Faith at War: A Journey on the Frontlines of Islam, from Baghdad to Timbuktu [Hardcover]

Yaroslav Trofimov (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0805077545 | ISBN-13: 978-0805077544 | Publication Date: April 14, 2005 | Edition: First Edition

An eye-opening political travelogue that reveals the Muslim world as never before

Drawing on reporting from more than a dozen Islamic countries, Faith at War offers an unforgettable portrait of the Muslim world after September 11. Choosing to invert the question of what "they" have done to "us," Wall Street Journal reporter Yaroslav Trofimov examines the unprecedented American intrusion in the Muslim heartland and the ripples it has caused far beyond the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq. What emerges is a penetrating portrait of people, faith, and countries better known in caricature than reported detail. The ordinary Muslims, influential clerics, warlords, jihadis, intellectuals and heads of state we meet are engaged in conversations that reveal the Muslim world to us from a new, unexpected perspective.

In Mali, one of the most successful democracies in Africa, we encounter Ousmane Madani Haidara, an influential cleric who sees Wahhabi extremists, rather than his country's secular government, as the real enemy of the true faith. In Saudi Arabia, we explore the bizarre world of exporting dead bodies from a kingdom that bars the burial of non-Muslims. On a US Navy aircraft carrier floating just off the coast of Pakistan in October 2001, we witness the mechanics of war: the onboard assembly of bombs that, hours later, are seen on T.V. exploding in Kabul. And in Iraq, we accompany Trofimov as he negotiates his escape from an insurgent mob, rides in a Humvee with trigger-happy GIs, and gets lectured by a Shiite holy man on why America is the foe of mankind.

Whether exploring the badlands of the Sahara or a snow-covered village of Bosnian mujahedeen, Faith at War helps us understand the hidden relationships and often surprising connections, so crucial to America's future, that link the Islamic world to our own.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Trofimov covers Islamic culture for the Wall Street Journal, a wide beat that has him reporting stories from West Africa to Central Asia and even in Eastern Europe. This political travelogue includes dispatches from the front lines of the American invasion of Iraq and the subsequent attempts at creating a democratic regime. There are plenty of by now familiar stories of American troops and politicians bumbling through an increasingly resentful Iraqi society (including the deaths of an Italian diplomat and legitimate Iraqi politician at the hands of U.S. troops). But Trofimov gets fresh material on Saudi Arabia, where, despite severe economic downturns, men continue to hire thousands of foreign workers because they refuse to trust fellow "sex-obsessed" Saudis to chauffeur their wives who are forbidden from driving. By contrast, in the African nation of Mali, Islam exists comfortably alongside indigenous religions, resulting in a healthy democratic environment. If there isn't much of a theme to all this globe hopping beyond showing that Islam is a lot more diverse than most Americans realize, Trofimov puts just the right blend of cultural perspective and personal experience into his tour.
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Review

"To read Yaroslav Trofimov's dispatches from around the Muslim world in The Wall Street Journal was to find the unexpected, the interesting and the true. Now he has delivered a beautifully written book that is at once enormously well reported, humane and amusing, even as he takes on such serious subjects as the deeply flawed occupation of Iraq. I could not recommend it more highly."
--Peter Bergen, CNN terrorism analyst, author of Holy War, Inc.

"Yaroslav Trofimov writes in such an eloquent and vivid way that, while reading this fascinating book, we involuntarily travel with its author through the lands of Islam. It is an immensely instructive expedition inside a world that amazes us with its richness, variety, and astonishing paradoxes."
--Ryszard Kapuscinski

"Yaroslav Trofimov's Faith at War is not only a breathtaking account of what a sharp-eyed reporter sees, feels and understands under fire and duress while crisscrossing the Muslim world set ablaze by the consequences of 9/11; it is also a great contribution to the intricate relation between faith, war and terror which is at the core of the new century and will be molding the state of world affairs for quite a while. A brilliant narrative, with a vibrant human dimension."
--Gilles Kepel, Professor and Chair of Middle East Studies, Institute of Political Studies, Paris; author of The War for Muslim Minds and Jihad

"Faith at War is a clear-eyed and compelling narrative from behind the front lines of the ever escalating conflict between Islam and the West. From Jeddah to Baghdad, from Kabul to Beirut, Trofimov's stories of death, honor, intrigue and war provide a penetrating, nuanced, and necessary antidote to the bland homilies of the nightly news."
--Craig Unger, author of House of Bush, House of Saud

f0 "A landmark book about the crisis of Islam today. Trofimov takes us into a Muslim world as much at war with itself as it is with American cultural hegemony, to places where McDonald's competes with Wahhabi fundamentalism and memory of the Crusades is as fresh as rage over the most recent air strike by American F-18s. His work brings to mind the best of V. S. Naipaul."
--Evan Wright, author of Generation Kill

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.; First Edition edition (April 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805077545
• ISBN-13: 978-0805077544
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,480,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arab Perspectives on the 2001 Iraq War, June 13, 2005

By 

William Garrison Jr. (Bellevue, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Faith at War: A Journey on the Frontlines of Islam, from Baghdad to Timbuktu (Hardcover)

Although the author traveled throughout the Middle East during the 1990s (as a roving foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal), this book is based on his travels through various Islamic countries: Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Mali and Bosnia, in 2001-2004. With his knowledge of Arabic he was able to have direct talks with many Muslim leaders and civilians. He was always diligent in asking almost each individual as to why they disliked U.S. military personnel in liberating Iraq from Saddam, and why they wanted the U.S. military out of Iraq and quickly as possible. He notes how the average Saudi's income has "shrunk by as much as three-quarters in one generation." Explained why Saudi's fear the U.S. presence there to control the Middle East and keep oil prices low (okay, sounds fairly reasonable, besides the pro-democracy pitch). One Saudi holy man didn't want to talk to the author because he didn't want to "be defiled by direct contact with me." Trofimov noted how Saudi's don't like visitors, and journalists even less. Saudi's like to know which Islamic "sect" you belong to. He noted that Saudi officials don't like foreign businesses to have an "X" it their name, because it "looks too much like a Christian cross" (pg.8). Trofimov notes how Islamists dislike the Sufis. The author notes how Hindu workers who live in Saudi cannot be cremated there because the practice is barred by the Sharia; so the Hindu corpse has to be shipped out (pg.13). Non-Muslims cannot be buried in Saudi Arabia, because they would defile the land. So some are buried in the semi-secret non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah (p.14). While women can't drive cars, they can drive small dune buggies at parks. There are literally hundreds of these small, personal "snippets" that one doesn't read in U.S. newspapers; they alone are worth buying this book. The author notes how he traveled behind U.S. military forces that invaded Iraq; and the perils of driving unescorted by the military. The author discusses the road blocks, the aftermath of some of the suicide attacks, and being shot at. This is not a history book on Arabia; this is really more of a "travel adventure" book -- but of your worst nightmare: in the Iraqi combat zone. There are so many fine things to say about this book, written by an individual who "was there" during the liberation of Iraq, and one who witnessed the building frustration by some Iraqis to the American presence there. Nor to be overlooked are the findings by Trofimov about how Muslims in the other Arab countries that he visited view the American adventure into Iraq. Many, many personal anecdotes written by a reporter who got away from Baghdad's "Green Zone" to talk with the villagers.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Personal Journey - An Exciting Personal Account, June 26, 2005

By 

Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty (Port Orford, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Faith at War: A Journey on the Frontlines of Islam, from Baghdad to Timbuktu (Hardcover)

First of all let me say: I love first-person accounts of events and activities. There is nothing more fascinating, in my opinion, than reading about the experiences that someone has endured firsthand and who is providing an interpretation of those very experiences. Even more fascinating and, for that matter, relevant, is someone who is providing us with a diary or journal about contemporary events that we are watching or reading about on the daily news via television, radio, magazines, and the newspapers. Yaroslav Trofimov, in his book "Faith at War," is doing just that.

While I may contest the author's interpretations of the experiences he has had, I cannot in good faith dispute the "facts" of his experiences. He is, so to speak, "telling it as it is and as it was," and I cannot argue with that, considering the fact he has "been there" and "done that." I have not experienced what he has, nor have I gone where he has gone. I have to listen to what he has to say, as does every reader of his book. He has, however, provided me with an insight into much which I didn't understand and which, I hope, others who read his book, can begin to understand as well.

Considering what is going on "really" in our world today, Trofimov, in his "Faith at War," does provide a window that all of us need to consider and contemplate. There is no question about the relevance of his subject. Islam and what is going on in the Middle East is important to us all. Trofimov, who covers the Middle East and Islamic culture for the "Wall Street Journal," gives us an insightful look into what is going on and what may be anticipated in that part of the world.

I think what impressed me most about Trofimov's book is the lack of an obvious political agenda, a problem which afflicts most books about the Middle East "problem" today and which he seems to deliberately avoid. His appears to be merely a "sane" account of his own experiences as those experiences occurred. While no personal narrative is completely free of some editorial position, Trofimov certainly doesn't, in my view, flaunt any particular political prejudice.

I was particularly interested in his discussion of Mali, a "democratic" country in Africa where most of the people are Muslim. This was news to me; but, then, I don't currently study African nations or society. While I was under the impression that almost every country which was Islamic was "undemocratic" by nature of the religion, it was refreshing to learn that that was not exactly true.

The journey that Trofimov takes is actually awesome. The book begins in Saudi Arabia (and he provides some information that every American needs to know), proceeds on to Tunisia ("Teaching Freud to the Mullahs," 'nuff said), then on to Yemen and Kuwait, then on to Iraq (very, very interesting to say the least), then on to Afghanistan for two chapters, ending with chapters on Lebanon, Mali (the "Muslim democracy"), and finally Bosnia (which is primarily Muslim in case you have forgotten or not watched the news for the past decade).

This book is a personal journal or diary. There is no getting around that. But it is an interesting and intriguing account from a first-rate observer of the contemporary scene. There is, in my view, no getting around that. The author also provides an interesting and valuable glossary of religious and political terms related to the subject he is discussing, an index of topics, and a number of maps so the reader can place geographical areas and regions in context. Hurray for those tools, especially for the ordinary reader who is not a specialist.

Altogether, I recommend this book just on the basis that I enjoyed reading it. Like I said, I enjoy reading first-person accounts. Maybe it's the psychology of the "vicarious" experience. Whatever, Trofimov's book is a good read and an exciting adventure and I think most readers who are interested in what's going on in our world today will like this book. Highly recommended.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars read this to understand "why they hate us", May 28, 2005

By 

Michele Wucker "Author of LOCKOUT and WHY THE... (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Faith at War: A Journey on the Frontlines of Islam, from Baghdad to Timbuktu (Hardcover)

This beautifully reported and written book give readers a real on-the-ground feel for how people in the Muslim world view America and how 9/11 and our intervention in Iraq have intensified feelings about American power, consumerism, and intentions. Particularly compelling are this book's insights into how religion defines so many aspects of life and how others are viewed. Even as you are disgusted at some of the abuses perpetrated on the Muslim world by its own leaders, you will be ashamed at the insensitive behavior of American soldiers and strategic mistakes that undermine the benevolent image that many Americans want to believe characterizes our efforts to "bring democracy" to the Middle East. The author does not let either side off the hook. Reading FAITH AT WAR will help readers understand why the results of the Iraq invasion fell so far from what was hoped for. This is a much-needed critical view of the Middle East from the point of view of those who live there.