Following Muhammad (book)

Following Muhammad (book)

Author	Carl Ernst
Language	English
Subject	Response to misconceptions about Islam
Publisher	Hermes; Haqiqat
English translation

Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World is a book by Carl Ernst, an American scholar of Islamic studies. It was written to introduce Islam to Western audiences and address misconceptions about it. Ernst states that the main goal of the book is to "reveal the human face of Islam."

The book has been well-received in various Islamic countries and has won multiple awards for the author in Iran, Egypt, Türkiye, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Following Muhammad is taught as a textbook for the "Introduction to Islam" course at the University of North Carolina.

The book has been translated into several languages, including German, French, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Korean.

Introduction

The book Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World is authored by Carl Ernst, an American scholar of Islamic studies, aimed at familiarizing Western audiences with Islam and responding to misconceptions about it. In the preface, the author asks: "What image comes to mind these days when the word Islam is heard?" and believes that the presentation of Islam in Western media and publications is not in a suitable state. Ernst wrote this book as a different alternative to common works on Islam, offering a sympathetic, reasoned, and analytical perspective on the Islamic religious tradition and contemporary Muslim issues. According to the author, the book attempts to distance itself from conventional Western perceptions of Islam and present a non-fundamentalist understanding of it.

Following Muhammad has been introduced as a course resource for students and is taught for the "Introduction to Islam" unit at the University of North Carolina. This work has attracted attention in various Islamic countries, including Egypt, Türkiye, Malaysia, and Indonesia, bringing awards to the author. In Iran, the Iranian Institute of Philosophy and Shiraz University jointly awarded the author a prize for writing it. It was also scheduled to be honored in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, but this was cancelled due to its treatment of Shi'a Islam and criticism of Wahhabism.

Goals of the Book

Ernst considers his main goal in writing the book to be "revealing the human face of Islam," a task possible only by removing the "veils of ignorance" that have overshadowed European and American minds for centuries. He believes this intellectual reconstruction regarding Islam requires two types of action: first, providing a complete, comprehensive, and human image of Muslims against common stereotypes; and second, reviving historical memory instead of the general ignorance that has led to the forgetting of issues such as Colonialism.

Translation

The book Following Muhammad has been translated into several languages, including German, French, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Korean.

Author

Carl William Ernst, Author of Following Muhammad (book)

Main article: Carl Ernst

Carl William Ernst (b. September 5, 1950) is an Islamic scholar and professor at various universities in the field of Islamic studies. Using Arabic, Persian, and Urdu sources, he has researched and taught about Islamic studies, Sufism, and Islamic culture, publishing numerous works. Ernst received his PhD from Harvard University in 1981. He has made numerous research trips to India, Pakistan, and Turkey, and travelled to the Persian Gulf, Türkiye, Iran, and Southeast Asia for teaching and participating in conferences. He was a faculty member of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina from 1992 to 2022. He believes that Islam is not rooted in a specific place, time, or language, but is a vast network formed throughout history in various places and languages.

Content

The book Following Muhammad consists of a preface by the author and six chapters. In the first chapter, titled "Islam in the Eyes of the West," Ernst examines the historical trajectory of Western views on Islam in three sections. In the first section, he claims that the hostile political relations between the West and Islam today have formed within a context of religious claims from both sides. The second section of this chapter, titled "Anti-Islamic Views from the Middle Ages to the Present," is dedicated to a historical review of relations between the Western world and the Islamic world. The title of the third section is "Avoiding Prejudice in Approaching Islam." The author considers the most significant instance of prejudice to be equating all Muslims and reducing all economic, geographical, political, racial, national, linguistic, and historical factors in their lives to the religious factor, and he addresses this issue.

The second chapter, titled "Approaching Islam in Terms of Religion," deals with the history of the word "religion" and attempts to resolve misunderstandings arising from the mixing of Islam with ethnic and racial issues.

Chapter Three and Approaching the Shi'a View

The third chapter is dedicated to the "Sacred Sources of Islam," namely the Qur'an and the Sunna, and emphasizes the central role of Prophet Muhammad (s) as "Rahmatun li-l-Alamin" (Mercy to the Worlds) in Islamic teachings. It is said that in this chapter, by raising the issue of Wilaya, the author has approached Shi'a views. He has also addressed hostile positions against the Qur'an, specifically responding to the book the Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie.

The fourth chapter, titled "Ethics and Life in the World," addresses the practical aspects of Islamic teachings, including ethics and jurisprudence.

Chapter Five: Spirituality in Islam

The fifth chapter, titled "Spirituality in Practice," deals with the mystical and spiritual dimensions of Islam and examines the Imams of the Shi'a and Sufi shaykhs as leaders and sources of spirituality and mysticism in the two traditions of Shi'a and Sufism. In this chapter, issues such as the opposition of Wahhabis to the concept of Wilaya are also examined.

The sixth chapter is dedicated to the conclusion, under the title "Rethinking Islam in the Twenty-First Century." It looks at the issue of Islam and the requirements of the time, as well as the interaction of tradition and modernity, and attempts to show how "ideology" and "technology" influence the perception of Islam by both Muslims and non-Muslims.