The Vision of Islam by Sachiko Murata; William C. Chittick Philosophy East and West, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Apr.

, 1996), pp. 297-298 Published by: University of Hawai'i Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1399419 . Accessed: 22/08/2013 21:14
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warrior'sshield, his relationshipto his horse, the warrior'sname, the warrior'ssense of shame, the typical order of battle, the sufferingof the practiceof takingthe heads of defeatedenemies, the noncombatants, of an army natureof feudal vassalage,the contrastbetween the structure of the the of a warrior and that loser-hero,the pracband, literary figure tice of vendetta,the practiceof seppuku,and the treatmentof prisoners (unenviable).The book contains genealogical tables of the Taira and Minamotofamilies, a glossary of key terms relatingto samuraiculture, and a number of color plates and black-and-whitefigures of contemporary scrolls and screen paintings illustratingfamous events in the chronicles.

The Vision of Islam. By Sachiko Murataand William C. Chittick.New York:ParagonHouse, 1994. Pp. xxxix + 368. Paper$18.95. The title Visionof Islamreflectsthe projectof this book, that of conveying how the Islamictraditionsees itselfand the world. Basedon a course of studentsborn into Muslim for studentsthat included a fair proportion families but relativelynot well informedabout their own traditions,this book could be of use to Muslims as well as non-Muslims.Abundant citationsfromthe Koranand fromthe hadithare used to "delve into the point of view that informthem" (p. xi). Launchingtheir survey from a readingof the hadithof Gabriel,the authorsidentifythree "dimensions," islam (submission),iman (faith),and ishan (doing what is beautiful),and they divide their book accordingly. (These are also identified as the dimensions of acts, thoughts,and intentions.)Because this is not a historically structuredsurvey, there is a brief concluding part devoted to the Islamicview of history. The discussion of islam covers the "five pillars"of Islamicpractice: witnessing (shahadah),prayer (salat),alms tax (zahat),fasting, and the pilgrimage (hajj).The discussion of ishan includes "practicalSufism" and the characterof Islamicartistictraditions.By far the largestpartof the book (about 65 percent) is devoted to iman and its content. The chapter"Tawhid"includes a discussionof angels and the natureof man as well as the unity of God. The chapter "Prophecy"furtherelaborates the underlyingphilosophicalanthropologyof Islamas well as covering There is a theodicy and the Islamic view of Judaismand Christianity. Schools." chapteron eschatology as well as one on "The Intellectual courses in text for undergraduate Thiswould appearto be a first-rate in interested the of studies. Those who are bearing Islam on religious turn first to chapter6, "The find themselves to tempted philosophymight IntellectualSchools." Therethey will find discussionsof Kalam,falasifa, of faith BookNotes and "theoreticalSufism"and a caution that the interpretation

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is far less important to an ordinaryMuslimthan are law (Shariah) and the five pillars. But they should not overlook the substantialchapter which treatstheology, angelology, and anthropology, as well "Tawhid," as the firstpartof the chapter"Prophecy."Fortogetherthese providea rich source of materialfor introductory philosophy.

The Chinese RitesControversy: Its Historyand Meaning.Editedby D. E. Mungello. Monumenta Serica MonographSeries, 33. Nettetal: Steler Verlag,1994. The Chinese Rites Controversyconsists of revised versions of papers presentedat a symposiumsponsoredby the Ricci Institutein San Francisco in October 1992. Frequently such volumes sufferfroman unevenness of quality, but not in this case; the papers included here are all exceptionally well writtenand interesting.Many of them are based on previously unavailableor unexamined material,and jointly they contributemany fresh and thought-provoking perspectives.The participants in the symposium, in their various ways, illuminatethe contemporary interestand relevance of this eighteenth-century controversy.They are also agreed that its complexity is such that we are a very long way from of it and its wider significance. an adequate historicalunderstanding The contemporaryinterestof the Rites controversycan be readily grasped from Mungello's extremely useful introduction,where he explains: "On it's most general level, the Rites Controversyposed the question of whether it is necessary to change a culture in order to adopt a foreign religion.Specifically,it asked whetherthe Chinese who also had to adopt Westernculture"(p. 3). Mungello adoptedChristianity also remarksthat it is far easier to recount the historicalevents of the Chinese Rites Controversythan to interprettheir significance. Nevertheless, as Paul Rule illustratesin his paper, the task of recountingthat historyis itself dauntingbecause of the volume of sources, the relative inaccessibilityof some of them, the varietyof languages,and the interpretativeskills required.Because of the contemporaryrelevance of the issues, to attemptto asses the significance of these historicalevents is debates. Needless to say, there alreadyto be embroiledin contemporary is a wide varietyof opinion. This volume seeks to cover the full range of currentinterpretations of the RitesControversy, and Mungello'sintroduction providesa useful guide to them. The papersthemselves are so variedand so full of content that it is impossibleto providea briefsummary,but anyone with an interestin this issue will want to readthem.

PhilosophyEast& West

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