No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam

337 Pages·2010·1.28 MB·English

No god but God

No god but God
The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam
REZA ASLAN
a

Random House
New York
For my mother, Soheyla,
and my father, Hassan
Copyright © 2005 by Reza Aslan
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House,
an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of
Random House, Inc., New York.
RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered
trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aslan, Reza.
No god but God : the origins, evolution, and future of Islam / Reza Aslan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN 1-58836-445-3
1. Islam. 2. Islam—Essence, genius, nature. 3. Islam—History. I. Title.
BP161.3.A79 2005
297—dc22 2004054053
Random House website address: www.atrandom.com
Book design by Meryl Sussman Levavi
v1.0
Acknowledgments
��
Thank you, Mom and Dad, for never doubting me; Catherine Bell,
for getting me started; Frank Conroy, for giving me a shot; Elyse
Cheney, for finding me; Daniel Menaker, for trusting me; Amanda For-
tini, for fixing me; my teachers, for challenging me; and Ian Werrett,
for absolutely everything else.

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Contents
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Prologue: The Clash of Monotheisms xi
Author’s Note xxi
Chronology of Key Events xxiii
1. The Sanctuary in the Desert
PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA 3
2. The Keeper of the Keys
MUHAMMAD IN MECCA 23
3. The City of the Prophet
THE FIRST MUSLIMS 50
4. Fight in the Way of God
THE MEANING OF JIHAD 75
5. The Rightly Guided Ones
THE SUC CESSORS TO MUHAMMAD 107
6. This Religion Is a Science
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAMIC THEOLOGY AND LAW 140
7. In the Footsteps of Martyrs
FROM SHI‘ISM TO KHOMEINISM 171