Customer Reviews

Islam for Dummies

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I would have given this book 5 stars based on content, but I have to take off a star due to the absolutely horrible editing. The publisher should be ashamed - typos EVERYWHERE ('Google' is mispelled 'Goggle' multiple times), even a couple of garbled/transposed sentences (a section comparing and constrasting Sunnis, Shias, and Sufis is just incomprehensible due to transpositions).

But putting that aside, the author is extremely knowledgable and very fair, and not without a dry sense of humor (check out the section on the possibility of women's sexual pleasure in paradise). He's also a Christian. Personally, I think it's a good idea for these sorts of books to be written by those outside the faith; a believer can never be fully objective, by definition.

I eagerly anticipated this book after finishing the delightful Judaism for Dummies. That book, written by two Jewish men, was funny, warm, and informative. It was full of helpful hints and personal anecdotes. I feel like I got not just the facts but also the flavor of certain aspects of Jewish culture.

This is not that book. This book, written by a Christian college professor, is academic and dry. The structure, with its long chapters, begs devoted study, not the kind of "when you can find the time" style that seems more suited to dummies like me. I was disappointed that it was written by a non-Muslim, as I could have grabbed any scholarly text just to learn the facts (my favorite part of Judaism for Dummies is how personal it was, and I really thought I would read stories about growing up Muslim and rites of passage and the little things that matter to a believer that a non-believer wouldn't immediately notice on his own). As this is my first serious study of the history and beliefs of Islam, I can't make any guesses on accuracy, but with this style of writing, I don't know that I'm going to be around to notice any major mistakes in the last third of the book.

I will probably finish the book because I'm stubborn, and I really am interested in knowing what Muslims believe, but I wish I had chosen a different book to start my study. Or maybe that I hadn't read an entertaining Dummies book before falling asleep on top of this one.

Prof. Warren Malcolm Clark did an excent job in explaining many fundamental doctrines, ideas, and rituals of Islam. [...] I have to say that Prof. Clark has created a unique approach to Islamic issues. He tried to avoid typical Western attitude toward Islam and Muslims. And he was quite successful in that. I am looking forward to meet him in person to congratulate him for his remarkable academic and popular contribution in an area of such a great importance.

When you buy these for dummies or idiots guide's books its always a grab bag. Either they presuppose you are a total moron, and fill the book with so much fluff that you end up getting very little actual knowledge of the topic. Or, they present the material in a semi-academic manner and you actually learn something. Thank god this book is the latter of the two. The book is well structured, and presented from a realistic point of view. At no point in the book are Muslims presented as evil or good. They are people, who just happen to view life from a completely different perspective than most Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists Taoists....any religion. Yes the book lacks silly anecdotes and the perspective of a Muslim. However silly anecdotes tend to take the place of concrete information and a Muslim perspective would only provide bias (if you doubt me read The Complete Idiot's Guide To Judaism. It reads like a Children's book with the goal of conversion). For the reviewer that labeled this book dry and lacking humor I recommend a children's book on Islam. They have very little words, a whole lot of silliness, and plenty of pictures. You should probably have time for that

I've read and own many of the "For Dummies" series, and this one doesn't deserve the title. It's dry, un-entertaining, and the author seems out of touch with his topic, focusing on minority groups and sects, as well as more obscure parts of the religion that don't exactly apply to Muslims as practiced today. I've since gone back and found factual errors or a misleading representation inside it. I wouldn't recommend the book, save your money on someone else.

Instead, I got "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam" by Yahiya Emerick, and found him a much more articulate author, who explained it in plain english; something that this "For Dummies" author didn't do so well.

I have been deeply saddened by the ongoing conflict between Christianity and Islam - when I thought we shared so many beliefs. So, I bought this book to educate me - and hopefully enlighten me. I can't compare it to any other intro book on Islam because this is the only one I have read. But I am learning a lot about the beliefs, history and internal structure of Isalm, about the Prophet Muhammad and of the different sects within Islam. (some times too much history of names and dates and who did what to whom believing they were the next in line to lead Islam).

Bottom line is that I learned a lot - about Islam, and also about their issues and concerns about Jesus and (separately) about the Christian churches and their beleifs/dogma. I am still absorbing and thinking about all this.

This has been a very helpful book to me.

This is a horrible representation of Islam. This book openly bashes the shia community as well as misrepresents the sufis. Most importantly, this book has many simplistic errors in interpreting islam. This Christian professor of an author is extremely bias in his writings. I personally recommend The complete idiot's guide to understanding islam. Thank you.

Although, as other reviews have mentioned, the books is quite dry and informative, it does provide the reader with and adequate aquaintance to Islam. As far as I can tell, this book (although not written by a Muslim) does not have a pro or anti-Muslim bias. It is meant to inform, not persuade. I feel that this is the reason it is a bit tasteless.

Salaam Aliakum,
RSM

The coverage was very straight forward and provided basic information for someone who was not familiar with Isalm. It is a good book to become familiar with Islam and to understand basic beliefs. It is a good basic refernce book.

Gives a great insite to the islamic people in an easy to understand context. Answers questions you might be hesitant to ask of Islamic people.