Introduction to Islam

An Introduction to Islam, Fourth Edition, provides students with a thorough, unified and topical introduction to the global religious community of Islam. In addition, the author’s extensive field work, experience, and scholarship combined with his engaging writing style and passion for the subject also sets his text apart. An Introduction to Islam places Islam within a cultural, political, social, and religious context, and examines its connections with Judeo-Christian morals. Its integration of the doctrinal and devotional elements of Islam enables readers to see how Muslims think and live, engendering understanding and breaking down stereotypes. This text also reviews pre-Islamic history, so readers can see how Islam developed historically.

Author Biography

Frederick Denny, Professor Emeritus (Ph.D., University of Chicago), is the editor of the University of South Carolina Press scholarly book series “Studies in Comparative Religion”, which currently has ca. 35 titles published. He is the author of An Introduction to Islam (4th edition Prentice-Hall, 2010) and numerous articles on Islamic and Religious Studies topics. He co-authored (with John Corrigan, Carlos Eire, and Martin Jaffee) Jews, Christians, Muslims: A Comparative Introduction to Monotheistic Religions (Prentice-Hall: 1998). His long-term areas of interest have been Qur’anic recitation, comparative ritual, and Muslims and their communities in Egypt, Pakistan, Southeast Asia and North America. His recent and current research and writing have been principally on Islam and human rights, religion and ecology, religion-focused cartography, and Unitarian Universalist history and thought.