Muslim Devotions: A Study of Prayer-Manuals in Common Use

By Constance Padwick and Constance Evelyn Padwick

Book Overview

Drawing on a wide range of sources, Muslim Devotions traces the stages in the evolution of Islamic theological thought from the first century of Islam to the present day.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1851681159
• ISBN13: 9781851681150
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Oneworld Publications
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Sourcebook on Muslim Devotion

There is a spate of books on the Islamic world and Islamic viewpoints on the market presently. You can find legions of books on Islam as an historical and social phenomenon, many books that do an admirable job describing Islamic dogma, a few that do a good job describing Islamic inner belief, and perhaps too many on esoteric Islam. However, to my knowledge there is not other book on Islam quite like this one, at least not in English.The book describes the variety of popular devotions that are found throughout the Muslim world. This includes the form and content of daily prayer, and what these daily prayers mean to Muslims, as well as those types of devotions that are not canonical but which many Muslims hold dear - in short, it is an attempt to describe Islamic prayer life.Anybody who has spent some time in the Muslim world, perhaps especially in Islamic South Asia, is aware of the large number of small prayer tracts that are printed off cheaply and circulated widely. A good deal of the material in this book comes from these sources. But the book is not merely a catalogue of practice; Ms. Padwick describes points of similarity in Christian practice (particularly Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic practice) where it occurs, and also does an admirable job in breaking down the vast amount of material into intelligent order.My one objection - and the reason why I haven't given the book five stars - is that the originals of the prayers are not given in the book, but only the English translations. Ms. Padwick raises the matter herself in the introduction, objecting that including the originals would make the book much larger than it is. Perhaps, but in Islam the centrality of the Arabic language and its nuances is of critical importance, and I would have preferred to see the originals. Aside from that, however, this is an admirable contribution to our understanding of Islam as it is practiced on an everyday basis by millions of Muslims.