank you for looking at Bookscorner1, May have shelf wear and a remainder mark.
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Product Description
As the specter of religious extremism has become a fact of life today, the temptation is great to allow the evil actions and perspectives of a minority to represent an entire tradition. In the case of Islam, there has been much recent confusion in the Western world centered on distorted portrayals of its core values. Born of ignorance, such confusion feeds the very problem at hand. In The Heart of Islam one of the great intellectual figures in Islamic history offers a timely presentation of the core spiritual and social values of Islam: peace, compassion, social justice, and respect for the other. Seizing this unique moment in history to reflect on the essence of his tradition, Seyyed Hossein Nasr seeks to "open a spiritual and intellectual space for mutual understanding." Exploring Islamic values in scripture, traditional sources, and history, he also shows their clear counterparts in the Jewish and Christian traditions, revealing the common ground of the Abrahamic faiths. Nasr challenges members of the world's civilizations to stop demonizing others while identifying themselves with pure goodness and to turn instead to a deeper understanding of those shared values that can solve the acute problems facing humanity today. "Muslims must ask themselves what went wrong within their own societies," he writes, "but the West must also pose the same question about itself . . . whether we are Muslims, Jews, Christians, or even secularists, whether we live in the Islamic world or in the West, we are in need of meaning in our lives, of ethical norms to guide our actions, of a vision that would allow us to live at peace with each other and with the rest of God's creation." Such help, he believes, lies at the heart of every religion and can lead the followers of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) as well as other religious and spiritual traditions to a new future of mutual respect and common global purpose. The Heart of Islam is a landmark presentation of enduring value that offers hope to humanity, and a compelling portrait of the beauty and appeal of the faith of 1.2 billion people.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 A Great Book On Islam December 4, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I adore the author and love the book. It's a true look at Islamic theology. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get to know Islam.
I also wanted to point out that I found some of the reviews here surprising. Since when writing with reference and knowledge became defensive???
This author is very respectable. Just look for him online and you'll know it for yourself.
A good way to know Islam January 9, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Everyone who is a little confused about the real aim of the Muslim religion has to read this wonderfull essay. Especially Christian people are called to this useful reading. Precious deepenings of the matter - according to the perspective of the Perennial Philosophy, well represented by the words of S. H. Nasr - make this book a sort of must for those people interested in studies of comparative traditions.
A Wonderful Introduction to Islam from a Traditionalist perspective June 1, 2006
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Before reading this book, it is important to understand Nasr's philosophical background. He is a Traditionalist, meaning he believes in the "transcendent unity of the world's religions" and in a worldview that rejects the heavily secularized modern Western worldview, like the Traditionalist fathers Rene Guenon and Frithjof Schuon.
With that said, this book succeeds in clearing up many Western misconceptions of Islam, even though it can seem rather dry at times. There are many books that do this, but this one is particularly good due to Nasr's background in the dominant worldviews of both the Islamic World and the West. He successfully argues that at its core Islam seeks harmony in all spheres of life, from the political to the spiritual, from the personal to the communal. All spheres should be directed towards God according to this perspective. He also points out that many modern interpretations of Islam, whether of the Puritanical Salafi variety now dominant in Saudi Arabia, to the "rule by scholars" in Iran, to secularism in Turkey, not to mention those of radicals like Osama bin Laden, are off the mark from the traditional Islamic perspective. While Islam is not traditionally compatible with secularism, it is not compatible with theocracy or fascism either.
This is a glowingly positive presentation of Islam. I am glad to see such a presentation, even if Islam seems restrictive, sexist, and a whole slew of other negative adjectives from a modern Western perspective. Our own views can seem just as restrictive and backwards from another perspective (for instance, the Western value of individual freedom at all costs, even if it means allowing people to paint the urination of a crucifix or to portray Muhammad wearing a bomb as a turban seems irrational to Nasr and likely many other Muslims in its blatant disregard for human responsibilities to God and its flagrant disrespect of the rights of religious people to preserve their sacred values). If nothing else, Nasr shows that it is reasonable to see Islam in a positive light and that despite the atrocities (which are relatively few) committed in its name it, like Christianity, like Hinduism, like Buddhism, has contributed many positive things to humanity. After all, many atrocities have been committed in the name of secular philosophies like communism, Nazism, liberalism, progressivism, and nationalism as well, but many in the West see secularism in a positive light nonetheless. So those who see religions positively are more than justified in their own right.
All of us who want Islam to be seen in a more positive light than that often presented in the West should be thankful that this book was written. There are many good books that present the positive side of Islam, but this one is particularly good because of Nasr's experience of both the Islamic World and the West and his informed opinions based on this experience. Therefore it is recommended, even if it is a little dry at times.
One of the best books on Islam in English April 29, 2006
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
For over 40 years Seyyed Hossein Nasr has written some of the best books on Islam, comparative religion, science, philosophy, and the environmental crisis. "The Heart of Islam" may be his most accessible work on Islam. It covers important topics such as jihad and women in Islam, and also explains the inner meaning of the religion. For this reason, it offers insights that most books on Islam, usually written by outsiders, simply miss. Only someone who has discovered the heart or essence of a religion or philosophy can speak with authority about the subject. After reading this book twice, I believe that Professor Nasr, as an important Muslim intellectual, truly represents the heart of Islam.
We learn that Islam is defined by the unity of the Divine Principle, which is the source and inspiration of the religion, including the Quran, Sunnah, Shariah, Sufism, Shi'ism, as well as Islamic philosophy, art, architecture, music, and poetry. We also learn about the presence of pre-Islamic prophets in Islam, such as Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, and some important keys for interfaith dialogue, not only with the Abrahamic family, but with people of all religions, and even those who do not adhere to a religion. One of the most engaging sections of the text is his discussion of the Divine Names and Attributes in Islam, such as Compassion, Love, Peace, Beauty, and Justice. He also deals with important questions that we all face in the modern world, such as the environmental crisis, human rights and responsibilities, and the role of religion in society, as well as crucial existential and philosophical questions.
Professor Nasr is also a University Professor of Islamic Studies at the George Washington University, and a graduate from M.I.T. and Harvard in Physics, Geology, and Islamic Science. We are not simply dealing with a sentimental and apologetic author, but a first rate scholar who understands both the West and the Islamic world. "The Heart of Islam" demonstrates this understanding, and may be one of the most important bridges that we have to challenge the clash of civilizations thesis that is perpetuated by extremists in the West and the Islamic world.
Not Just About Islam April 28, 2006
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
I've read all the previous reviews on Amazon on this book, and I was surprised to find what I consider to be the major message of this book overlooked by all the reviews.
First of all, let me say that I found this to be an excellent, elegant exposition of just what the title indicates - the "Heart of Islam." Professor Nasr explains better that any other writer I have ever read just what things like love and justice mean to Muslim inner life. On the one hand, he was addressing the post 9/11 world, and attempting to nurture a sense of balance about what the terrorist attacks meant, from a mainstream Muslim perspective. That believers of religions do not always live up to the ideals expressed by their faith is nothing new, and Professor Nasr certainly isn't trying to deny that.
But another major point - one suggested by the subtitle "Enduring Values for Humanity", and one that has taken on a more serious demeanor since 9/11 - was Professor Nasr's attempt to show that Islam, as a society, sees itself as threatened by secularism and globalism, which are basically western creations which western society has assumed, without any really good reason, to have a universal application, and which western governments, from the beginning of the imperialist period up to the present, have foisted on the Middle East, theoretically in its own good. As he points out, many of the major ills of Muslim societies, such as oppressive regimes, are the result of western tampering with their societies over the last two hundred years; if one doubts that this is possible, one only has to look at other areas of the globe, such as Central America, to realize that this is not only possible, but almost unavoidable, as long as the major industrialized powers insist on setting the moral tone of the world - a moral tone that is predicated on maintaining control of other areas of the world, mostly on the premise of economic necessity.
Professor Nasr is a writer in the tradition of the major esotericists of the twentieth century, most notably Rene Guenon and Frithjof Schuon among others, whose major warning for us was that the world has become more secularized, and that true belief in God has been jeopardized as a result; secularism creates a world in which God is marginalized, primarily on the basis that belief inspires tyrrany. Globalism further creates a world in which there is no real place for people to base their lives on a belief in God, because economic necessity becomes the only constant in life. In the final analysis, I believe that this was the major argument of this book; 9/11 simply provided a reason for making the argument, and as time goes on this argument seems to make more and more sense, as America sinks into its third year of trying to create a Middle East in its desired secularized, globalized image. You may not agree with this premise (although I do); the worst part of all is that most westerners don't understand the argument at all.
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