Radical Islam's Rules: The Worldwide Spread of Extreme Shari'a Law [Hardcover]

Paul Marshall (Editor, Contributor), Maarten G. Barends (Contributor), Hamouda Bella (Contributor), Mehrangiz Kar (Contributor), Kavian Milani (Contributor), the Rand Corporation (Contributor), Peter G. Riddell (Contributor), Stephen Schwartz (Contributor), Nina Shea (Contributor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0742543617 | ISBN-13: 978-0742543614 | Publication Date: March 3, 2005

A major feature of the rise of Islamism in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and parts of the West is the rapid growth of a starkly repressive version of Islamic shari'a law, often fueled by funds and support from Saudi Arabia. The central purpose of Islamists, including terrorists, is to impose such law in all Muslim lands, and then throughout the world in a new Caliphate. Despite its importance, this worldwide growth of extreme shari'a is under-documented and little understood. By a comparative study over the last twenty-five years of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Nigeria, Malaysia, and Indonesia, this book shows its terrible effects on human rights, especially the status of women and religious freedom, of Muslims as well as religious minorities, and on democracy itself. It also shows that such laws are a direct threat to the American interest of advancing democracy and human rights, that the United States lacks a policy for dealing with the spread of extreme shari'a, and concludes with policy recommendations for the United States regarding specific countries confronting extreme shari'a.

Editorial Reviews

Review

That theocracies do exist—and must be resisted by U.S. foreign policy—is ably demonstrated in the anthology Radical Islam's Rules: The Worldwide Spread of Extreme Shari'a Law. Edited by Paul Marshall, a senior fellow at Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom, the book includes ten essays describing how radical Muslims—including the Wahhabists of Saudi Arabia—have fostered the rise of religion-based oppression worldwide. (National Review )

Deeply sobering essays by human-rights experts and students of Islam. (Foreign Affairs )

In an anthology produced by the Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom, human rights professionals, scholars, and journalists outline the nature and spread of 'shari'a' law, using seven countries to represent the geographical spread and stages of its effects. (Reference & Research Book News )

About the Author

Paul Marshall is senior fellow at the Center for Religious Freedom, Freedom House. He has lectured worldwide and is general editor of Religious Freedom in the World: A Global Report on Freedom and Persecution. He is the author and editor of 15 other books on religion and politics, including the best-selling and award-winning Their Blood Cries Out, and Islam at the Crossroads and God and the Constitution, both published in 2002. Dr. Marshall has published many scholarly and popular articles and his writings have been translated into Russian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Malay, Korean, Arabic, and Chinese. He currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (March 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742543617
• ISBN-13: 978-0742543614
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,139,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Riddell took his PhD at the Australian National University, focusing on Islam in Southeast Asia. He studied Qur'anic Exegesis at L'Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes/Sorbonne (Paris) and held a post-doctoral fellowship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has previously taught at the Australian National University, the Institut Pertanian Bogor (Indonesia), the London School of Oriental and African Studies, and was appointed as Professor of Islamic Studies at the London School of Theology, where he served from 1996-2007 as the founding Director of the Centre for Islamic Studies and Muslim-Christian Relations. He currently serves as Professorial Dean of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths at the Melbourne School of Theology in Australia, and is also Senior Fellow with the Kairos Journal.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sharia Shari'a Laws in Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, S.A., etc., September 11, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: Radical Islam's Rules: The Worldwide Spread of Extreme Sharia Law (Paperback)

From the 2005 paper-back jacket (226 pgs): "A significant consequence of the rise of Islamism in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and other regions of the world is the rapid growth of a starkly repressive version of Islamic shari'a law, often fueled by funds and support from Saudi Arabia. Despite its importance, this worldwide growth of extreme shari'a is under-documented and little understood. Through a detailed comparative analysis of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Nigeria, Malaysia, and Indonesia, the contributors to this timely book document its terrible effects on human rights -- especially the status of women and religious freedom -- of Muslims as well as religious minorities, and of democracy itself. This book also makes a compelling argument that such laws are a direct threat to the Western interest of advancing democracy and human rights. Democratic nations and international human rights groups lack any meaningful policy for dealing with the spread of extreme shari'a." This book "concludes with policy recommendations for the United States regarding specific countries confronting extreme shari'a. Contributors are: M. Barends: teaches law at the University of Leiden; H.F. Bella: was the director of the Sudan Human Rights Organization in Cairo; Mehrangis Kar: Iranian lawyer (Amnesty International names her a 'human rights hero' in 2002); P. Marshall: senior fellow at Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom; P.G. Riddell: professor of the Center for Islamic Studies at the London School of Theology, Brunel University; S. Schwartz: journalist; Nina Shea: former vice-chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; R.J. Woolsey: former director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Provides specificly identified (numbered) Shari'a laws in seven major Muslim countries. Written in a scholarly, well-researched manner; not in a "Bible thumper's" style so commonly seen from some religious institutions.

37 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars poor title for a great book, November 17, 2005

By 

J. Adams "History buff" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Radical Islam's Rules: The Worldwide Spread of Extreme Sharia Law (Paperback)

I don't know why the author agreed to the title of this book because it is not a compendium of "radical" rules, it is a collection of Islam in its purist form. Having spent many years in countries where Islam is the real law, as opposed to the Western notions of a separation of "church" and state, this is a very well done exposition of what anyone who believes in the freedoms taken for granted in Western societies has to contend with where Islam is in control. bin Laden and his followers are not "extremists". They are not "fundamentalists". They are trying to get Islam back to the "good old days" of the 7th century. The Koran is not just another religious text that is subject to debate and discussion. It is the FINAL authority. Period. For those who cite passages of the Old Testament as examples of religious extremism, they do not understand that this "ultimate" word is the last, undisputed, and undisputable set of rules for mankind. Any dissent is a death sentence. If you don't think so, go to Saudi Arabia and try to debate the issue. Of course if you are a non Muslim, you can't go to Mecca or Medina. Sort of like not being allowed into the Vatican if you aren't a practicing Catholic.
The book does a good job of showing the world as bin Laden and his followers are killing thousands of "infidels" to get to, but we will have to learn the hard way, after many more 9/11's, as to what this means.