What do you think?
Rate this book
An Introduction to Islam in the 21st Century
This engaging introduction to Islam examines its lived reality, its worldwide presence, and the variety of beliefs and practices encompassed by the religion. The global perspective uniquely captures the diversity of Islam expressed throughout different countries in the present day.
- GenresReligionNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 7, 2013
DISCLAIMER. This is a textbook for a program of study. I read it for personal edification without the teaching structure it is designed to have.
I wanted to like this a great deal more than I did. The early chapters, dealing with Muslim theology, were the most interesting. Although once again I am reminded that just-before-you-fall-asleep reading is not ideal for theology or philosophy, where concepts build upon concepts, so falling asleep half way through means you have to start again from scratch.
But I digress. As is often the case with textbooks, the different sections, written by different authors, vary wildly in approach. So while I have a decent understanding of the development of sub Saharan African Islam's origins, I still have no idea really why the subcontinent seemed mostly-then-not-mostly Islamic around the time of the British takeover, and the former soviet states chapter looked purely at post-soviet Islam.
I found the later chapters mostly polemic. Given that it has never occurred to me that people would think shock-jocks actually know anything about Islam, I found it a little wearing at times. But I can understand the importance for contemporary US audiences.
It left me knowing a lot more than I started - which given I knew nothing wasn't hard. And I do have a hunger to read some more theology, so that's probably a success. But I was relieved to finish.
I wanted to like this a great deal more than I did. The early chapters, dealing with Muslim theology, were the most interesting. Although once again I am reminded that just-before-you-fall-asleep reading is not ideal for theology or philosophy, where concepts build upon concepts, so falling asleep half way through means you have to start again from scratch.
But I digress. As is often the case with textbooks, the different sections, written by different authors, vary wildly in approach. So while I have a decent understanding of the development of sub Saharan African Islam's origins, I still have no idea really why the subcontinent seemed mostly-then-not-mostly Islamic around the time of the British takeover, and the former soviet states chapter looked purely at post-soviet Islam.
I found the later chapters mostly polemic. Given that it has never occurred to me that people would think shock-jocks actually know anything about Islam, I found it a little wearing at times. But I can understand the importance for contemporary US audiences.
It left me knowing a lot more than I started - which given I knew nothing wasn't hard. And I do have a hunger to read some more theology, so that's probably a success. But I was relieved to finish.
Displaying 1 of 1 review