Well reading Quran all over., inside out., up and down., ... here and there ., I actually forgot important ingredient of Islam.. THE POLITICAL ISLAM ..And that is very little to do with faith in Allah/God... the so-called super power that controls everything and anything in this universe ., May be it is there or it is not there in this UNIVERSE but I am certain this allah/god of Islam or for that matter the god of any faith can not be
"He.... Heeeeee.. the dickhead.." Essentially every faith scripture defines this Allah/God as He..
So essentially I reject calling this Heallah/hegoo/ hegod as "HE" outright.. THAT WORD
"HE" SHOULD NEVER BE ATTACHED TO ANY GOD OF ANY FAITH.. that is the first step these faith heads must learn to take ...
Anyways this political Islam is closely connected to that word "Jihad" in Quran.. And as far as I can see there are only 4 verses that has that word
"Jihad".. in Quran., Question is where and when this word came in to Quran or when this word is introduced in to Islam as a political tool?? And.. and for that as usual I am reading Quran pulling my hair and I am reading the published literature. So that John L. Esposito .. Professor John Louis Esposito is a terrific guy and he published in Islam related subjects for a long time ., Almost 40 years ..but until now I never explored that word "Jihad" in Islam and Quran., Also I never read Esposito works on Islam., So let me read his works..
briefly John Louis Esposito (born May 19, 1940) is University Professor, Professor of Religion & International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He was also the Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding at Georgetown. For nearly twenty years after completing his PhD, Esposito had taught religious studies (including Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam) at the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit college in Massachusetts. At Holy Cross, Esposito held the Loyola Professor of Middle East Studies position, was the chair of the Department of Religious Studies, and the director of college's Center for International Studies.[1] At Georgetown University, Esposito holds the position of University Professor and teaches as both Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Professor of Islamic Studies.[2]
He published Islam and Politics in 1984, and Islam: The Straight Path in 1988. Both books sold well, going through many editions. In addition to more than 35 books, he is editor-in-chief of a number of Oxford reference works including The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, The Oxford History of Islam, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World (six vols.), and Oxford Islamic Studies Online.[1]
He has long list of publications on Islam and terrific CV to his name and you can see them in his
Curriculum Vitae .. my goodness what a contribution to understand Islam the faith?? Or Islam The present Islam??
1). ."Perspectives on Islamic Legal Reform: The Case of Pakistan," Journal ofInternational Law and Politics , Fall, 1980.
2). "Pakistan: Quest for Islamic Identity." In John L. Esposito, (ed.) Islam and Development: Religion and Sociopolitical Change (Syracuse, New York:Syracuse University Press, 1980), ch. 8.
3). "Modern Muslim Family Law Reform"., Scrutiny, Fall 1978.
4). "Muslim Family Law Reform in Pakistan.," Journal of Malaysian Comparative Law, December, 1977.
5). "Islam." ., In Nicholas Piediscalzi, (ed.) Teaching About Religion in Public Schools,(Sacramento: Argus Books, 1977).
6). "Muslim Family law Reform: Towards an Islamic Methodology,"., Islamic Studies,Spring, 1976.
7). "The Changing Status of Muslim Women," ., Islam in the Modern Age, February,1976
8 ) . ."Women's Rights in Islam,"., Islamic Studies, June, 1975.*
So he is publishing papers on Islam and Pakistan since 1975...
anyways let me add here some of his publications as pdf file and also read them..
well Most of his work appears to be NOT ON ORIGINS OF ISLAM & ISLAMIC HISTORY .. but on Political Islam of 20th/21st century ..
Topic: Qur'anic studies today