FAITH AND PRACTICE OF ISLAM Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts

FAITH AND PRACTICE OF ISLAM Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts FAITH AND PRACTICE OF ISLAM Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts William C. Chittick Faith and Practice of Islam presents Islam from the inside—from the point of view of Muslims themselves. The author first explains Islamic concepts to his readers and then uses these concepts, rather than Western concepts, to discuss Islam. This book is about the enduring legacy that has sustained Islam as a great intellectual as well as spiritual tradition. The range and authenticity of this book have no parallel in the list of English language books on Islamic spirituality. The book presents Sufism in a way that can be understood by`those with little background in Islam persuasively laying out the doctrines contained in these texts in ways that it locate them firmly within the classical Islamic theological world view. Though very scholarly this is a book from the heart. Presents even the most complicated and sophisticated patterns of thought in such a way that they can be understood by everybody— always maintaining his high intellectual standards. Shows profound knowledge and a fine sense of the beautiful subtleties of the Arabic and Persian languages, together with his intellectual brilliance and his clear, lively and elegant style make him the ideal exponent of the essentials of Islam in general and of Sufism in particular. Could be very useful as a text book for classes on the faith of Islam and on the meaning of Sufism.