Charity in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Traditions

Contributions by Thomas Adam, Dauda Abubakar, Yaron Ayalon, Gregory R. Beabout, Philip R. Gavitt, Fatih Harpci, Melinda Jones, Julia R. Lieberman, Mario Ricca, Elizabeth Patricia Rigotti, Michal Jan Rozbicki, Haim Sperber, Riki Galia, Tahir Zaman Edited by Julia R. Lieberman, Michal Jan Rozbicki

Publication date:

25 July 2017

Length of book:

274 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

239x157mm
6x9"

This collection of essays by a team of international scholars addresses the topic of Charity through the lenses of the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The contributors look for common paradigms in the ways the three faiths address the needs of the poor and the needy in their respective societies, and reflect on the interrelatedness of such practices among the three religions. They ask how the three traditions deal with the distribution of wealth, in the recognition that not all members of a given society have equal access to it, and in the relationship of charity to the inheritance systems and family structures. They reveal systemic patterns that are similar--norms, virtue, theological validations, exclusionary rules, private responsibility to society--issues that have implications for intercultural and interfaith understanding. Conversely, the essays inquire how the three faiths differ in their understanding of poverty, wealth, and justifications for charity.

Charity in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Traditions presents wide-ranging and nuanced perspectives on the centrality of charity in the three Abrahamic religions, with a strong emphasis on the ways in which these traditions have influenced and shaped one another throughout history. These well-written and provocative essays offer equal parts theoretical framing and particularistic illustration. Each of the pieces included in the volume engages important questions that challenge simplistic formulations of faith and practice in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. How is religiously applied charity both supported and contravened by the intervention of the state? Why must the proper conditions for the receipt of charity be so carefully delineated in sacred scripture? How do the discrete practices around tzedakah, caritas, and zakat (among other concepts of charity) reflect historic change, intercultural influence, and shifting definitions of generosity and need? I highly recommend this book as a source of insight not only into the history of faith-specific charity but into the evolution and development of religious thought and action in the modern world.