Reza Aslan

In No god but God, internationally acclaimed scholar Reza Aslan explains Islam—the origins and evolution of the faith—in all its beauty and complexity. This updated edition addresses the events of the past decade, analyzing how they have influenced Islam’s position in modern culture. Aslan explores what the popular demonstrations pushing for democracy in the Middle East mean for the future of Islam in the region, how the Internet and social media have affected Islam’s evolution, and how the war on terror has altered the geopolitical balance of power in the Middle East. He also provides an update on the contemporary Muslim women’s movement, a discussion of the controversy over veiling in Europe, an in-depth history of Jihadism, and a look at how Muslims living in North America and Europe are changing the face of Islam. Timely and persuasive, No god but God is an elegantly written account that explains this magnificent yet misunderstood faith.

From the internationally bestselling author of No god but God comes a fascinating, provocative, and meticulously researched biography that challenges long-held assumptions about the man we know as Jesus of Nazareth. Two thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher and miracle worker walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establish what he called the “Kingdom of God.” The revolutionary movement he launched was so threatening to the established order that he was captured, tortured, and executed as a state criminal. Within decades after his shameful death, his followers would call him God. Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history’s most influential and enigmatic characters by examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived: first-century Palestine, an age awash in apocalyptic fervor. Scores of Jewish prophets, preachers, and would-be messiahs wandered through the Holy Land, bearing messages from God. This was the age of zealotry—a fervent nationalism that made resistance to the Roman occupation a sacred duty incumbent on all Jews. And few figures better exemplified this principle than the charismatic Galilean who defied both the imperial authorities and their allies in the Jewish religious hierarchy. Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against the historical sources, Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction; a man of peace who exhorted his followers to arm themselves with swords; an exorcist and faith healer who urged his disciples to keep his identity a secret; and ultimately the seditious “King of the Jews” whose promise of liberation from Rome went unfulfilled in his brief lifetime. Aslan explores the reasons why the early Christian church preferred to promulgate an image of Jesus as a peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a politically conscious revolutionary. And he grapples with the riddle of how Jesus understood himself, the mystery that is at the heart of all subsequent claims about his divinity. Zealot yields a fresh perspective on one of the greatest stories ever told even as it affirms the radical and transformative nature of Jesus of Nazareth’s life and mission. The result is a thought-provoking, elegantly written biography with the pulse of a fast-paced novel: a singularly brilliant portrait of a man, a time, and the birth of a religion.

Depois do controverso bestseller sobre Jesus de Nazaré O Zelota, Reza Aslan regressa com uma biografia humana de Deus, num registo que combina história da religião, as suas convicções pouco consensuais e a história da evolução da sua própria fé.A imagem que, em crianças, associamos a Deus, pelo menos no seio das comunidades cristãs, é a de uma entidade semelhante em tudo ao Homem. Feuerbach diz que só um ser que compreende em si todo o humano pode satisfazer integralmente um ser humano. Foi esta dimensão de Deus que atraiu Aslan, ainda muito jovem, para o cristianismo.A ideia de «Deus humanizado» (um ser humano com poderes de super-homem, ou uma versão divina de nós próprios) terá sido o conceito mais profundamente enraizado na nossa primeira consciência de Deus - aquele que mais modelou as nossas teorias iniciais sobre a natureza, o universo e o nosso papel neles.Um livro que desafia radicalmente a maneira de pensar o divino.

A cosmic war is a religious war. It is a battle not between armies or nations, but between the forces of good and evil, a war in which God is believed to be directly engaged on behalf of one side against the other.The hijackers who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, thought they were fighting a cosmic war. According to award-winning writer and scholar of religions Reza Aslan, by infusing the United States War on Terror with the same kind of religiously polarizing rhetoric and Manichean worldview, is also fighting a cosmic war–a war that can’t be won.How to Win a Cosmic War is both an in-depth study of the ideology fueling al-Qa‘ida, the Taliban, and like-minded militants throughout the Muslim world, and an exploration of religious violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Surveying the global scene from Israel to Iraq and from New York to the Netherlands, Aslan argues that religion is a stronger force today than it has been in a century. At a time when religion and politics are increasingly sharing the same vocabulary and functioning in the same sphere, Aslan writes that we must strip the conflicts of our world–in particular, the War on Terror–of their religious connotations and address the earthly grievances that always lie behind the cosmic impulse.How do you win a cosmic war? By refusing to fight in one.

Little known in America but venerated as a martyr in Iran, Howard Baskerville was a twenty-two-year-old Christian missionary from South Dakota who traveled to Persia (modern-day Iran) in 1907 for a two-year stint teaching English and preaching the gospel. He arrived in the midst of a democratic revolution—the first of its kind in the Middle East—led by a group of brilliant young firebrands committed to transforming their country into a fully self-determining, constitutional monarchy, one with free elections and an independent parliament.The Persian students Baskerville educated in English in turn educated him about their struggle for democracy, ultimately inspiring him to leave his teaching post and join them in their fight against a tyrannical shah and his British and Russian backers. “The only difference between me and these people is the place of my birth," Baskerville declared, “and that is not a big difference.”In 1909, Baskerville was killed in battle alongside his students, but his martyrdom spurred on the revolutionaries who succeeded in removing the shah from power, signing a new constitution, and rebuilding parliament in Tehran. To this day, Baskerville’s tomb in the city of Tabriz remains a place of pilgrimage. Every year, thousands of Iranians visit his grave to honor the American who gave his life for Iran.In this rip-roaring tale of his life and death, Aslan gives us a powerful parable about the universal ideals of democracy—and to what degree Americans are willing to support those ideals in a foreign land. Woven throughout is an essential history of the nation we now know as Iran—frequently demonized and misunderstood in the West. Indeed, Baskerville’s life and death represent a “road not taken” in Iran. Baskerville’s story, like his life, is at the center of a whirlwind in which Americans must ask themselves: How seriously do we take our ideals of constitutional democracy and whose freedom do we support?

What is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Why is it happening? Is peace possible? When kids ask questions like these, are grownups prepared to answer? This book was created to provide context for this conflict, open the door to conversation, and lay a path for understanding, peace, and compassion for our shared future. Core themes in this Acceptance, Courage, Empathy, HistoryMeet A Kids Co., a new kind of media company with a collection of beautifully designed books that kickstart challenging, empowering, and important conversations for kids and their grownups.

This study examines the phenomenon of Global Jihadism through the lens of modern social movement theory. Through an in-depth analysis of its history, beliefs, and practices, the book argues that Jihadism has taken on many of the same characteristics as other social movements of the 20th century, most notably the civil rights movement, the radical environmental movement, the feminist movement, the black power movement, and the anti-globalization movement, all of which are replete with individuals who exist on the radical fringes of the political spectrum and all of which bring together a wide array of political views, ethnic backgrounds, socio- economic statuses, and ideological causes under a master frame in which grievances are identified, blame assigned, solutions suggested, and participants mobilized. By treating Global Jihadism as a social movement and noting the parallels between it and similar movements the book argues that we can more effectively confront the security challenges posed by this little understood but much- feared ideology.

Reza Aslan's ' A Human History' delves into the concept of God, tracing humanity's evolving understanding from ancient polytheism to modern interpretations. Aslan posits that our ideas about the divine mirror our human experiences, fears, and desires.

A fascinating, accessible introduction to Islam from the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller ZealotThough it is the fastest growing religion in the world, Islam remains shrouded by ignorance and fear. What is the essence of this ancient faith? Is it a religion of peace or war? How does Allah differ from the God of Jews and Christians? Can an Islamic state be founded on democratic values such as pluralism and human rights? A writer and scholar of comparative religions, Reza Aslan has earned international acclaim for the passion and clarity he has brought to these questions. In No god but God, challenging the “clash of civilizations” mentality that has distorted our view of Islam, Aslan explains this critical faith in all its complexity, beauty, and compassion.Contrary to popular perception in the West, Islam is a religion firmly rooted in the prophetic traditions of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Aslan begins with a vivid account of the social and religious milieu in which the Prophet Muhammad lilved. The revelations that Muhammad received in Mecca and Medina, which were recorded in the Quran, became the foundation for a radically more egalitarian community, the likes of which had never been seen before.Soon after his death, the Prophet’s successors set about the overwhelming task of defining and interpreting Muhammad’s message for future generations. Their efforts led to the development of a comprehensive code of conduct that was expected to regulate every aspect of the believer’s life. But this attempt only widened the chasm between orthodox Islam and its two major sects, Shiism and Sufism, both of which Aslan discusses in rich detail.Finally, No god but God examines how, in the shadow of European colonialism, Muslims developed conflicting strategies to reconcile traditional Islamic values with the social and political realities of the modern world. With the emergence of the Islamic state in the twentieth century, this contest over the future of Islam has become a passionate, sometimes violent battle between those who seek to enforce a rigid and archaic legal code and those who struggle to harmonize the teachings of the Prophet with contemporary ideals of democracy and human rights. According to Reza Aslan, we are now living in the era of “the Islamic Reformation.” No god but God is a persuasive and elegantly written account of the roots of this reformation and the future of Islamic faith.* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF containing a Study Guide and Glossary.

Reza Aslan Seti (3 Kitap)

Humanized godb "The humanization of God and the deification of humanity are two sides of the coin after all." dig hit!ba "humanized gods" is hwajejak best-selling author and religious scholar Reza Aslan has gained a reputation worldwide as "jelrot" is released in four years. In `` Jelot, Jesus explored Jesus as a "human revolutionary" and became an internationally controversial topic. In the Humanized God, he revealed the mystery of the human nature that created God in his image. I wrote a new history of God.Our brain has an instinctive desire to humanize God. Thus, “humanized gods” form the core of almost every religion. We confer not only the goodness of human nature, but also negative attributes such as greed, prejudice, and violence. All these traits have had a major impact on the worlds religions, cultures, and governmental systems. Humanized God does not just trace historically the human understanding of God, but also traces the source of impulse to humanize God and attempts to find more and more universal spirituality.There is no room for refusal, as the authors cold and eclectic logic of digging into the concepts of God and the history of religion across anthropology, religion, mythology, archeology, and science. The Humanized God, which delves into the human nature of trying to make God in his own image, approaches with provocative and in-depth insight into how the God was created and why and how it has influenced the world. do. It is a masterpiece that can be read interestingly by theists, atheists, and general readers interested in history.