Customer Reviews

A Brief Guide to Islam: Faith, Religion, Politics

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book is a very good introduction to Islam. It is educational and interesting. It is written so that the most important information is presented first, and less important (and more detailed) information is presented later. For instance, Muhammed's biography, the Five Pillars of Islam, and a comparison between Islam and other world religions are all within the first half of the book. Short stories on topics of interest are spread throughout the book, and that makes the reading easier.

However, I cannot give the book 5 stars because it seems like the author seeks to praise Islam at the expense of Judaism and Christianity. He seems to willingly accept stereotypes of these religions while trying to debunk stereotypes about Islam. For instance, Grieve states, "Death is not itself regarded as a punishment in Islam, as in Christianity." I'm not aware of any Christian denomination that presents death as punishment. It's almost as if Grieve acquired his knowledge of Judaism and Christianity from characters in fictional television series.

While reading the book, I couldn't help but compare the author to a protective mother who sees no wrong in her own child but will lash out at anyone else who dares to offer advice or criticism. In this light, the words on the jacket seem to be more defensive than factual: "Paul Grieve is an unbeliever -- he is not a born-again Muslim, a proselytizer or a frustrated desert romantic."

Having said all this, I still highly recommend the book. The simple fact is that I learn more when I read a book that challenges my preconceived notions. When Mr. Grieve sticks to talking about Islam instead of other faiths, his writing is very engaging. It's just unfortunate that the bias is most evident in the first 20 pages of the text. Past that, other faiths are only mentioned sparingly. It's likely that people who are not committed to any of the faiths mentioned will probably be able to easily ignore the bias. Ultimately, if you would like to have more than a superficial knowledge of Islam, then this book is a very appropriate choice.

Which is I believe what this book was intended to be. It is brief but covers many aspects of Islam explaining similarities to and differences from Judaism and Christianity, Islamic holy sites, the life of the Prophet and some quotes from the Quran. Most importantly to me it explained the Sunni/Shia split in detail and in a way that is especially easy for those familiar with Christianity to understand. I can't agree with the other reviews on this book, that it is insulting to Chrisitanity or to Judaism, in fact I believe most Muslims would find something to be insulted about here as well. I think the author is just giving an honest (in his opinion) and unforgiving assessment of all three religions and trying to explain why it is that the Islamic world reacts the way it does to the Western secular world. I like the way that Mr. Grieve asks important questions which he really doesn't try to answer here, but instead follows with more detailed and nuanced questions. He doesn't try to lecture but instead provides a framework for the reader to come to their own conclusions about how the situation in the Middle East might be "fixed". I would recommend this to anyone who wants a quick overview of the subject, with the caveat that if you are a staunch supporter of Israel, a fundamentalist Christian or fundamentalist Muslim, you probably won't like it.

While searching for a good guide to Islam, I saw a favorable book review on this one, and bought it. From the beginning, I was riveted--I could hardly put it down. This "brief" guide is exactly what he promises: a brief but COMPLETE guide, describing and explaining every aspect of this great religion. He describes everything from the influence of the poet Rumi, to architecture of a mosque, the government of Jerusalem, to American Black Muslims. This book gave me more insight than I could have imagined into the enormously complex phenomenon that is Islam.

I am surprisd at the other reviews posted here. One didn't even read the book! Another is clearly biased to Israel, and unfortunately cannot see Islam in an objective way. This is precisely the value of Grieve's astonishing scholarship. He shows all the nuances of Islam--good and bad--their historical origins and how they continue to influence Islam today. He writes clearly and in such a straightforward and engaging way that I thought I was reading historical fiction. Grieve is simply a superb writer.

I feel deeply grateful to have come across this book. Although I've read a number of others on religion (notably those by Karen Armstrong), I've never before read anything so well-written, explanatory and removed from bias.

An understanding of Islam is more important than ever. Frankly, I think this should be mandatory reading for every college undergraduate, and cannot recommend it highly enough.

This book of propaganda at its best. The bais of the author comes out right from he start. In reading the prologue, it is apparent that the writer is using this missive as an axe against Judeo-Christian peoples vice a "balanced" look at Islam. He discounts what scholars of our time, archeologists, as well as historians from the Common Era have written. He labels belief in Judeo-Christian principles as false claims and biblical stories of myths and mysticals. He presents his opinion as scientific fact and anyone who dares to oppose the view as a dolt. Do not waste your time in reading this tripe. To give you a specific about what type of character this person is, he claims that the peace loving Muslims were justified in killing innocents on 9-11. The closest book to compare to this would be "Mien Kampf"

I am a Canadian living in a Muslim country. Mr. Grieve's book is comphensive yet very readable. He has covered a highly complex topic sensitively and with great knowledge. It is an excellent vehicle for discussion with friends of all faiths.

I don't understand Clayton's review above -- he hadn't read the book?!! I am studying comparative religion and this is the best book I've found so far on Islam, particularly as it covers the politics as well as the religion. It's very clearly laid out and easy to understand and I find it very balanced on sometimes difficult issues (ie both sensitive and complex). It's not out of date at all -- the most recent available.

Anyone with a typical westerner's knowledge of Islam ought to read this book. It is an incredibly comprehensive overview of Muslim theology, traditions, history, law, and polity. A lot of us ask about Islamists, "what is it that they want": this book goes a very long way to explaining that.

For me it successfully defines the concept of "Salafiyya"; a return to a purer Muslim observance and observance of Shariah law that would render virtually paradise on earth. Mind you, the author doesn't overlooked the are nuances of Salafiyya, from the Muslim Brotherhood, to Saudi Wahhabism, to the primitivist Taliban. Western political and cultural influence both are seen as anathema to the achievement of the ideal Islamic community.

The author is at all time sympathetic towards Islam and takes its point of view throughout, (actually POINTS of view) -- this is only what you would hope for from a book with this one's purpose. Granted, sometimes the he invidiously compares Judaism and Christianity, but never unreasonably I feel. He is relentlessly critical of historic & current western, including American, policies towards Muslim countries, not to mention the actions of the Israeli state. In my opinion, like the author's, there are huge injustices here which some of us would rather overlook: too bad if we do.

In the end, however, I feel I have come to understand the essence of Shariah law and hence the Islamist threat. The problem with Shariah law is not that it discriminates against women, (which it does), nor the barbaric, "prescribed" punishments, (e.g. cutting of the hands of thieves, which is would apply only extreme cases anyway). But in that Shariah depends NOT on the will of the governed, (as does western law in general), but SOLELY on the Will of God. Thus it does not rely on the test of human acceptance and is ultimately undemocratic. Shariah does not preclude democratically elected administrators but they must be subordinate to the religious jurists, i.e. the mullahs. It is as if authority in, say, the U.S. stemmed ultimately from a self-appoint Supreme Court rather than from Congress. Hence we see the likes of post-revolutional Iran.

I picked this book up from the discount bin (which is where it really belongs!) because I wanted to learn more about the largest religions in the world. However after reading even the first few pages, I was offended by the author's views of other religions. For some reason the author decides to start his book off with a prologue called 'A Stroll Through the Streets of G_d', which is political commentary on the situation in Jerusalem. He makes a number of insulting and factually incorrect statements, such as: -Describing jews as wanting a 'racially pure' Israel, implying that Israel is like nazi Germany wanting to be rid of the muslims. This is totally untrue, there are close to a million arabs (christian and muslim) living in Israel as full Israeli citizens -Claims that Jerusalem being a jewish city is a fabrication of might makes right. In fact jews have lived in the land of Israel for centuries long before there was ever an Islamic religion and the only times they fled were against their will as with the Roman and later Arab conquests. -The author claims that Israel drove out the muslims living near the Western wall so that jews could have a place of prayer. He states that those muslims had lived there for time immemorial and were probably living in a refugee camp now. Let's not forget the fact that under Jordanian rule, the jews of Jerusalem were forced out of there homes and not allowed to pray near the temple. The jewish quarter of jerusalem was overrun by the arabs at that point. -The author later insinuates that there is little evidence that the jewish holy temple existed in Jerusalem. This is laughable and no one with any knowledge of history or archaeology would accept this claim (which was pushed by none other than Yassir Arafat) Ill stop here but there are many, many, many more very insulting comments in this book. The author clearly has a distorted political agenda which he is trying to sell above and beyond trying to inform and educate people about Islam. I say this because instead of attempting to build bridges between people of different faiths, he opens his book with a number of attacks on jews and christians. If Islam is a religion of peace (as is claimed) then why not show it to the reader instead of pushing lies about Israel and neglecting to mention Islam's history of intolerance and violence against non-believers and so called infidels as well.

This book has a banal bias against Christians, the Jewish people and the State of Israel. It is filled with factual errors regarding Christianity and Judaism. It is propaganda disguised as a benign introduction to the Muslim faith.

The book isn't yet available. But, just reading its description and the brief background of the author, I'd question whether I would add this book to the several shelves of books I already have on Islam.

This is a "brief" guide, but is 416 pages. How does that qualify as brief???

More importantly, the author is described as: "...a London-based writer and self-styled student and traveler of the Islamic world". I have encountered many books on Islam already, by "self-styled" student/traveleer/writers on Islam. Most are not insightful, but superficial. It seems he was motivated to explain the escalating bad reputation that Islam has been getting.

The book probably shouldn't have gone to press. How up to date can this book really be? Does it deal with the world-wide intifada of Muslim violence over the Muhammad Cartoons from Denmark? Does it comment on the London demonstrations by Muslims, carrying signs calling for the beheading of cartoonists, or another "real" holocaust, or 9/11, for Britain? Does it comment on the Iranian president calling for Israel to be wiped off the map, and the other threats as that president moves headlong toward producing nuclear weapons?

Before WWII, there were "self-styled" students and travelers writing about Nazi Germany after visiting it, saying how people were mis-perceiving the rising Nazi tide.

There are more substantial books available dealing with Islam, like "Why I am not a Muslim" by Ibn Warraq; or the books by Robert Spencer. Spencer has two worthwhile websites: www.jihadwatch.org and dhimmiwatch.org. There are also websites by ex-Muslims, such as www.faithfreedom.org It will be intersting to compare this information to what Mr. Greive's book offers.