Customer Reviews

Islam (DK Eyewitness Books)

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

 

 

If you want your child to read a first book about Islam, "DK Eyewitness Islam" is a perfect place to begin. The book is positive, educational, beautifully illustrated, packed with tidbits of information.

Another reviewer, probably Muslim, suggested an Arabic store would have better books. If you live in a large city and have access to an Arabic store, he is probably right. However, if you want to have a speaking knowledge of Islam and and the Islamic world, then look no further.

"DK Eyewitness Islam" takes the reader logically through Early Arabia, the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, and other Islam-related topics. Closely aligned with Islam is its spread--through teaching, writing, and conquests. Culture, cities, trade, the Crusades--all are important in the spread of Islam.

The second half of the book is devoted to specific countries or regions where Islam took root: Spain, Africa, Mongolia, the Ottoman Empire, India, Iran, China, Southeast Asia and their food, festivals, dress, and the Islamic society that developed there.

All in all, this is one of the better Eyewitness books with a broad overview of the subject: Islam.

One of my Core Knowledge units that I use with my fourth graders is a unit on Islam. This book is very comprehensive and has great images. The kids like reading this book and it teaches them more than the boring textbook. Definitely worth every penny!

Effectively, this book through clear and concise text and some very colourful pictures manages to elegantly convey the history of Islam. It takes a simple approach in describing events and facts that shaped Islam as a religion and a way of life for over one and half billion people on this planet with a neutral "Eye Witness" tone all through. I quit enjoyed reading it and my kids would definitely find it a useful book on the history and traditions of their heritage as Moslems. The book manages to touch on some of the sensitive issues such as the division that exists among Moslem sects without taking sides. It shows the Islamic world's contributions to the Sciences and Literature and other aspects of life in a beautiful approach accompanied with pictures of manuscripts, building and people.

Islamic rituals and basics of faith are listed and described is a nice simplistic fashion even those that may sound a bit strange to non-Moslems are elegantly put in words and pictures that bring their significance and beauty and gives a path for understanding and appreciation rather than criticism or ridicule.

How Good Is this Book? Well, there are a few things that pop here and there which may not be acceptable to Moslems even though they are mentioned in the book, such as having pictures of the Archangel Gabriel or the Caliphs. As depiction of some of the founders of Islam by images is not a practice that is adopted by Moslems. The book is not intended to preach or teach Islam, its just simply telling it as it is; there is no depth to any of the discussion of the spiritual concepts of Islam and it definitely does not shed any tangible light on understanding the complex relation that exists between Islam's different sects or Islam relationship with the rest of the world based on the current political events despite some references to past events such as the death of the Prophet Muhammed (Peace & Blessing Be Upon Him) and the struggle for ruling the Moslem nation, crusades, the Mongols, Spain and Ottoman empire which directly or indirectly have influenced the perception of current events. It's after all intended for children. I'm looking forward to getting the books about the other religions.

So, this is as clear and as simple as you can discuss a religion such as Islam with a long complex history in a book this little. Enjoy!!!

Prepare to be amazed by the amount of concise information and beautiful pictures jammed into this small book. A definite keeper!

This book in my opinion is a very good book about Islam (The faith with over a billion followers worldwide), I have read this book several times and it explains the differences and similarities that Muslims share with each other, especially the two dominant groups in Islam: The Sunnites and the Shiites, and that nearly 85% of the worlds Muslims are Sunni, and only 15% are Shiite who make up the vast majority of the population in Iran 89%, Iraq 62-64%, Azerbaijan 75%, and Bahrain 70%. And also in Islam, Sunni and Shiite Muslims are divided into different groups such as the Druze, and the Alawite who are the largest religious minority in Syria.

I was searching for an unbiased book on Islam and DK is usually pretty good. This book is OK for a very general look at what Islam is about. It still lumps all the Islamic countries into very broad categories. Its OK but if you really want something without the Western bias, go to an Arabic book store. There are quite a few online.

I respect all the comments here and appreciate the effort of the author to shed light on the history of Islam for children. But this effort has actually portrayed Islam totally against its values. 124,000 prophets including Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Them) are the most respected personlaities than any other man ever existed on the face of the earth. Creating their imaginary images and blending these images with the images of half naked flying creatures to throw the idea of them being Angels is not only far from reality but also VERY disturbing for me. I don't want my kids to fantacize about their beliefs. My kids don't waste their time in reading books about santa claus or tooth fairy or halloween. If they read this book they will be naturally inclined to place Islamic beliefs in the same category as Santa Claus flying to distribute gifts. With this book, the author has failed to tell the kids what Islam is. She is unintentionally widening the already existing gap between kids of different cultures and religions. I strongly recommend that this book be taken off shelves. I am also going to formally file a complaint against this book in my local library where my wife picked it up from.

Not much content in the book. Just a child's picture book. I was looking for something with great photography and content to use in a class. This is not the book to use.