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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
This collection, meant to introduce contemporary Islamic faithto a wide audience, begins with a not-so-contemporary essay by HustonSmith. Taken from the classic The World's Religions, firstpublished in 1958, Smith's masterful essay on Islam sets the tone forthis remarkable collection. Some of our finest writers, fromhistorians Karen Armstrong and Bernard Lewis to literary giantsWilliam T. Vollman and V. S. Naipaul, explore the faith of Islam, itsadherents, and its conflicts. Vollman's brilliant and disturbing essayon life under the Taliban in Afghanistan is particularly compelling,as is Akbar Ahmed's exploration of the prophet Muhammad'ssignificance. The editors have also collected, unfortunately, a coupleof lesser pieces, most notably Ryszard Kapuscinski's awkwardly writtenand out-of-date history of Sh'ism in Iran, which refers to the shah inthe present tense. But on the whole, splendid writing carries theday. Only the final essay, Fareed Zakaria's response to September 11,entitled "Why They Hate Us," directly addresses September 11, butthroughout the book, the tension between Islamic fundamentalism andmodernity is palpable. Many opinions on contemporary Islam areincluded, from Bernard Lewis' controversial essay that coined thephrase "Clash of Civilizations" to Michael Wolfe's powerful experienceof Islam's peacefulness in "Mecca." Deeper introductions to Islamexist, but none has the quality of writing collected here. (For moregreat books about the Islamic world, see the Read-alikes column on theopposite page.) John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
—O, The Oprah Magazine
"Standout essays in this essential book."
See all Editorial Reviews
This collection, meant to introduce contemporary Islamic faithto a wide audience, begins with a not-so-contemporary essay by HustonSmith. Taken from the classic The World's Religions, firstpublished in 1958, Smith's masterful essay on Islam sets the tone forthis remarkable collection. Some of our finest writers, fromhistorians Karen Armstrong and Bernard Lewis to literary giantsWilliam T. Vollman and V. S. Naipaul, explore the faith of Islam, itsadherents, and its conflicts. Vollman's brilliant and disturbing essayon life under the Taliban in Afghanistan is particularly compelling,as is Akbar Ahmed's exploration of the prophet Muhammad'ssignificance. The editors have also collected, unfortunately, a coupleof lesser pieces, most notably Ryszard Kapuscinski's awkwardly writtenand out-of-date history of Sh'ism in Iran, which refers to the shah inthe present tense. But on the whole, splendid writing carries theday. Only the final essay, Fareed Zakaria's response to September 11,entitled "Why They Hate Us," directly addresses September 11, butthroughout the book, the tension between Islamic fundamentalism andmodernity is palpable. Many opinions on contemporary Islam areincluded, from Bernard Lewis' controversial essay that coined thephrase "Clash of Civilizations" to Michael Wolfe's powerful experienceof Islam's peacefulness in "Mecca." Deeper introductions to Islamexist, but none has the quality of writing collected here. (For moregreat books about the Islamic world, see the Read-alikes column on theopposite page.) John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
—O, The Oprah Magazine
"Standout essays in this essential book."
See all Editorial Reviews
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