Islam: The Straight Path

Islam: The Straight Path

Islam: The Straight Path third edition cover
Author	John L. Esposito
Language	English
Genre	Islamic studies
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Publication date	2005

Islam: The Straight Path is an Islamic studies book that aims to give an introduction to Islam. The book, authored by John L. Esposito, was first published in 1988 by the Oxford University Press.

The book consists of 6 chapters:

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.

The first chapter is focused on the study of Muhammad and the Qur'an. The section on the prophet in the chapter is entitled 'Muhammad and the Muslim Community' and commences with an introduction to Arabia and the Arabs, and concludes with a few pages on Western assessments and criticisms of the Islamic Prophet. The section on the Qur'an covers all the major themes of the Muslim holy scriptures and examines Muslim beliefs regarding its nature.

The next chapter is mostly concerned with the history of the Muslim world, beginning with Muhammad in Medina and ending with the "Sultanate Period" of the medieval Muslim states. In course of this examination, Esposito deals with the Crusades and also with the development of law and mysticisms.