Rating: 
Summary: A Brave Voice in the Chaos
Review: Dear Ms Manji,
You are a brave, bright voice in this mad, chaotic world!
Your subject is well overdue. Your style is best suited for the informations you want to share. I red The Trouble With Islam in one sitting; could not put down until I realized with regret that I finished it. I am so glad that you are a woman. Progressive, clear minded and brave! Let us hope that you are not alone and there are more bright women in the Islamic world who will speak up and help to change their environment to the better. I am a Central European living in Canada, not a moslem, but I am most interested in seeing the wake-up of other women in that part of the world where the Dark Ages are still the reality of the day, no thanks for the clerics. What a waste of talents! Keep up and never give up!
Rating: 
Summary: She Tried but not enough!
Review: I personaly agree with must of thing that she's saying in the book but but it seems like she didn't have enough information (lack of source ) in this book.
another good book in this subject : Shadow's of the 3rd century ( read this and then decide for your self)
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT BOOK ON A SENSITIVE TOPIC!
Review: It's almost unheard of to hear what Muslim women think of their religion and their society. This was an eye-opener for me. The book is very well written and is full of perspectives the media rarely covers.I just finished reading another book called, "The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land," by Donna Rosenthal. This is an amazing book. It's one of the best written, well researched books I've ever read. The writer's style is incredible; you won't want to put it down!
Rating: 
Summary: lack of substance
Review: Other than its obvoius appeal to people lacking any depth of knowledge in critical matters of theology, politics, history, sociology or psychology, the narrative is replete with contradictions and is overtly personal. If anyone tries to use this as their introduction to the world's second largest religion, then good luck to them. Of course all muslim's desires reforms in the social systems and traditions which have used religion as a shield but as a consequence, distorted it to perpetuate their own socio-political agendas. But if religion were to be reformed according to the wishes of every individual, so that they may find the necessary acceptance for their own moral shortcomings, then some day even a rapist or a murderer might claim that the religion needs reform, since it fails to accept them into its fold. The writer's admiration for the state of israel and the US further diminsh her credibility, as the collusion of the two has been responsible for the religious, as well as racial apartheid of a whole people.
Rating:
Summary: A Sober Voice in Islam
Review: Irshad Manji is the fresh, youthful, and decenting voice of Islam. For those of you whom may not be aware of this, MS magazine named her "Feminist for the 20th Century." She is an avid journalist and author who hosts her own television program BIG IDEAS in Toronto (where she resides). She is a gay rights activist who obviously might be overlooked for her views on Islam solely on that basis, because she is openly lesbian; which of course is a huge shame, because what she has to say here is so very needed in our chaotic and war torn times. There is a lot of struggle in Islam today with a clash of voices striving to be heard in it's community, and here lies a woman unafraid to speak on the real issues at hand. She is a devoted Muslim, but also an outspoken advocate for change. I'd like to review some of the ideas she sets forward in this magnificent work to give you a taste on how engaging of a woman she is. She is a promoter for democracy in the world of Islam, looking for equal rights for women in all Islamic states. She has an encouraging and hopeful voice for us all. She states how there is absolutely no passage in the Koran dealing with the role of government in the lives of a country's citizenry, which she uses as an argument for why Islamic regimes have no founded basis in Islamic law originally. She believes that Islam and democracy are highly compatible, and is convinced that the state of the religion is in fact not beyond the possibility of reform. She criticizes the fundamentalist Muslims across the globe who feel that the Koran is the end all say so when it comes to the revelation of God, believing that absolutely no license for interpretation is appropriate. Islam actually had until the 11th century a movement that sounds similar to jihad, that advocated independent thinking and analysis. But for strong political reasons, it died out very early on. Unlike violent jihad, it was a movement designed for Islamic introspection and a kind of "free will."; completely in line with a democratic form of government. Having grown up in North America, she was overjoyed that she was able to practice her religion under the freedom and protection offered by American law; some might use that as a basis for being biased in terms of critical analysis of North American policy making. Yet that aside, the freedom to think for herself impacted her life profoundly, giving her the opportunity to make a book like this one; a book which undoubtedly would never make the shelf in most Middle Eastern countries. To research and challenge and be challenged on her views of Islam, stating without the freedom to practice like she did in a democratic country she feels she may very well have ended up an atheist. She doesn't want to sound supremacist in her words, but indeed she does believe that there is one Creator for all people; precisely because she had the freedom, minus the oppression, to cultivate her own well educated and introspective views on the matter. Not handed down to her with an iron fist. She does not feel she must sacrifice her thinking and intellectual aspect of life simply because it is widely accepted in the Islamic world that a practitioner does so. She was kicked out of her Muslim grade school at a young age for asking too many questions. This is where her life apparently took on this missionary outlook. She decided she could either relish her North American self, or become a devout Muslim, two issues she grappled with. She found what in this book reflects the "middle ground" in it all, looking for evidence in Islam to support her thoughts on the matter. I could go on and on here, but I'm probably limited in space. So I'll just end the review with the following recommendation: Please purchase this book. It's at once eye opening and inspiring. Enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Salman Rushdie Wannabe
Review: Lame attempt to ride on the "Islam Bashing" bandwagon. I'd rather read same material in the New York Times by Nicolas Kristoff and Thomas Friedman, far better writers and analysts than this emotionally charged author, desperate to impress the western world.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read for political commentary buffs like me
Review: I am not a Muslim, and actually I don't know much about Islam. I picked this book up mostly to see how the author reconciled open homosexuality with her faith.
That said, I found it a very enjoyable read. Her writing contains personal anecdotes and references to popular culture that I could relate to easily. She gives good (although obviously not neutral) background on the history of the Islamic empire. She does not require the reader to have a facile understanding of Islam to grasp her basic points (although it might have added some depth).
I also found it a nice change that she suggested some solutions to the problems identified in her social commentary. True, they are simplistic and idealistic, and she spends no time on how they might actually be facilitated, but at least she has devoted some time to positive solutions to the negative trends she identifies.
The author's writing style is clear and made for an easy and fast read. I would recommend this book to other people who enjoy reading political commentary.
Rating:
Summary: The most Beautiful Book
Review: This is the most Beautiful book, but its not just the writing thats wonderful. The cover of this book includes the most mesmerizing set of eyes I've seen in my entire life. This is a heroic work written by one of the most beautiful set of eyes in the world. Just wonderful, a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Gutsy, honest, soul-searching
Review: For straight talk, it's hard to top Manji. Reading her book, one feels much the same delight as a child receiving a rare visit from a favorite aunt. Here is a dashing, erudite young woman unafraid to tell us exactly what's what. No mom-and-pop euphemisms for Manji. She's been there, she's done her homework, and she's more than willing to field those awkward questions hardly anyone dares talk about. In short, she wants to make sure you get it: Islam has seen better days - and it could see much better ones - but not without change. Manji knows something about change. She and her parents are Canadian Muslims, born in Uganda. They were among the 45,000 people of South Asian heritage exiled from Uganda in 1972 by the dictator Idi Amin. Growing up Canadian, Manji inevitably faced the inherent contradictions between her rights as a citizen of a free society and the medieval constraints imposed upon women (and men) within mainstream Islam in the Arabist tradition. This slim volume (217 pages) is not so much a biography as a believer's journey, focusing on her spiritual struggles and how they have informed her views on Islam's origins, development and future. Buddhists, Hindus and Christians all have their strict literalists. "The trouble with Islam," says Manji, is that only in Islam do these literalists dominate the mainstream, insisting that their faith is the only true faith; their interpretations, the only permissible interpretations; their way of life, the only moral way of life. Engaging in critical thinking and free speech becomes a dangerous proposition. The fatwah authorizing the murder of Indian-born author Salman Rushdie is only the most familiar of many, many examples, in which Muslim intellectuals and reformers have been threatened with paying the ultimate price for speaking their minds - or actually have been killed. Predictably, Manji too now lives with death threats. She remains a woman of faith. Refusing to abandon either Islam or her rights in a civil society, she insists upon both. In particular, she calls upon Muslims who enjoy civil liberties in the West, to also speak out. She envisions a day when mainstream Islam worldwide would recognize and promote women's equal rights, repudiate rampant anti-semitism, and condemn such evils as slavery and cruelly excessive punishments. Those who condemn Manji's stand would more credibly direct their energies to ending the evils above. In every religion, what one does counts for more than what one says.
Rating:
Summary: An ignorant kid needs education
Review: About her book all I would say that she needs to educate herself about Islam and meet face to face with Islamic scholars and ask them all her question. To me the criteria of a scholar is the one who has a PHD in Islamic studies and written more then hundred books on various Islamic subjects. She will certainly get helped. She is angry and in search of truth. Before writing anything about Israeli and Palestinian conflict she would have lived at least 3 months in Palestine and interviewed the families of suicide bomber and ask them why they become so, what are their sufferings and why they feel proud to have one, and those Israeli families who lost their love ones and how they want to end this conflict. She should also ask herself a very simple question that " WHY ISLAM IS THE FASTEST GROWING RELIGION BY CHOICE IN NORTH AMERICA...? And look for answers.
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