Books on Islam

A. General/Introductory

1.      Islam: A Short History, by William Montgomery Watt (Oxford, England; Oneworld Publications, 2000, paperback, 160 pages, ISBN 1-8516-8205-8) ,http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1851682058. -- in The Tower (Vol 4 - 2000, pp84-85) reviewer Harold E. Raser predicts: "Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world today. At its present rate of growth it will overtake and surpass Christianity sometime early in the twenty-first century." Of all the many recent books on Islam this title and the introduction by Tayob (see below) are considered "two of the best." Taken together they "provide an excellent overview [and] beautifully complement each other and provide a stimulating and quite thorough introduction." This Short History "is a no-nonsense overview of the beginnings, historical development, and current state of Islam. In it [Watt] introduces readers to the basic beliefs and practices of Muslims, some of the intricacies of Islamic law and theology, and the challenges posed for Islam by the modern world."

In a brief book note regarding Islam: A Short History, Brannon Wheeler (Religious Studies Review, 26:2 - 2000, p197) complains that " some sections are far too brief, such as the history of the Islamic world from the thirteenth to the twentieth century in less than four pages, the three pages on the theory behind Islamic law and jurisprudence, or the one and a half pages on Islamic philosophy. ... The bibliography is divided into sections but is badly out of date."

2.      Islam: A Short Introduction, by Abudulkader Tayob (Oxford, England; Oneworld Publications, 1999, paperback, 224 pages, ISBN 1-8516-8192-2) - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1851681922 -- the review by Harold E. Raser in The Tower (Vol. 4 - 2000, pp84-85) finds that this introduction "digs below the surface of outward practice and essential beliefs to explore more subtle aspects of Islam. Some of the topics he addresses are Islam and art; power and authority in Islam; gender in Islam; Islam and other religions."

Brannon Wheeler, the reviewer also noted above, is critical of Tayob's introduction in Religious Studies Review (26:2 - 2000, p197-198). "Tayob's references are an interesting mix of secondary and primary sources, but many of his interpretations and assertions are not referenced at all. Reliance on this text alone in introductory courses might require some adaptation, since he does not include any separate sections on the Qu'rán, the Prophet Muhammad, or other standard topics such as Islamic law, Sufism, or the Shiah."

3.      What You Need to Know About Islam and Muslims, by George W. Braswell, Jr. (Nashville, TN; Broadman, Holman Publishers, 2000, paperback, 192 pages, ISBN 0-8054-1829-6),http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805418296.  Braswell is professor of missions and world religions at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Bassam Michael Madany tells us in this review (Reformation Revival Journal, 10:2 - 2001, pp149-154) that "Everything you need to know about Islam and Muslims is right here at your fingertips."  In his conclusion he finds that "Any serious student of Islam will be greatly enriched by owning this book." Madany uncritically quotes a broad (to us) statement by Braswell: "Islam has a mandate to practice jihad and to bring the non-Muslim world under the rule of Allah and the injunctions of the Qu'rán."  Surely most non-conservative Muslims would hedge on the universal application of these ideas. In his similarly favorable review in Evangelical Missions Quarterly (Jul '01, pp383-384), Robert C. Douglas also notes that Braswell is a former missionary to Iran.

4.      Islam Outside the Arab World, David Westerlund and Ingvar Svanberg, eds. (New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 1999, hardcover, 488 pages, ISBN 0-3122-2691-8), http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312226918.  Reviewer Herman Beck explains (NUMEN, 48:3 - 2001, pp375-376) that "non-Arab Muslims constitute about 85 percent of the world population of Muslims. In spite of their numerical importance, good compendiums surveying the Muslim groups in the different regions outside the Arab world are still rare. The aim of this book is to supply this deficiency and to present Islam and its current renewal among non-Arab Muslims and its growth in non-Arab countries."

5.      In Search of Muhammad, by Clinton Bennett (New York, Cassell Academic, 1999, paperback, 256 pages, ISBN 0-3047-0401-6), http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0304704016. Reviewer Hugh Goddard (Theology, Sep '99, pp305-6) finds that this book answers the common question from Muslims: "Why don't Christians respect Muhammad?"  He reports that in the first of three parts Bennett "investigates the primary (i.e., Muslim) sources available concerning the life of Muhammad."  Second is an investigation of non-Muslim biographies of Muhammad. Third is an exploration of the role of Muhammad in the life of the modern Muslim. While not uncritical in his overall work, "Bennett's hope is that Christ and Muhammad might be viewed as somehow complementary, rather than rivals."

6.      New Trends and Developments in the World of Islam, Peter B. Clarke, ed. (London, Luzac Oriental, 1999, hardcover, 400 pages, ISBN 1-8989-4217-X), http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/189894217X. A brief book note in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Jun '99, pp321-322) relates that the first of three main sections explores the status of Islam in contemporary Europe. The third section "is devoted to various forms of Sufism. In America, the far more common 'perennialist' Sufi movements, which deemphasize Islamic content and connections, have been more influential than the 'hybrid' ones, which identify with Islamic sources. Prominent in 'pop-Sufism' are the unorthodox views of Gurdjieff and especially Idries Shah, whom some view as superhuman and others as a charlatan; the popular image of Sufism that Shah and others have fostered bears no obvious relation to Islam. Likewise contributing to the New Age is the elusive, universalist Sufi Order of the West founded by Pir Valyat Inyat Khan, a Euro-American movement that we find here documented in exceptional detail.  Concluding this section is a participant's report on his own experience of Subud, a little-known western import from Indonesia."

B. Qu'rán (Koran)

1.      In a 14-item bibliographic essay written for a scholarly audience by Carol Schersten LaHurd titled "Recite in the Name of Your Lord"  (Dialog, Sum '03, pp170-172), the author recommends the English versions of the Qu'rán written by Abdullah Yusuf Ali (with significant qualification) and Muhammad M. Pickthall (said to have " slightly less stilted English" than that of Ali). The Qur'an Translation, by Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Elmhurst, NY; Tahrike Tarsile, 1999, paperback, 467 pages, ISBN 1-8794-0229-7), http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1879402297. The Glorious Qu'rán, by Muhammad M. Pickthall (Elmhurst, NY; Tahrike Tarsile, 1999, paperback, paperback, 768 pages, ISBN 1-8794-0216-5), http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1879402165.

C. Reference

1.      The New Encyclopedia of Islam, by Cyril Glasse (New York, Altamira Press, revised ed., 2003, paperback, 582 pages, ISBN 0-7591-0190-6), http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0759101906.  Reviewer Wolfgang Lepke says that while many people in the Western world want to know more about Islam, "there is currently no better book for this purpose than Glasse's New Encyclopedia of Islam. It is a practical, one-volume comprehensive resource that encompasses the beliefs, practices, history, and culture of the Islamic world and is written by a western scholar who is a believing Muslim. Because the author does not want to be at variance with orthodox Islamic beliefs in his presentations and interpretations, the reader can naturally detect a certain bias. While this has the negative effect of precluding interpretation, on the positive side it provides for a perspective that can counter many popular misconceptions of Islam. Thus, this encyclopedia is useful for building a base of understanding to enhance Christian-Muslim relations, making informed dialogue and meaningful communication possible."

D. Islam in America

1.      American Muslims: The New Generation, by Asma Gull Hasan (New York, Continuum, 2000, hardcover, 180 pages, ISBN 0-8264-1279-3), http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0826412793.  The unnamed reviewer of American Muslims in Publishers Weekly (Nov 27 '00, p74) finds that "Hasan argues that American Islam, which lacks the cultural baggage of Islam in other countries, is actually more religiously pure than anywhere else in the world."  While not without criticism, the brief book note concludes that Hasan's “insistence upon Islam's fundamental compatibility with American values is well taken, and she provides memorable personal examples throughout."  Also related to this, in "U.S. Freedoms Give American Muslims Influence Beyond Their Numbers," (Los Angeles Times, December 29, 2000, n.p.) Teresa Watanabe reports that " Of the roughly 1 billion Muslims worldwide, those in the United States are only a tiny fraction, numbering somewhere between 3 million and 10 million.  "But a confluence of forces that has made those Americans among the freest, most educated, affluent, and diverse Muslims in the world has given them an impact greater than their numbers. Helped by the growing use of English as a language of Islamic discourse and by the ever-spreading world of the Internet, they are self-consciously seeking to influence their religious brethren worldwide."

Calvin Theological Journal (37:1 - 2002, pp179-182) reviewer Bassam Michael Madany asks regarding American Muslims: "How successful is Asma Hasan in her effort to educate the general American public about Islam and American Muslims? While in some instances she has succeeded to educate and enlighten, her book still suffers from a lack of objectivity as well as historical accuracy. In some places, it verges on propaganda.

"The strong points of the book consist in the extremely frank manner in which the author describes American Muslims. I am not aware of any other book on this subject that gives us such a vivid description of the life of American-born Muslim men and women. This book is therefore an invaluable tool in helping Americans to become acquainted with their new neighbors whose religious and cultural backgrounds are quite different, if not unique. On this point, I give the author a very high score. Unfortunately, the book has several weaknesses that may be classified as one-sided descriptions of the history of Islam, its spread in the world, and its treatment of minorities."  Madany explains all of this.

"One of the most important passages in the book deals with the problems young American Muslims are facing.

"Asma G. Hasan rightly describes the lack of 'the cultural support system' that most Muslims have, but the problem is not so much the absence of this specific support system, important as it is. The real problem is that in the lands of Daru'l Islam (the Household of Islam), it is primarily the state that has always played the crucial role in seeing to it that the faith is practiced."

Madany also observes that "the author overemphasizes the right of private interpretation in Islam...I doubt very much if the leaders of the Islamic communities living in the West would accept our author's claim that Muslims have the right to a private interpretation of the Qu'rán."

Prepared by Rich Poll, Editor, Apologia Report.

Additional Books

F. Rahman, Islam (1966)

M. Jameelah, Islam and Modernism (1968)

P. K. Hitti, History of the Arabs (10th ed. 1970)

P. M. Holt, ed., Cambridge History of Islam (2 vol., 1970)

M. G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam (3 vol., 1974)

C. Glassé, Concise Encyclopedia of Islam (1991)

J. L. Esposito, Islam (rev. ed. 1992) and The Oxford Dictionary of Islam (2003)

A. Schimmel, Islam (1992)

D. Waines, An Introduction to Islam (1995)

J. I. Smith, Islam in America (1999).