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Summary: Thank you Charles
Review: Charles inspired me to pray again, alhamdulAllah.
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Summary: If only...
Review: Does Islam make men good or do men make Islam good? I love this book. I wish, in my heart, that Islam was truly as described here. But there are as many Islams as there are Muslims.
Mr. Eaton's Islam is one of them. And I wish it were so. His description of Islam radiates beauty, wisdom and power and a genuine and true longing for Truth. It is as poetic as it is spiritually nourishing. As such I can recommend this book to anyone.
My issue, however, is twofold:
1) why do we not see Muslims acting like this? Granted, living in the West we'd probably never see it anyhow as it doesn't make news. However, a good friend of mine is a Muslim and he lives the spirit of the Islam Mr. Eaton presents. Yet ask him to define his stand on whether he is a Sunni, Sufi or Shi'ite you'd probably find he's a bit of all of them and avoids being boxed in.
2) most Americans/Westerners embrace a 'Sufi', i.e. mystical, type of Islam. In other words, they fall outside of the pale of the stricter doctrinal aspects of Islam such as those practiced in Saudi Arabia, Iran and even Egypt. Being Western and free of the cultural impact of being Arab, it provides a freedom of interpretation that would probably be frowned upon by many in the Muslim world. My question is this: is the Islam presented here genuinely Islamic?
This is a great book and a great introduction to Islam. In fact, for an introductory text, it is best to start here and see the best Islam has to offer as the polemical books about Islam are far too common.
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Summary: Inspiring, Thought Provoking, Challenging
Review: Gai Eaton takes the reader on his own spiritual journey. From an atheist through the Eastern religions, through Christianity, we as the reader see why Islam is the only logical conclusion, and completion of all the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity). Although his objective is for western minds to understand the fastest growing religion, in this day when there are millions of Muslims in the west, I highly recommend it to those raised Muslim,and converts alike.It is such a complete understanding of Islam from the basics to the whole existance of man.Anyone searching for true meaning in their life, and for anyone who has EVER asked WHY AM I HERE?, read this book, carefully, and with an open heart.
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Summary: Thank you Charles
Review: I have little to add to the other reviews lauding the brilliance with which this book is written, the excellence of its philosophy, and the sympathetic exegesis of Islam: indeed all of the Abrahamic religions. The one sour review you will read says it all about the excellence of this work.I am a born-again, Bible believing Christian. It is a pleasure to read such a surrender to the wisdom of God, the Author of history, even if the true nature of Christ isn't, sadly, acknowledged. I discovered this book entirely by accident, and cannot understand why it is not vastly better known. Do not let this gem of a book escape your careful attention!
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Summary: How can someone against religion become Muslim?
Review: I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know the true Islam. Charles le Gai Eaton has written an excellent guide to Islam that will leave the intellectual reader full of thought-provoking questions about their spirituality, their concept of God, and the meaning of life. I was a church-going Christian when I read this book, quite uninterested in changing my religion, and certainly never to become the unthinkable: a Muslim. When I first read this 5 years ago, I heard that thousands of people had embraced Islam after reading his book. The author's depth of conviction and his miraculous change of heart from anti-religion and serious student of philosophy, to becoming Muslim, is beyond what most Americans/Europeans would expect. I praise God that I found this book to help lead me to true freedom, the path of Islam.
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Summary: MONUMENTAL!!
Review: This is a truly majestic book and is, without doubt, one of the most powerful works available on Islam in the English language. Intended primarily for the non-Muslim, or specifically for Westerners with little or no prior knowledge of Islam, I would say that this book is equally accessible and helpful to those who are either practising believers or who have a good working knowledge of the Faith, in the way it goes so far beyond ordinary introductory texts in dealing with and answering the vital questions of human existence. A comprehensive coverage of specifically the Islamic ethos is included, with regards to formation, beliefs, sources, history and crystallization, yet this representation always remains couched in an acute understanding of other major religious forces and (contemporary) intellectual contexts. This work is scholarly and encyclopaedic in content and scope, yet is saved from becoming abstruse or inaccessible by the author's pronounced gift of articulation, where with an almost effortless ease complex issues and matters are expressed in beautiful and poetical style. In fact, certain passages of this book are simply spellbinding, and there is a definite spiritual dimension to the text where the reader can tangibly feel the calm serenity of the author being transmitted through the words. I really cannot recommend this book enough; for those interested in furthering their knowledge of specifically Islam and the Muslim faith it is an excellent place to start or continue your research, for those who have any type of interest in religion in general or who are simply concerned with the deeper questions of life, meaning, purpose and existence then reading this book will prove to be an intriguing experience and for those who are simply looking for an interesting read then I am sure that this book will not disappoint you. Unreservedly, I recommend this book to as many people as possible.
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Summary: Very well written
Review: Very articulate and eloquent. A delight to read for the intellectual.Small in size yet heavy in content. In his book, Charle Le Gai Eaton describes what it is to be a muslim, a far cry from what is portrayed in the media. I would read it again for one cannot grasp all that it has from the first time. What moved me most was his chapter "The Human Paradox". Read it, then you decide.
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