Muslim Mechanics

Book excerpt: Muslim Mechanics is a factual and informative resource guide for Islam written for non-Muslim Western audiences. The word mechanics, as in quantum mechanics or classical mechanics, represents a branch of physical science that studies the working parts of complex systems, machines, or even organizations and institutions. Taking the same tact, Muslim Mechanics is the study of how Islamic policies, activities, and functions affect populations and organizations. Going further, Muslim Mechanics looks at the functional and technical aspects of actions and determines their impact on an organizational and institutional level. As the word mechanics would indicate, there are hundreds of policies, rules, and beliefs that make Islam tick like a Swiss watch. Dr. Brewton presents an objective and secular view of a religion that is anything but secular.