Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices

by: Andrew Rippin

Published by: Routledge

Reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali

Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices is a condensed version of a two-volume work that was published in the early 1990s. Like its predecessors, this book provides readers with a synthesis of the development of Islam from the 7th century to the early 21st century and offers insight into future activity that would influence Islam's interpretation. Rippin strives to provide a spectrum of Muslims' perceptions of their religion through scholarly activity--by Muslims and non-Muslims--dedicated to it.

The seventeen chapters are organized into six parts. Topics discussed include formative elements of Islam and an Islamic identity, classical Islam and alternative versions of classical Islam, reform movements within Islam in modern times, and possible trajectories in the foreseeable future. The work is well referenced and provides an extensive bibliography for further reading.

In the introduction Rippin describes his attitude as: "Avoiding scholarly analysis in order not to appear 'anti-Islamic' or to make the subject 'easy' is neither academically responsible nor respectful of Islam itself which, it seems to me, simply deserves the full rigor of analysis that humanistic and social scientific study can provide: in doing that we are in fact saying that Islam is a subject worthy of study, something which is essentially denied when a less rigorous approach is undertaken [2]." This sentiment is echoed throughout the book.

While essentially a work on Islamic history, Rippin chooses to deal with issues rather then present a historically styled narrative. Its usefulness is enhanced by its emphasis on the overarching issues that make specific facts important. It contains critical discussions of the nature of the sources and the received accounts. When approaching the work from the perspective of issues, the chapters discussing per-modern times mirror those discussing contemporary times. Issues discussed in Chapter 2, "The Quran [sic]" for example are re-visited in Chapter 14 "The Quran [sic] and modernity." Other extensions are more subtle such as Chapter 7 "Ritual practice" and Chapter 15 "Issues of identity." This book synthesizes a complex and vast phenomenon like Islam with rigorous analysis and projections into the future. Rippin's approach is useful for introducing Islam with its complexities without overwhelming the non-specialist reader.

NOTE: Andrew Rippin, F.R.S.C. is Professor of History and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He is a specialist in Islamic Studies with an interest in the Qur'an and the history of its interpretation.

Armchair Interview says: A rich and suggestive work on Islam.

Author's Web site: http://web.uvic.ca/~arippin