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Karen Armstrong

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Islam: A Short History (Modern Library Chronicles Series Book 2) Revised, Updated, Subsequent Edition, Kindle Edition

by Karen Armstrong (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 829 ratings

Book 2 of 33: Modern Library Chronicles Series

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No religion in the modern world is as feared and misunderstood as Islam. It haunts the popular Western imagination as an extreme faith that promotes authoritarian government, female oppression, civil war, and terrorism. Karen Armstrong's short history offers a vital corrective to this narrow view. The distillation of years of thinking and writing about Islam, it demonstrates that the world's fastest-growing faith is a much richer and more complex phenomenon than its modern fundamentalist strain might suggest.

Islam: A Short History begins with the flight of Muhammad and his family from Medina in the seventh century and the subsequent founding of the first mosques. It recounts the origins of the split between Shii and Sunni Muslims, and the emergence of Sufi mysticism; the spread of Islam throughout North Africa, the Levant, and Asia; the shattering effect on the Muslim world of the Crusades; the flowering of imperial Islam in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries into the world's greatest and most sophisticated power; and the origins and impact of revolutionary Islam. It concludes with an assessment of Islam today and its challenges.

With this brilliant book, Karen Armstrong issues a forceful challenge to those who hold the view that the West and Islam are civilizations set on a collision course. It is also a model of authority, elegance, and economy.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The picture of Islam as a violent, backward, and insular tradition should be laid to rest, says Karen Armstrong, bestselling author of Muhammad and A History of God. Delving deep into Islamic history, Armstrong sketches the arc of a story that begins with the stirring of revelation in an Arab businessman named Muhammad. His concern with the poor who were being left behind in the blush of his society's new prosperity sets the tone for the tale of a culture that values community as a manifestation of God. Muhammad's ideas catch fire, quickly blossoming into a political empire. As the empire expands and the once fractured Arabs subdue and overtake the vast Persian domain, the story of a community becomes a panoramic drama. With great dexterity, Armstrong narrates the Sunni-Shi'ite schism, the rise of Persian influence, the clashes with Western crusaders and Mongolian conquerors, and the spiritual explorations that traced the route to God. Armstrong brings us through the debacle of European colonialism right up to the present day, putting Islamic fundamentalism into context as part of a worldwide phenomenon. Islam: A Short History, like Bruce Lawrence's Shattering the Myth and Mark Huband's Warriors of the Prophet, introduces us to a faith that beckons like a minaret to those who dare to venture beyond the headlines. --Brian Bruya

From Publishers Weekly

Readers seeking a quick but thoughtful introduction to Islam will want to peruse Armstrong's latest offering. In her hallmark stylish and accessible prose, the author of A History of God takes readers from the sixth-century days of the Prophet Muhammad to the present. Armstrong writes about the revelations Muhammad received, and explains that the Qur'an earned its name (which means recitation) because most of Muhammad's followers were illiterate and learned his teachings not from reading them but hearing them proclaimed aloud. Throughout the book, Armstrong traces what she sees as Islam's emphasis on right living (? la Judaism) over right belief (? la Christianity). Armstrong is at her most passionate when discussing Islam in the modern world. She explains antagonisms between Iraqi Muslims and Syrian Muslims, and discusses the devastating consequences of modernization on the Islamic world. Unlike Europe, which modernized gradually over centuries, the Islamic world had modernity thrust upon it in an exploitative manner. The Islamic countries, Armstrong argues, have been "reduced to a dependent bloc by the European powers." Armstrong also rehearses some basics about Islamic fundamentalism in a section that will be familiar to anyone who has read her recent study, The Battle for God. A useful time line and a guide to the "Key Figures in the History of Islam" complete this strong, brisk survey of 1,500 years of Islamic history. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Within the Muslim world, history and politics are inseparable vehicles of religious expression and cultural identity. A proper understanding of Islamic history is therefore essential if we are ever to resolve the major issues we face in the Middle East. In her newest book, best-selling author Armstrong (Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet; Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths) does an admirable job of presenting Islamic history from an objective, unbiased point of view. This book (part of a new series of small-format hardcover originals from Modern Library) is a distillation of years of writing and thinking about Islam. The history of conflicts with the West from 1750 to the present, the modern Muslim State, fundamentalism, and the Muslim minority are some of the themes addressed. A listing of key figures in Islam is included. Short but detailed, this excellent synopsis of the topic is recommended for all libraries.
-DMichael W. Ellis, Ellenville P.L., NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

If Armstrong's Battle for God were not as impressive as it is, this book would still make 2000 a banner year for her. A wonderfully well written overview of the newest great religion, it homes in on the aspect of Islam that most concerns those ignorant of it--namely, its attitude toward politics. The religion begun by Allah's revelations to the illiterate businessman Muhammad had to be concerned with power to grow from its beginnings as a cult within a tribe into a faith that erased tribal particularism to forge a God-centered, universal community. The Prophet himself became a warrior, but warfare isn't, Armstrong stresses, an Islamic tenet; it is a consequence of human imperfection that the realization of Muslim community is intended to mitigate. Islam is a practical faith, not a dogmatic one; it is concerned more with the conduct of life than with doctrines and credos. Because the creation and maintenance of Muslim community is its great task in the world, Islam has had to be more political than such transcendental faiths as Christianity and Buddhism. But politics doesn't license violence for Muslims, and modern Islamic fundamentalists are strictly mistaken both in making jihad or struggle central to the faith and in countenancing terrorism for the sake of jihad. While she argues this view of Islam, Armstrong deftly sketches the human historical realities that have effected and affected the religion. An invaluable primer for non-Muslims. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“A small gem bristling with insight.” —The Washington Post

“A valuable corrective to the hostile caricatures of Islam that circulate in the English-speaking world. . . . Engaging and provocative.” —The New York Times

“Karen Armstrong, a respected and popular author of several books about religion . . . takes on a useful and formidable task in presenting the history of Islam in a single short volume. As many other such works have been written either by apologists or by those hostile to Islam, Armstrong’s comprehensive and sympathetic work is welcome.” —Los Angeles Times

“In Armstrong’s brisk narrative, the clichés evaporate fast. . . . A book like this is suddenly essential." —Entertainment Weekly

From the Trade Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

No religion in the modern world is as feared and misunderstood as Islam. It haunts the popular imagination as an extreme faith that promotes terrorism, authoritarian government, female oppression, and civil war. In a vital revision of this narrow view of Islam and a distillation of years of thinking and writing about the subject, Karen Armstrong?s short history demonstrates that the world?s fastest-growing faith is a much more complex phenomenon than its modern fundamentalist strain might suggest.

From the Back Cover

No religion in the modern world is as feared and misunderstood as Islam. It haunts the popular imagination as an extreme faith that promotes terrorism, authoritarian government, female oppression, and civil war. In a vital revision of this narrow view of Islam and a distillation of years of thinking and writing about the subject, Karen Armstrong's short history demonstrates that the world's fastest-growing faith is a much more complex phenomenon than its modern fundamentalist strain might suggest.

About the Author

Karen Armstrong is one of the world’s foremost scholars on religious affairs. She is the author of a number of bestselling books, including The Battle for God, Buddha, Jerusalem, A History of God, and Through the Narrow Gate, a memoir of her seven years as a nun. She lives in London.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

PREFACE

The external history of a religious tradition often seems divorced from the raison detre of faith. The spiritual quest is an interior journey; it is a psychic rather than a political drama. It is preoccupied with liturgy, doctrine, contemplative disciplines and an exploration of the heart, not with the clash of current events. Religions certainly have a life outside the soul. Their leaders have to contend with the state and affairs of the world, and often relish doing so. They fight with members of other faiths, who seem to challenge their claim to a monopoly of absolute truth; they also persecute their co-religionists for interpreting a tradition differently or for holding heterodox beliefs. Very often priests, rabbis, imams and shamans are Just as consumed by worldly ambition as regular politicians. But all this is generally seen as an abuse of a sacred ideal. These power struggles are not what religion is really about, but an unworthy distraction from the life of the spirit, which is conducted far from the madding crowd, unseen, silent and unobtrusive. Indeed, in many faiths, monks and mystics lock themselves away from the world, since the clamour and strife of history is regarded as incompatible with a truly religious life.

In the Hindu tradition, history is dismissed as evanescent, unimportant and insubstantial. The philosophers of ancient Greece were concerned with the eternal laws underlying the flux of external events, which could be of no real interest to a serious thinker. In the gospels, Jesus often went out of his way to explain to his followers that his Kingdom was not of this world, but could only be found within the believer. The Kingdom would not arrive with a great political fanfare, but would develop as quietly and imperceptibly as a germinating mustardseed. In the modern West, we have made a point of separating religion from politics; this secularization was originally seen by the philosophes of the Enlightenment as a means of liberating religion from the corruption of state affairs, and allowing it to become more truly itself.

But however spiritual their aspirations, religious people have to seek God or the sacred in this world. They often feel that they have a duty to bring their ideals to bear upon society. Even if they lock themselves away, they are inescapably men and women of their time and are affected by what goes on outside the monastery, although they do not fully realize this. Wars, plagues, famines, economic recession and the internal politics of their nation will intrude upon their cloistered existence and qualify their religious vision. Indeed, the tragedies of history often goad people into the spiritual quest, in order to find some ultimate meaning in what often seems to be a succession of random, arbitrary and dispiriting incidents. There is a symbiotic relationship between history and religion, therefore. It is, as the Buddha remarked, our perception that existence is awry that forces us to find an alternative which will prevent us from falling into despair.

Perhaps the central paradox of the religious life is that it seeks transcendence, a dimension of existence that goes beyond our mundane lives, but that human beings can only experience this transcendent reality in earthly, physical phenomena. People have sensed the divine in rocks, mountains, temple buildings, law codes, written texts, or in other men and women. We never experience transcendence directly: our ecstasy is always "earthed," enshrined in something or someone here below. Religious people are trained to look beneath the unpromising surface to find the sacred within it. They have to use their creative imaginations. Jean-Paul Sartre defined the imagination as the ability to think of what is not present. Human beings are religious creatures because they are imaginative; they are so constituted that they are compelled to search for hidden meaning and to achieve an ecstasy that makes them feel fully alive. Each tradition encourages the faithful to focus their attention on an earthly symbol that is peculiarly its own, and to teach themselves to see the divine in it.

In Islam, Muslims have looked for God in history. Their sacred scripture, the Koran, gave them a historical mission. Their chief duty was to create a just community in which all members, even the most weak and vulnerable, were treated with absolute respect. The experience of building such a society and living in it would give them intimations of the divine, because they would be living in accordance with God's will. A Muslim had to redeem history, and that meant that state affairs were not a distraction from spirituality but the stuff of religion itself The political wellbeing of the Muslim community was a matter of supreme importance. Like any religious ideal, it was almost impossibly difficult to implement in the flawed and tragic conditions of history, but after each failure Muslims had to get up and begin again.

Muslims developed their own rituals, mysticism, philosophy, doctrines, sacred texts, laws and shrines like everybody else. But all these religious pursuits sprang directly from the Muslims' frequently anguished contemplation of the political current affairs of Islamic society. If state institutions did not measure up to the Quranic ideal, if their political leaders were cruel or exploitative, or if their community was humiliated by apparently irreligious enemies, a Muslim could feel that his or her faith in life's ultimate purpose and value was in jeopardy. Every effort had to be expended to put Islamic history back on track, or the whole religious enterprise would fall, and life would be drained of meaning. Politics was, therefore, what Christians would call a sacrament: it was the arena in which Muslims experienced God and which enabled the divine to function effectively in the world. Consequently, the historical trials and tribulations of the Muslim community-- political assassinations, civil wars, invasions, and the rise and fall of the ruling dynasties-were not divorced from the interior religious quest, but were of the essence of the Islamic vision. A Muslim would meditate upon the current events of their time and upon past history as a Christian would contemplate an icon, using the creative imagination to discover the hidden divine kernel. An account of the external history of the Muslim people cannot, therefore be of mere secondary interest, since one of the chief characteristics of Islam has been its sacralization of history.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000XUBEHU
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Modern Library; Revised, Updated, Subsequent edition (December 18, 2007)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 18, 2007
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1091 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 242 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #180,006 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #17 in Islamic History
- #79 in History of Islam
- #158 in History of the Middle East

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Karen Armstrong is the author of numerous other books on religious affairs-including A History of God, The Battle for God, Holy War, Islam, Buddha, and The Great Transformation-and two memoirs, Through the Narrow Gate and The Spiral Staircase. Her work has been translated into forty-five languages. She has addressed members of the U.S. Congress on three occasions; lectured to policy makers at the U.S. State Department; participated in the World Economic Forum in New York, Jordan, and Davos; addressed the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington and New York; is increasingly invited to speak in Muslim countries; and is now an ambassador for the UN Alliance of Civilizations. In February 2008 she was awarded the TED Prize and is currently working with TED on a major international project to launch and propagate a Charter for Compassion, created online by the general public and crafted by leading thinkers in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, to be signed in the fall of 2009 by a thousand religious and secular leaders. She lives in London.

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watzizname

Islam: Two Complementary Views

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2009

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Karen Armstrong, in Islam: A Short History (Modern Library Chronicles) ; and Bernard Lewis and Buntzie Ellis Churchill, in Islam: The Religion and the People , give valuable insight into Islam for those of us who were not brought up within an Islamic culture. Just as we who grew up in America, even those of us who are not Christians, know a great deal about Christianity, so even one not of Islamic faith who grows up in a predominately Islamic country will almost inevitably get to know far more about Islam than most Americans ever do. Hence the need for us to read books such as these, which are both excellent and which nicely complement each other; Armstrong tells us more about the history of Islam, and Lewis & Churchill tell us more about Islam today. Both are fairly brief (Armstrong 187 pages of text + 15 of glossary; Lewis & Churchill 167 + 55)

It can be quite difficult to get a correct understanding of another religion, because so many of the books and articles written about it are either by devout followers of that faith or by persons committed to disparage that faith as error and superstition.

As you read these two books, you may be surprised at the parallels between Islam and Christianity, both good and bad. For example, both Jesus and Muhammad had very enlightened, egalitarian attitudes toward women (Muhammad often consulted with women about what to do, and Jesus made a woman his number one apostle, called apostula apostolorum, the apostle to the apostles*). Neither would have approved of the repression of women that has been so common in both Christianity and Islam. The teachings of Jesus and Muhammad are often ignored or worse by their "followers": e.g. the many murders employed in deciding who would be Muhammad's successors; "Muslim" suicide bombers indiscriminately killing the innocent even with no assurance that any guilty will be among the victims (I had to put "Muslim" in quotes, because by the very act mentioned, they render themselves unworthy of being called Muslim^); the Crusaders who would "rape and kill for Jesus"; the systematic raping of Muslim women by "Christians" in Kosovo and thereabouts.; the insistence of the "Christian" Bush administration on continuing use of torture (which was surely what prompted the slogan "WWJT? - Who Would Jesus Torture?). Clearly, both Jesus and Muhammad have been "followed" where they never led and never would have. (for more on this, see Charles Kimball, When Religion Becomes Evil: Five Warning Signs (Plus)

I have one problem with Lewis & Churchill. On page 163 they write: `Another term that is sometimes used, "Islamofascism." Is very naturally resented by Muslims in general, as combining in a single word the name of their faith with that of the most universally execrated of modern movements. For the same reason, this term is seen by others as accurately defining these movements and indicating their place in true Islam.' Now the first two sentences are true, but the final sentence is problematical. Some may think the term is accurate, but it is most definitely not. Fascism has no place in Islam. Fascism is authoritarian corporatocracy, essentially a takeover of government by big business, generally led by a dictator. Fascism is thus the antithesis of the communitarian principles of Islam as set forth by Muhammad. The self-contradictory term "Islamofascism" was coined as a put-down of Islam and of Muslims, an attempt to discredit and demonize both. As such, it is quite properly resented, not only by those of Islamic faith, but non-Muslims such as myself, who value human decency and are disgusted by attempts to incite religious hatred. For their failure to unambiguously reject this offensive term, I cannot give Lewis & Churchill the 5 stars they would otherwise deserve.

Armstrong, 5 stars, Lewis & Churchill, 4¼.

Watziznaym@gmail.com

* Richard J. Hooper, The Crucifixion of Mary Magdalene: The Historical Tradition of the First Apostle and the Ancient Church's Campaign to Suppress It , page 57.
^ A Muslim is defined to be anyone (of Islamic faith or not) who lives by Allah's rules of behavior, as set forth in Islamic scripture, the Quran. Allah is an Arabic phrase meaning "The God."

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imaloserdude

An excellent pre-9/11 and pre-terrorism historiography of Islam

Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2016

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Before any Westerner gets all excited and jumps on the bandwagon of Islam-bashing, read several histories. Then, you just might be glad that you didn't say anything stupid. This book offers a brief history of Islam, one of the three monotheistic faiths of the world (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), wandering across time via numerous imams and Islamic leaders, telling their good points and bad points, explaining how each thought, what they believed, what they did that was good and what they did that was harmful or ill-thought or immoral. Armstrong repeats a mantra, trying to show that the basic tenets of Islam demand tolerance for other faiths, social justice to all, and the equality of all (male and female, rich and poor, Muslims and those who practice other faiths). I found it interesting how so many factions started out with good ideals, but ended up becoming harmful or elitist or untrue to the founder's ideals. She began with Muhammed and ends with the turn of the millennium (16 years ago and pre-9/11). It is nice to get a pre-9/11 fair explanation of Islam. There are other books out there now that will be clouded by the airplane hijackers and the beheadings and bombers and shooters of the modern era, but this one isn't clouded by their hijacking of Islam. Read it for yourself. Hi-light areas you find interesting. I did. Here are a few things I picked up (just a few). "Islam" in Arabic means "surrender." Islam does not encourage attempting to convert others (contra, Christianity), but teaches adherents that each person's particular faith will lead them to God. For over a thousand years, Muslims did NOT hate Jews; that grew after the state of Israel was created in 1948 (following WWII) and Arabs were kicked out of their land, and the world applauded. Islam has experienced divisions and disagreements for the entirety of its existence, often resulting in battles and assassinations. I want to add one final thing, something that seems to imbed much of this book. I must be careful NOT to equate Islam with the current violent expressions that a few of its members engage in, but look at the totality of its existence and how it has been able to help people live in a tough world with unfair things that happen each day. As soon as I choose to ignore this, then I must apply the same standard to Christianity, and remember that Christians invaded Jerusalem and killed 30,000 Muslims and Jews, because someone felt that it would be a good thing to do (the list of Christian injustices is very, very long). Read the book See what you think.

37 people found this helpful

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Diana S. Daniels

Brilliant Objective

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2014

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Armstrong is a scholar and an authority on religion in general. It isn't possible to grasp what is going on in the Middle East and other Islamic lands out of the context of their history and geography. For that matter, it is necessary to have a working knowledge of Christian and Western history too, to put things in perspective. Armstrong has done that brilliantly. It is necessary to wade through the various leaders and who assassinated whom to get to the meat of the book. Her points on agrarian culture and democracy; fundamentalism and also the impact of the Mongol invasion are worth the price of the book. Readers have a really hard time getting beyond nationalistic and political interests to try to understand this important and influential part of the world. USA is a young country, but if we trace our history to Europe (I know not everyone came from Europe, but European influence is primary) we would realize we share a common humanity with all its creativity and also violent episodes. It's hard to feel morally superior without ignoring the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Nazi Germany just to name a few.

3 people found this helpful

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Rajul Kabir

ISLAM HISTORY

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2011

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I have accumulated both written and audio book works of Ms Karen Armstrong and this addition is another winner, in my opinion. It does as the title suggests, a short (Major Points) in the history of Islam. A subject, I have recently become very interested in, and Karen Armstrong's books have provided me with the overview and knowledge and directions for further study of this very relevant subject. I enjoy her style and find the material easy to absorb and thought provoking.
In all a most enjoyable read of an otherwise (For some?) rather dry subject.

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Farida Najam

Informative.

Reviewed in India on July 17, 2023

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Really informative book, written by a we'll read person,after a lot of research.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

"Seek Knowledge" | Amazing book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2021

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I had an epiphany recently than many of my close family friends who I admire as well as my heroes such as Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali are Muslim. In addition to this, many of the scientific insights we have in the western world stem from the innovation of Muslims. Muslims re-popularised the classic greek texts; set up international scientific establishments in the Middle ages such as Timbuktu which popularised science, maths and astronomy; and sky rocketed literacy rates due to the importance of being able to read Quran Arabic.

My friend recommended this book and it hasn't disappointed.

Karen Armstrong does a fantastic job at chronologically documenting Islam since the life of Muhammad.

Key takeaways are
Muhammad's instruction to "seek knowledge" revolutionised mankind's understanding of the world we live in by finding divinity through scientific exploration

Islam's focus on rationality has provided a beautiful framework for spiritual self-exploration and refinement to be the best person possible. From a Christian perspective, I found the guidance on what one SHOULD do far clearer in Islamic texts than in Christian texts.

Religion has undeniable utility given the context in which Islam and other religions developed

One must separate religion from the the followers of that religion. Both can change as they adapt to the world

I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a concise of chronology of Islamic history. No word is wasted, here. Karen Armstrong also does a fantastic job at regularly providing context and meaning

5 people found this helpful

ALee

Sehr gut für eine kurze(!) Geschichte des Islam

Reviewed in Germany on June 8, 2019

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Die Kritik vom Rezensent mit einem Stern ist nicht nachvollziehbar, es liegt eher nahe, dass er dem Thema per se nicht offen gegenüber steht. Offenbar hat er das Buch nicht ernsthaft gelesen. Propaganda das ein Gott existiert...also bitte. Das ist der Erzählstil in dem Buch. Würde sich auch schwer lesen, wäre alles in Konjunktiv geschrieben worden.

Zum Buch:
1. Kurze Einführung zur Entstehung des Islams
2. Schwerpunkt jedoch auf post Mekka und Medina: Ausbreitung des Islams außerhalb der arabischen Halbinsel
3. Clash mit der Moderne

Bei Punkt 2 ging es zwischendurch tatsächlich etwas zu schnell. Weshalb ich dem Buch eher 4,5 statt 5 Sterne geben würde.

Wer die Gegenwart verstehen will, muss die Vergangenheit kennen. Wer dieses Interesse hat, dem kann ich dieses Buch sicher empfehlen.

2 people found this helpful

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Yeves

Outstanding, this book will inform and change perspectives

Reviewed in Australia on March 16, 2022

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I really liked that the author has in under 200 pages, provided a thorough historical summary on Islam, up to the point of explaining our present situation of apparent conflict between the west and Islam. Her insights are balanced, fair, and she will change your views on how the west must handle the Islamic world.

Patricia Oliver

Perfecto

Reviewed in Spain on October 20, 2016

Verified Purchase

Tal y como esperaba. Es perfecto para lo que necesitaba. La descripción se ajusta al producto. Muy satisfecha. Muy recomendable.

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Islam: A Short History (Modern Library Chronicles Series Book 2) Revised, Updated, Subsequent Edition, Kindle Edition

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