Know Your Islam

Rating:
Summary: A book for Shias and insight to others
Review: I have read this book perhaps over 50 times and have enjoyed it everytime! This book is intended for those who practice Shiaism and is a great insight to those of other sects and denominations to get a glimps at the core values that surround Shiaism. This book is not making any attempts to focus on Sunni practices, it is clearly a Shia book containg prescribed methodologies for Shias. I cannot read Arabic fluently so the translations and Roman-English make this book very useful. This book is simple to read and well-rounded without getting too focused on theory and history. It sticks to the basics like how to pray, fast, pay alms, ect. I have had previous editions of this book. The reading is simple enough for a second/third grader to understand.

Rating:
Summary: Know your Lemons
Review: Synopsis: Poorly written, many definitions not explained, NOT representative of Islam and all of its traditions.

This book touts itself as an authority on the subject of Islam as a whole, but its author has definate slants towards Shiism and makes statements that are biased, unsupportive, and in some cases directly contrary to stories detailed in the Qur'an.

When I thumbed through this book at the bookstore I realized that the text and format was not of high quality, but it did provide the reader with 'quick study' pages that shared the overall structure of Islam. Upon thorough reading, I found many arabic names, words, and traditions not translated making it difficult to figure out what the author was describing. Additionally, the author was incapable from seperating his personal viewpoints from factual content about Islam when presenting his case. The book is an editor's nightmare, and should have never been written.

This reader came away with a poor experience that painted Islam as narrow-minded, oppressive, and intellectually unrespectable - All of which it is not.

Spend your pennies on other sources.

Rating:
Summary: Know your Lemons
Review: this a good book for those who want a very general scope of islam and shiism

Rating:
Summary: Mental Footnotes Required
Review: This is not a bad book if you realize its inherent limitations, which may not be immediately obvious to the untrained observer.

First of all, the title is misleading; it should be called "Know your Shiite Islam." I have nothing against Shiites - far from it, I think that they are a valid and necessary manifestation of that sea of spirituality known as Islam - but calling this book "Know your Islam" is like calling a book on Lutheranism "Know your Christianity."

Secondly, I suspect that the book was primarily designed for people from a Shiite Islamic background who for one reason or another have become secularized, either due to long residence in the West or because they received a Westernized education. Seen from this point of view the book fulfills a useful niche.

But for the average Westerner the book is a bit of a chore to understand without some experience of Islam on the ground. Be advised.

Rating:
Summary: Mental Footnotes Required
Review: This is not a bad book if you realize its inherent limitations, which may not be immediately obvious to the untrained observer.

First of all, the title is misleading; it should be called "Know your Shiite Islam." I have nothing against Shiites - far from it, I think that they are a valid and necessary manifestation of that sea of spirituality known as Islam - but calling this book "Know your Islam" is like calling a book on Lutheranism "Know your Christianity."

Secondly, I suspect that the book was primarily designed for people from a Shiite Islamic background who for one reason or another have become secularized, either due to long residence in the West or because they received a Westernized education. Seen from this point of view the book fulfills a useful niche.

But for the average Westerner the book is a bit of a chore to understand without some experience of Islam on the ground. Be advised.