Islamic Images and Ideas: Essays on Sacred Symbolism

These 24 studies on specific symbols, images and icons from the Muslim tradition are authored by scholars from around the world. Divided into four sections, the Divine, the Spiritual, the Physical, and the Societal, they examine theological issues, such as divine unity, creation, wrath, and justice, as well as spiritual subjects, such as the straight path, servitude, perfection, the jinn, intoxication, and the status of Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. Essays also explore the symbolism of physical elements such as water, trees, seas, ships, food, the male sexual organ, eyebrows, and camels; and the significance of more socially-centered subjects such as the center, ijtihad, governance, otherness, Ashura, and Arabic. Drawing from the Qur'an and Sunnah, the essays address these topics with tact and respect from a position that appreciates exegetical diversity while remaining within the realm of unity.