Islam in the World

Rating:
Summary: A difficult read, but informative for the committed reader
Review: In the preface, the author, who has experience in both worlds, explains the difficulty of balancing between the academic and the journalistic. Well, it doesn't read like a journalist wrote it.

If you are comfortable with terms like ontology and teleological, you should do fine with this one, but it would have been possible to write a descriptive book about religion and culture without having to use the word 'discourse' so often. It reads much more like a textbook than is necessary for a book that is not necessarily aimed at a university audience. A typical sentence reads "Extreme or antinomian religious positions can often be related to socio-economic factors, although the traditions to which they give rise may eventually acquire an autonomous existence."

It is difficult to use Arabic names and terms without losing a reader who is not familiar with that language, and I found it somewhat confusing remembering the significance of certain Islamic thought leaders when their names reappeared several chapters after their intial introduction.

It is my belief that many of those looking for a quick understanding of the Taliban and the forces that motivate them, will find this book heavy going. Casual readers beware.

Although I have done a lot of reading in comparative religion, I do not know enough about Islam to provide a judgement on the book's accuracy. In comparison with other 'religion' texts, I found it informative and at times inciteful. The subject is highly complex, and most outsiders have only a superficial understanding of Islamic culture. Towards bridging that gap, I found this a comprehensive guide, providing both historical and social prospectives on the dynamics of the middle-eastern and other islamic peoples. The author has both personal experience in the Middle East, and has studied and taught the subject, so his credentials are excellent.

The maps, suggestions for further reading, and timeline are all useful references.

Those who want to take a serious look at the subject will find this an appropriate text.

Rating:
Summary: A difficult read, but informative for the committed reader
Review: In the preface, the author, who has experience in both worlds, explains the difficulty of balancing between the academic and the journalistic. Well, it doesn't read like a journalist wrote it.

If you are comfortable with terms like ontology and teleological, you should do fine with this one, but it would have been possible to write a descriptive book about religion and culture without having to use the word 'discourse' so often. It reads much more like a textbook than is necessary for a book that is not necessarily aimed at a university audience. A typical sentence reads "Extreme or antinomian religious positions can often be related to socio-economic factors, although the traditions to which they give rise may eventually acquire an autonomous existence."

It is difficult to use Arabic names and terms without losing a reader who is not familiar with that language, and I found it somewhat confusing remembering the significance of certain Islamic thought leaders when their names reappeared several chapters after their intial introduction.

It is my belief that many of those looking for a quick understanding of the Taliban and the forces that motivate them, will find this book heavy going. Casual readers beware.

Although I have done a lot of reading in comparative religion, I do not know enough about Islam to provide a judgement on the book's accuracy. In comparison with other 'religion' texts, I found it informative and at times inciteful. The subject is highly complex, and most outsiders have only a superficial understanding of Islamic culture. Towards bridging that gap, I found this a comprehensive guide, providing both historical and social prospectives on the dynamics of the middle-eastern and other islamic peoples. The author has both personal experience in the Middle East, and has studied and taught the subject, so his credentials are excellent.

The maps, suggestions for further reading, and timeline are all useful references.

Those who want to take a serious look at the subject will find this an appropriate text.