Andrew Rippin's Muslims is essential reading for students and scholars alike. This new edition has been comprehensively updated and for the first time features a companion website with extensive links to additional reading and resources to help deepen students' understanding of the subject. Muslims offers a survey of Islamic history and thought from the formative period of the religion to modern times. It examines the unique elements which have combined to form Islam, in particular the Qur'an and the influence of Muhammad, and traces the ways in which these sources have interacted historically to create Muslim theology and law as well as the alternative visions of Islam found in Shi'ism and Sufi sm. Combining core source materials with coverage of current scholarship and of recent events in the Islamic world, Andrew Rippin introduces this hugely significant religion in a succinct, challenging and refreshing way. The improved and expanded fourth edition contains a new chapter on perceptions of Muslims today as well as a new series of text boxes to stimulate students' thinking about essay topics and research projects.Using a distinctive critical approach that promotes engagement with key issues, from fundamentalism and women's rights to problems of identity, Islamophobia and modernity, this text is ideal for today's students.