Studies in Islamic Traditions and Literature

By Roberto Tottoli

Publisher: Routledge

Publication Date: December 18, 2024

Hardcover: 284 Pages

ISBN: 9780367531690

A collection of articles and studies discussing early Islamic tenets and beliefs based on Islamic traditions and literature. A number of studies appear for the first time in English. The topics dealt with relate to the Islamic prostration in ritual prayer, Islamic traditions which are discussed through the analysis of hadith literature and reports and narratives related to the literary genre of the qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā’ (Stories of the Prophets). The readers of this collection of essays are scholars and students of early Islam, of the development hadith literature and of the narratives on Islamic prophets; all together the studies bring to light the dynamics between the formation of early traditions and their role in the origin and developments of Islamic literature.

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About the Author

Roberto Tottoli is Professor of Islamic studies at the Università di Napoli L’Orientale, Italy. His fields of interest are early Islamic traditions and literature and the Qur’an in European history. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Oriental Languages and Literatures at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice and later earned a PhD from the University of Naples “L’Orientale. He studied from 1993 to 1994 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the tutelage of M.J. Kister.

Tottoli taught at the University of Turin from 1999 to 2002 and has been a faculty member at the University of Naples “L’Orientale since 2002. He became a full professor of Islamic studies in 2011 and took on the role of Rector in November 2020. He has held visiting positions at institutions such as Princeton, Harvard, the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, the Institute for Advanced Study in Tokyo, and the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

In 2019, he began serving as the principal investigator for the ERC-Synergy project EUQU—the European Qur’an, and he is a member of the Italian Academy of sciences.

Source: Routledge

Muslim Prayer in American Public Life
by Rose Aslan

Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication Date: August 2, 2024
Language: English
Hardcover: 272 pages
ISBN-10: 0190079223
ISBN-13: 978-0190079222

• Provides a multidisciplinary approach to understanding ritual practice among US Muslims
• Draws on a survey of 350 US Muslims about their prayer practices
• The first book that explicitly engages with the topic of Islamic ritual and prayer among US Muslims

Muslims are required by their faith to perform prayers five times a day, preceded by a cleansing ritual and followed by physical prostrations facing Mecca. In a society not always understanding or accepting of these practices, how do Muslims navigate this ritualistic obligation? In this book, Rose Aslan seeks to answer this question and explores the complexities of maintaining devout Islamic rituals in post-9/11 America.

Drawing on an original survey of 350 Muslims as well as examining literature, poetry, film, TV shows, and social media posts, Muslim Prayer in American Public Life provides an in-depth examination of the lived experiences of Muslim prayer practices in the United States today. It explores the various ways Muslims seek to navigate their ritual obligations within a predominantly secular society and the diverse challenges they confront regarding prayer in public settings such as schools, workplaces, media representations, religious debates, and protest movements. Aslan shows how Muslims employ creative adaptations to prayer in secular spaces that are not designed to accommodate religious needs. Despite facing discrimination, they assert their identity and claim belonging in the United States through embodied spiritual acts. Muslim Prayer in American Public Life shows how Muslims strive to maintain their faith within an ever-evolving American national context.

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