This wide-ranging account of the history and theology of one ofthe world's most dynamic religions tells the story of Islamicbeliefs and practices as they developed from the earliest timesdown to the present day. For this revised and updated SecondEdition, David Waines has added a long section tackling head-on theissues arising from Islam's place in the changing world order atthe turn of the new millennium. The wars in Bosnia, Afghanistan andIsrael, and the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, haveraised global awareness of Islam at a superficial level - butlittle has been written which considers Islamic political andmilitary extremism in relation to mainstream Muslim history andtheology. Coming at the end of a book which has explored the ideasand traditions of Islam in depth, this new section offersthought-provoking reflections on the place of religion in thecurrent conflicts.
