No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam

No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam is a 2005 non-fiction book written by Iranian-American Muslim scholar Reza Aslan. The book describes the history of Islam and argues for a liberal interpretation of the religion. It blames Western imperialism and self-serving misinterpretations of Islamic law by past scholars for the current controversies within Islam, challenging the 'clash of civilizations' thesis.

According to conservative columnist Reihan Salam, the book has received a favorable response within the Muslim world.

Contents

Each chapter of the book covers a specific topic within Islam. For example, one chapter is entirely dedicated to the issue of jihad. Over all, the book covers the history of Islam from the point of view of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad as a social reformer struggling for egalitarianism between people. It argues that the Quran does not order the veiling of women and that the concept of jihad was intended to be solely defensive. Aslan focuses primarily on the early practices of Islam, but he also discusses life within the Abbasid Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and in the modern Muslim World.

Reza Aslan

Reza Aslan (Persian: رضا اصلان‎‎, IPA: [ˈɾezɒː æsˈlɒːn]; born May 3, 1972) is an Iranian-American author, commentator and religious scholar. He has written two books on religion: No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam and Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Aslan is a member of the American Academy of Religion. He is also a professor of creative writing at University of California, Riverside.

Background

Aslan's family came to the United States from Tehran in 1979, fleeing the Iranian Revolution. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. At the age of 15 he converted to evangelical Christianity. He converted back to Islam the summer before attending Harvard. In the early 1990s, Aslan taught courses at De La Salle High School in Concord, California.

Aslan holds a BA in religious studies from Santa Clara University, an MTS from Harvard Divinity School, an MFA from the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop, and a PhD in sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His dissertation was titled "Global Jihadism as a Transnational Social Movement: A Theoretical Framework".

There Is

"There Is" is the second single and tenth track from Box Car Racer's eponymous album. Guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge still occasionally plays a solo version of this song in concert with Angels & Airwaves. The single peaked at #32 on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks Chart.

Track listing

Music video

In the music video, the band plays the song in the rain outside of a house, where a boy is trying to get a girl to talk to him. During the video, people come out of their houses trying to make the band stop. A policeman comes and takes away Tom DeLonge towards the end, as the boy runs into the girls room to see her. The video was directed by Alexander Kosta, and can be seen on the Box Car Racer DVD.

Chart positions

External links

Juno Reactor

Juno Reactor is a musical and performing group known for their cinematic fusion of electronic, global influences, and orchestral symphonic approach, collaborating with composer Don Davis and composing for the musical score of The Matrix. Central to the project is Ben Watkins and his collaborations with a constantly changing ensemble of musicians from across the world. This ensemble has included Mabi Thobejane, Amampondo, Steve Stevens, Eduardo Niebla, Greg Ellis, Taz Alexander, Sugizo, Budgie (drummer) and recently Hamsika Iyer, Mali Mazel and Maggie Hikri.

History

Juno Reactor was formed as an art project in 1990. Ben Watkins wanted to collaborate with other artists, producing exciting projects that were not commercially driven. He wanted to create experimental music and non-musical soundtracks that would work with installations, art pieces, and film projects.

Juno Reactor released their first single, "Laughing Gas", in 1993 on the NovaMute label. This was soon followed by their debut album, Transmissions. This release was the first artist album in the genre. Later, the band released Luciana on Alex Paterson's (The Orb) Inter-Modo label. Juno Reactor left NovaMute and Inter-Modo in 1995 and signed with the UK label Blue Room Released to release the single "Guardian Angel". Their album Beyond the Infinite was released in 1995.

Church of God

Church of God is a name used by numerous, mostly unrelated Christian denominational bodies, most of which descend from Pentecostal, Holiness, 7th Day Baptist and Adventist traditions. The largest denomination with this name is the Pentecostal Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) with over seven million members in over 170 countries.

Other denominations include:

Adventist Churches of God

Anabaptist

Armstrongism