In the Koran we read: “The most beautiful names belong to Allah. So call on him by them” (surah 7.180). “The most beautiful names” are understood by Muslim theologians as names and attributes of God which are used during prayer, Sufi-meditation or while saying the rosary. God’s names are important as God has not revealed himself in Islam, as Muslim theologians hold, but has only sent down his Holy Book, the Koran.

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Turkish-Muslim and German conceptions on the subject of “honour” and “dignity” were the focus of this symposium of the Körber-Stiftung in the year 1999. As a rule violations of honour are perceived by Muslim-Turks to be especially fierce attacks. Non-Muslims most often lack the background knowledge necessary for understanding this conflict.

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Bärbel Reuter’s dissertation is a worthwhile compilation of 7 years of studying Islam as it is lived out in Egypt today. In this distinctive study, Reuter presents the opinions and viewpoints of younger women in Cairo who „feel deeply tied to the Islamic movement” (p. 246). This particular spectrum (or stream) of Islam called Islamism affects more than just individual behavior of a believer and how he/she personally applies their religious beliefs, it encompasses every aspect of the participant’s life and is considered an effective force for changing society which in turn brings changes to the political realm.

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The contributions in this volume are based on speeches held in 1999 at the annual convention of the Incorporated Society for Arabic and Islamic Law, established in 1998. The society has taken on the task of elaborating fundamental issues, in theory and in practise, of the Islamic law of the Middle East and of presenting the legal sources, often difficult to find, as principles of law.

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This comprehensive post-doctoral thesis by religion and missiological theologian A. Feldtkeller, who now chairs at Humboldt University of Berlin, examines the coexistence of Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem and surrounding area from the time of the Arabic-Islamic conquest to the present.

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In relation with globalisation the political vocabulary of the Arabic language has developed and changed. This dictionary is both recommendable and comprehensive and contains political as well as geographical terms, names of key figures of the international and Arab world and mentions news agencies and organisations.

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This book by Murad Hofmann on “Islam in the Third Millennium – a Religion on the Rise” has been published in German only. Murad Wilfried Hofmann, a doctor of law and for many years a German ambassador, has his claim to fame as a cele29 brity. He converted to Islam over 20 years ago, made various pilgrimages to Mecca and has written some very well known promotional materials for Islam.

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