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adaus's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
easy 5 stars!! Managing to summarize such an extensive topic in only one book with a language thats not too academic nor too simple is actually remarkable
axrzreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
re5urgence's review against another edition
5.0
Dozens of Muslim states dotted the world map, disunited by arbitrary borders a legacy of European colonization. This disunity proved fatal to the Muslim world. In the Middle East, the inability of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon to function effectively together meant that Israel, a nation founded by poor settlers fleeing European oppression, was able to defeat them all militarily and further establish itself in wars in 1967 and 1973. In South Asia, East Pakistan broke away to become Bangladesh in 1971, splitting a nation that had the potential to serve as a counter-balance to India's power. In West Africa, the numerous disunited states were all economically weak and continued to rely on the French well after independence. Without unity, the relative political power of the Muslim world remained generally unchanged after independence. Small, competing states, reminiscent of al-Andalus' Taifa period and the decentralization of the Abbasid Empire, were incapable of creating a powerful Muslim realm.
A big part of that failure was a decisive ideological shift in Muslim politics. Throughout Islamic history, upstart empires had based their right to rule on Islam itself. Even in empires whose actions can probably be judged to be against Islamic law, the primacy of Islam itself as a unifying force was always a given.
In the twentieth century, however, newly-independent Muslim states generally did not look back at a glorious Islamic past and try to recreate it. Instead they almost always had a secular and national- ist outlook. These concepts were entirely foreign to the Muslim world for its first 1200 years. But with European imperialism, these ideas were implanted into the minds of the upper classes of Muslim society, which ended up leading post-independence governments. The European formula of Enlightenment and subsequent neglect of traditional religion and government was thus adopted on some level in almost every Muslim country.
A big part of that failure was a decisive ideological shift in Muslim politics. Throughout Islamic history, upstart empires had based their right to rule on Islam itself. Even in empires whose actions can probably be judged to be against Islamic law, the primacy of Islam itself as a unifying force was always a given.
In the twentieth century, however, newly-independent Muslim states generally did not look back at a glorious Islamic past and try to recreate it. Instead they almost always had a secular and national- ist outlook. These concepts were entirely foreign to the Muslim world for its first 1200 years. But with European imperialism, these ideas were implanted into the minds of the upper classes of Muslim society, which ended up leading post-independence governments. The European formula of Enlightenment and subsequent neglect of traditional religion and government was thus adopted on some level in almost every Muslim country.
abdul_wasii42's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
5.0
Incredible introduction to Islamic history-from the time of the prophet Muhammad(pbuh) up until the contemporary Islamic world. Firas somehow captured the majority of Islamic history concisely and accessibly in just over 200 pages. Must read if you're interested in Islamic History as a whole.
rustedpages's review against another edition
5.0
Read this a couple months ago and was supposed to review it then but it totally slipped my mind. I’ve read 13 books this year and this is probably my favourite. Genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed a history book. It’s a great summary of Islamic history throughout humankind, with easy language and brief descriptions. It leaves the reader with a birds-eye-view timeline of the rise and fall of Islamic nations, without spending too much words on any one specific event. I would definitely recommend it to a layman, even those who otherwise wouldn’t normally consider reading non fiction.
akullpp's review against another edition
1.0
It's written for (Sunni) muslim believers. It's easy to consume and non-confrontational. Depending on what you look for it can be 1.5 or 4.5 stars.
hafsa's review against another edition
5.0
I recommend this book for anyone who’s into history or wants to learn more about the origin of Islam. The facts in this book are told in an easy story-telling format that keeps the book interesting and the writing flowing, and the content covers a lot without confusing or delving too deeply. This book also cleared up a lot of facts that I was previously confused about.