Islam in Stories

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Islam can be called a 'narrative community': in which stories are told about how people deal with one another and with God, what norms and values they have in their life that can give them guidance in any age and in any new environment, how they can cope with their life and death, and how faith, morality, rules of behaviour can be handed on to the following generation. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all three narrative communities. It is good if they all learn to tell one another stories in order to contribute to mutual understanding. This book begins with 'Negative Stories' since many people in the West primarily think about stories of fanaticism, intolerance and terror. Then the stories around Muhammad's call to prophethood are discussed as well as stories from the Qur'an (in comparison with Biblical one's). The Islamic way (sharia'ah) indicates the way shown to Muslims. 'Stories of Faith' is about what Muslims believe and how faith relates to philosophy. Besides the 'external' way of the law Muslims follow the mystical path dealt with in 'Mystical Stories'. How Muslims relate to Jews and Christians is discussed in the story of a Father who had two sons: Abraham (Ibrahim) and his two sons Ishmael and Isaac. The Jesus of the Muslims is presented in the different stories regarding his life and ministry. In 'Islam in the diaspora' Muslim novelists living in Europe tell about the Muslim identity between different cultures. The book concludes with the story of the common pilgrimage of human kind symbolised in the story of the mysterious 'Green man'.