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The Vision of Islam by Sachiko Murata; William C.
ChittickPhilosophy East and West, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Apr., 1996), pp.
297-298
Published by: University of Hawai'i PressStable URL:
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warrior's hield, his relationship o his horse, the
warrior'sname, thewarrior'ssense of shame, the typical order of
battle, the sufferingofnoncombatants,he practiceof taking he
headsof defeatedenemies, thenatureof feudalvassalage,the
contrastbetween the structure f an armyand thatof a warriorband,the
literary igureof the loser-hero, he prac-tice of vendetta,the
practiceof seppuku,and the treatmentof prisoners(unenviable).The
book contains genealogical tables of the Taira
andMinamotofamilies,a glossaryof key termsrelating o
samuraiculture,and a numberof color plates and black-and-white
iguresof contem-poraryscrolls and screen paintings illustrating
amous events in thechronicles.
The Visionof Islam.By Sachiko Murataand William C.
Chittick.NewYork:ParagonHouse, 1994. Pp.xxxix + 368.
Paper$18.95.The title Visionof Islamreflects he projectof this
book, that of convey-ing how the Islamic radition ees itselfand the
world. Basedon a coursefor students hat included a fairproportion f
studentsborninto Muslimfamiliesbut relativelynot well informedabout
their own traditions, hisbook could be of use to Muslimsas well as
non-Muslims.Abundantcitations romthe Koranand fromthe hadithare
used to "delve into thepoint of view that inform hem" (p. xi).
Launching heirsurveyfrom areadingof the hadithof Gabriel, he
authors dentify hree"dimensions,"islam(submission),man(faith),and
ishan(doingwhat is beautiful),andthey divide their book
accordingly. (These are also identified as thedimensionsof acts,
thoughts,and intentions.)Because this is not a
his-toricallystructured urvey,there is a briefconcluding
partdevoted tothe Islamicview of history.The discussion of
islamcovers the "fivepillars"of Islamicpractice:witnessing
(shahadah),prayer(salat),alms tax (zahat), asting,and
thepilgrimage(hajj).The discussion of ishan includes
"practicalSufism"and the characterof Islamicartistic raditions.By
far the largestpartofthe book (about 65 percent) is devoted to iman
and its content. Thechapter"Tawhid" ncludes a discussionof
angelsandthe natureof manas well as the unityof God. The
chapter"Prophecy" urther laboratesthe
underlyingphilosophicalanthropologyof Islamas well as
coveringtheodicy and the Islamic view of Judaismand
Christianity.There is achapteron eschatologyas well as one on "The
IntellectualSchools."This would appear o be a first-rateext
forundergraduateoursesinreligiousstudies. Those who are interested
n the bearingof Islamonphilosophymight ind themselvestempted o turn
irst o chapter6, "TheIntellectualSchools."Therethey will find
discussionsof Kalam, alasifa,and "theoreticalSufism"and a caution
that the interpretation f faith BookNotes
warrior's hield, his relationship o his horse, the
warrior'sname, thewarrior'ssense of shame, the typical order of
battle, the sufferingofnoncombatants,he practiceof taking he
headsof defeatedenemies, thenatureof feudalvassalage,the
contrastbetween the structure f an armyand thatof a warriorband,the
literary igureof the loser-hero, he prac-tice of vendetta,the
practiceof seppuku,and the treatmentof prisoners(unenviable).The
book contains genealogical tables of the Taira
andMinamotofamilies,a glossaryof key termsrelating o
samuraiculture,and a numberof color plates and black-and-white
iguresof contem-poraryscrolls and screen paintings illustrating
amous events in thechronicles.
The Visionof Islam.By Sachiko Murataand William C.
Chittick.NewYork:ParagonHouse, 1994. Pp.xxxix + 368.
Paper$18.95.The title Visionof Islamreflects he projectof this
book, that of convey-ing how the Islamic radition ees itselfand the
world. Basedon a coursefor students hat included a fairproportion f
studentsborninto Muslimfamiliesbut relativelynot well informedabout
their own traditions, hisbook could be of use to Muslimsas well as
non-Muslims.Abundantcitations romthe Koranand fromthe hadithare
used to "delve into thepoint of view that inform hem" (p. xi).
Launching heirsurveyfrom areadingof the hadithof Gabriel, he
authors dentify hree"dimensions,"islam(submission),man(faith),and
ishan(doingwhat is beautiful),andthey divide their book
accordingly. (These are also identified as thedimensionsof acts,
thoughts,and intentions.)Because this is not a
his-toricallystructured urvey,there is a briefconcluding
partdevoted tothe Islamicview of history.The discussion of
islamcovers the "fivepillars"of Islamicpractice:witnessing
(shahadah),prayer(salat),alms tax (zahat), asting,and
thepilgrimage(hajj).The discussion of ishan includes
"practicalSufism"and the characterof Islamicartistic raditions.By
far the largestpartofthe book (about 65 percent) is devoted to iman
and its content. Thechapter"Tawhid" ncludes a discussionof
angelsandthe natureof manas well as the unityof God. The
chapter"Prophecy" urther laboratesthe
underlyingphilosophicalanthropologyof Islamas well as
coveringtheodicy and the Islamic view of Judaismand
Christianity.There is achapteron eschatologyas well as one on "The
IntellectualSchools."This would appear o be a first-rateext
forundergraduateoursesinreligiousstudies. Those who are interested
n the bearingof Islamonphilosophymight ind themselvestempted o turn
irst o chapter6, "TheIntellectualSchools."Therethey will find
discussionsof Kalam, alasifa,and "theoreticalSufism"and a caution
that the interpretation f faith BookNotes
29797
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http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
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7/30/2019 chittick murata vision of islam
3/3
is far less importanto an ordinaryMuslim than are law (Shariah)
ndthe five pillars. But they should not overlook the
substantialchapter"Tawhid,"which treats heology, angelology,and
anthropology, s wellas the firstpartof the chapter"Prophecy."For
ogether hese providearichsourceof material or introductory
hilosophy.
The Chinese RitesControversy:tsHistoryand Meaning.Editedby D.
E.Mungello. Monumenta Serica MonographSeries, 33. Nettetal:
StelerVerlag,1994.The Chinese Rites Controversy onsists of revised
versions of paperspresentedat a symposiumsponsored by the Ricci
Instituten San Fran-cisco in October 1992. Frequentlyuch volumes
suffer rom an uneven-ness of quality,but not in this case; the
papers included here are allexceptionallywell writtenand
interesting.Manyof them are based onpreviouslyunavailable or
unexaminedmaterial,and jointly they con-tributemanyfresh and
thought-provoking erspectives.The participantsin the symposium,in
their variousways, illuminate he contemporaryinterestand relevance
of this eighteenth-century ontroversy.They arealso agreedthat
itscomplexityis such that we are a very longway froman
adequatehistoricalunderstandingf it and its widersignificance.The
contemporary nterestof the Ritescontroversycan be
readilygraspedfrom Mungello'sextremelyuseful introduction,where he
ex-plains: "On it's most general level, the Rites Controversyposed
thequestion of whether it is necessary to change a culture in order
toadopta foreign religion.Specifically, t asked whetherthe Chinese
whoadopted Christianitylso hadto adoptWesternculture" p.3).
Mungelloalso remarks hat it is far easier to recount the
historicalevents of theChinese Rites Controversy han to interpret
heir significance. Never-theless, as Paul Rule illustratesn his
paper,the task of recounting hathistory s itselfdauntingbecause of
the volume of sources, the relativeinaccessibilityof some of them,
the varietyof languages,and the inter-pretative kills
required.Because of the contemporary elevance of theissues, to
attemptto asses the significanceof these historicalevents isalready
o be embroiled n contemporary ebates.Needlessto say, thereis a wide
varietyof opinion. Thisvolume seeks to cover the full rangeof
current nterpretationsf the RitesControversy, nd Mungello's
ntro-duction providesa usefulguide to them. The papersthemselvesare
sovariedand so full of content that it is impossible o providea
briefsum-mary,butanyone with an interest n this issuewill want to
readthem.
PhilosophyEast&West
is far less importanto an ordinaryMuslim than are law (Shariah)
ndthe five pillars. But they should not overlook the
substantialchapter"Tawhid,"which treats heology, angelology,and
anthropology, s wellas the firstpartof the chapter"Prophecy."For
ogether hese providearichsourceof material or introductory
hilosophy.
The Chinese RitesControversy:tsHistoryand Meaning.Editedby D.
E.Mungello. Monumenta Serica MonographSeries, 33. Nettetal:
StelerVerlag,1994.The Chinese Rites Controversy onsists of revised
versions of paperspresentedat a symposiumsponsored by the Ricci
Instituten San Fran-cisco in October 1992. Frequentlyuch volumes
suffer rom an uneven-ness of quality,but not in this case; the
papers included here are allexceptionallywell writtenand
interesting.Manyof them are based onpreviouslyunavailable or
unexaminedmaterial,and jointly they con-tributemanyfresh and
thought-provoking erspectives.The participantsin the symposium,in
their variousways, illuminate he contemporaryinterestand relevance
of this eighteenth-century ontroversy.They arealso agreedthat
itscomplexityis such that we are a very longway froman
adequatehistoricalunderstandingf it and its widersignificance.The
contemporary nterestof the Ritescontroversycan be
readilygraspedfrom Mungello'sextremelyuseful introduction,where he
ex-plains: "On it's most general level, the Rites Controversyposed
thequestion of whether it is necessary to change a culture in order
toadopta foreign religion.Specifically, t asked whetherthe Chinese
whoadopted Christianitylso hadto adoptWesternculture" p.3).
Mungelloalso remarks hat it is far easier to recount the
historicalevents of theChinese Rites Controversy han to interpret
heir significance. Never-theless, as Paul Rule illustratesn his
paper,the task of recounting hathistory s itselfdauntingbecause of
the volume of sources, the relativeinaccessibilityof some of them,
the varietyof languages,and the inter-pretative kills
required.Because of the contemporary elevance of theissues, to
attemptto asses the significanceof these historicalevents isalready
o be embroiled n contemporary ebates.Needlessto say, thereis a wide
varietyof opinion. Thisvolume seeks to cover the full rangeof
current nterpretationsf the RitesControversy, nd Mungello's
ntro-duction providesa usefulguide to them. The papersthemselvesare
sovariedand so full of content that it is impossible o providea
briefsum-mary,butanyone with an interest n this issuewill want to
readthem.
PhilosophyEast&West
29898
This content downloaded from 194.214.27.178 on Thu, 22 Aug 2013
21:14:16 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
