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.
Introduction, Julia R. Lieberman and Michal Jan Rozbicki Part I: Charity: Some Theoretical Issues Chapter 1: Is Charity a Two-Faceted Janus? "Othering" Gifts vs. Translating Giving and the Intercultural Uses of Human Rights, Mario Ricca Chapter 2: Whose Caritas? Which Receptivity? Roman Catholics in Dialogue across Traditions, Gregory R. Beabout Chapter 3: Interreligious and Intercultural Transfers of the Tradition of Philanthropy, Thomas Adam Chapter 4: Sadaqa as a Sign of Sincerity: Secular and Spiritual Aspects of Charity in Islam, Fatih Harpci Chapter 5: From Welfare to Rights in the Jewish Tradition, Melinda Jones Part II: The Practice of Charity in Judaism, Christianity. and Islam Chapter 6: New Practices of Sedaca: Charity in London's Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Community during the Eighteenth Century, Julia R. Lieberman Chapter 7: From Charity to Philanthropy among the Jewish Elite: Emancipation, Modernization, Ethnicity, and Nationalism, Haim Sperber and Riki Galia Chapter 8: Catholic Reform, the Council of Trent, and the Transformation of Italian Charity, 1500-1800, Philip R. Gavitt Chapter 9: The Perfect Storm: Social Services and Abuse in North American Catholic Maternity Homes, Elizabeth Patricia Rigotti Chapter 10: The Heart of a Heartless World: Relations of Power in Faith-based Responses to the Iraqi and Syrian Refugee Crises, Tahir Zaman Chapter 11: The Practice of Zakat in Northern Nigeria and the Building of Social Relationships, Dauda Abubakar Chapter 12: Jewish and Muslim Charity in the Ottoman Empire: The Fluidity of Religious Boundaries, Yaron Ayalon
