The book presents a broad and varied picture of Islam. It covers a wide range of topics, including faith and jurisprudence, theology and philosophy, mysticism, culture and society, from the dawn of Islam in the seventh century to contemporary times. Geographically, the book encompasses such regions as the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent, East Asia and Europe/West . The book traces lines of continuity and change in Islam throughout the ages on such complex and sensitive issues as religion and state, the concept of jihad, Islamic attitudes to religious minorities or to Western Christian culture. These issues became hotly debated in the modern era, especially from the late 18th century, when Muslim societies were forced to contend with European colonialism, political upheavals, social and economic schisms, and identity crises . There is a clear need for a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction book in Hebrew for students and readers alike so that the appearance of the book is timely. Apart from containing new materials, the book also contains many insights, and in some cases reexamines and revisits prevailing scholarly approaches.

Assassins are the followers of a Shia Islam sect that imposed terror on the Muslim world and in Europe for two centuries (the 11th and 12th centuries CE) - through acts of terror and murder of political and religious opponents. Their name in English and French and other languages became over time a synonym for political murderers and money seeking killers. This book by Lewis is an important and timely academic research on the Assassins sect and is the first edition to be published in Hebrew. This research can assist in understanding the ways in which religious- political groups managed to make a violent and extremist turn in the fundamental relationship between religion and state, and how they used violence to achieve their objectives.

Since the publication in 1921 of I. Goldsiher's discussion of Imâmî exegesis in his groundbreaking Die Richtungen der islamischen Koransauslegung no comprehensive work on Imâmî exegesis has appeared. In the intervening years important Imâmî commentaries have become available, allowing for a reappraisal of the subject. The aim of this study is to contribute to this task, primarily by examining the features and methods of Imâmî exegesis. Principally it offers a description and analysis of the major tenets of Imâmî doctrine, as reflected in the earliest Imâmî works of exegesis and relates sources up to the Major Occulation of the twelfth Imam in 329/941.