Varieties of Muslim Experience
Subtitle: Encounters with Arab Political and Cultural Life
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; University of Chicago Press
Published: March 30, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9780226726168
Subjects: Islamic studies; Social Science; Archaeology / Anthropology; Sociology; Anthropology - Cultural; Islam - General; World - General; Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural; 21st century; Arab countries; Islam; Politics and government; Social life and customs
Description: "In Varieties of Muslim Experience, anthropologist Lawrence Rosen explores aspects of Arab Muslim life that are, at first glance, perplexing to Westerners. He ranges over such diverse topics as why Arabs eschew portraiture, why a Muslim scientist might be attracted to fundamentalism, and why the Prophet must be protected from blasphemous cartoons. What connects these disparate features of Arab social, political, and cultural life? Rosen argues that the common thread is the importance Arabs place on the negotiation of interpersonal relationships - a link that helps to explain actions as seemingly unfathomable as suicide bombing and as elusive as Quranic interpretation. Rosen's book is crucial for anyone interested in better understanding the Arab world."--Jacket.