No god but God - The Origins- Evolution- and Future of Islam Description:

No god but God : The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam review:
3 stars (Thorough and confusing) - I am not sure why I didn't like this book. It just seemed to have so many names about who did what that I couldn't keep all the information straight. It's like reading a novel with way too many characters. I haven't retained much of the information in the book, and am still a little confused about the difference between Sunnis and Shiites. He did make Sufism quite clear though. I think I will have to do more reading on the subject to make the facts stick.
3 stars (Almost a great book) - While this was often an engrossing read, I left reading it feeling slightly dissapointed. While I will echo other reviewers in stating that the author is a very gifted writer, his skills in history, political science, and anthropology are weaker.



Weaknesses: His history loses it's chronological thread rather often. Given the convoluted history of the subject, this is perhaps understandable, but far too often he resorts to "as we shall see in the next chapter", which strikes me as the mistake of an immature historian - particularly as the thread often doesn't get taken up into well into the aforesaid chapter! His final thesis, that Islamic democracy is both necessary and inevitable, given the teachings of the Prophet, is weakly presented, especially as he notes how difficult it is to counter fundamentalisms of any religon. Finally, I think perhaps the scope of the book is over-broad.



I found myself hoping that the author will re-write this book in 15-20 years, as the Oxford Dons of old would do with their signature works, in light of what I have no doubt will be his advancing skills and scholarship.



The best of this book is very, very good indeed. It's especially strong at putting the Prophet and his ministry in a historical and social context. It is similarly strong on the process of exegesis that lead to Hadith and Sharia that run counter to his teachings. And his contention that the upheaval we are witnessing in the Islamic world is analgous to the Protestant Reformation and it's accompanying 300 years of war is both brilliant and persuasive.



But as I one volume introduction to Islam, which it seems to be marketed as, I cannot recommend it, and I fall back on Thomas Lippman's "Understanding Islam", which, while a little dated and FAR less scholarly, is easier to digest.
3 stars (Education & Enlightening) - Much of the book is written like a thesis and is hard to follow at times. The parts that describe the life & times of Mohammed, his teachings, the wars he fought and his early followers are very interesting. The book helps the non-moslem to understand how Islam became a major religion & how the religion evolved to where it is today. I would recommend the book to anyone who is interested in trying to understand todays world events.