ISLAM AND THE DESTINY OF MAN

Gai Eaton’s Islam and the Destiny of Man is a wide-ranging study of the religion of Islam from a traditional point of view. Covering all aspects that a reader would wish to know about Islam—including the Qur’an, the life of the Prophet, Islamic history, Islamic law, art, and mysticism—Islam and the Destiny of Man explains what it means to be a Muslim and describes how Islam has shaped the hearts and minds of Muslims down the centuries. However, in Islam and the Destiny of Man, Gai Eaton is concerned not simply with Islam in isolation, but with the very nature of religious faith, its spiritual and intellectual foundations, and the light it casts upon the mysteries and paradoxes of the human condition.

Charles Le Gai Eaton was born in Switzerland and educated at Charterhouse and King’s College, Cambridge. He worked for many years as a teacher and journalist in Jamaica and Egypt (where he embraced Islam in 1951) before joining the British Diplomatic Service. For more than twenty years, he was a consultant to the Islamic Cultural Centre in London. He is also the author of King of the Castle, Reflections, and Remembering God, all published by the Islamic Texts Society. He died in 2010.

‘The most remarkable accomplishment of this book is not that it leaves the reader with a basic understanding of Muhammad, the Qur’an, and the daily practices of Muslims everywhere, although it certainly does these things. Nor does it lie merely in the clear, open, loving approach the author brings to his subject, though this is striking. Rather his main contribution lies in building bridges of understanding—in showing the Christian’s and Jew’s essential oneness with the Muslim.’ Joseph K. Blackman.

‘One of the most important works on Islam to appear in the English language. It should really be read by all Westerners interested in an understanding of Islamic tradition and also by those Muslims who have become cut off from the authentic message of their own religion.’ S. H. Nasr.

‘Considered essential by [those] seeking to understand Islam.’ Sunday Telegraph.

‘This book deserves to be read over and over again.’ Muslim Education Quarterly.

‘This is a beautifully written book. It offers a taste of theology, of history, of aesthetics and of eschatology blended in such way as to provide a whole and balanced image, a vision of life that is both comprehensive and thoroughly Islamic.’ Parabola.