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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
I will highly recommend this book to everyone who wants peace to prevail in the world. This book will definitely change your perspective about everything that's been going on in the world.
The history didn't start with 9/11 but has a very long prelude. Fuller, has examined the history of religions, wars and conflicts that took place after the crucifixion of Jesus a.k.a Prophet Isa (A.S) to determine that religion has always been an excuse of people to attain their ulterior motives. It has always been about power and control.
First there were Jews who denied to accept the new religion - Christianity -because they felt the new religion was threatening their status in the world and did everything they could to destroy this new religion. Later the conflict was between different sects of Christianity who fought for power and control that led to the division of Rome. When Islam came the west was already perceived as the enemy in east and Islam just inherited that hatred for the west from the east.
Fuller, also discussed about how people think that Islam was spread with use of sword when in reality it was Christianity that declared capital punishment for non believers. Also, the idea of suicide bombings were unheard among Muslims few decades ago, and the first suicide attacks were carried out not by Muslims but hindu tamil tigers in Srilanka in 1980s.
Overall, it was great and very informative book. Fuller, has also discussed what policies of the west can reduce terrorism and how separating religion from the equation can help bring peace in the world.
I love the writting style of Fuller and the way he explained the views of both sides withouth any being biased.
The history didn't start with 9/11 but has a very long prelude. Fuller, has examined the history of religions, wars and conflicts that took place after the crucifixion of Jesus a.k.a Prophet Isa (A.S) to determine that religion has always been an excuse of people to attain their ulterior motives. It has always been about power and control.
First there were Jews who denied to accept the new religion - Christianity -because they felt the new religion was threatening their status in the world and did everything they could to destroy this new religion. Later the conflict was between different sects of Christianity who fought for power and control that led to the division of Rome. When Islam came the west was already perceived as the enemy in east and Islam just inherited that hatred for the west from the east.
Fuller, also discussed about how people think that Islam was spread with use of sword when in reality it was Christianity that declared capital punishment for non believers. Also, the idea of suicide bombings were unheard among Muslims few decades ago, and the first suicide attacks were carried out not by Muslims but hindu tamil tigers in Srilanka in 1980s.
Overall, it was great and very informative book. Fuller, has also discussed what policies of the west can reduce terrorism and how separating religion from the equation can help bring peace in the world.
I love the writting style of Fuller and the way he explained the views of both sides withouth any being biased.
I finally finished it!
Had I been more patient the last time, I would have finished it in a blitz like now (well 5 days is my blitz).
The book is actually very comprehensive. It was overwhelming (for me) at first, but once I got used to the rhythm, it flowed like waterfall. Such a page turner.
I really like his closing remarks, that we are all share some responsibility in fighting terrorism. Yeah, I know how cliche and cringe-worthy I might sound, but after 349 pages I found strong relevance in the statement.
He offers fair view on both side. Don't 'blame Islam' for everything as well as don't 'blame the West' for everything. Grudges and past histories might bias the perception or 'feeling' that lead to aggressive and defensive actions. But, we just can't help it. It is human nature and wisdom are not readily available along with our birth. It is acquired. Especially, when it comes to civilization, it could take up to centuries of learning process. But again, how long can one civilization (and now regimes) last? Then, it is as if the learning process have to start over when it ends.
If only we could start from a clean slate then work towards the solution. It would be super great, not to mention - Utopian.
Had I been more patient the last time, I would have finished it in a blitz like now (well 5 days is my blitz).
The book is actually very comprehensive. It was overwhelming (for me) at first, but once I got used to the rhythm, it flowed like waterfall. Such a page turner.
I really like his closing remarks, that we are all share some responsibility in fighting terrorism. Yeah, I know how cliche and cringe-worthy I might sound, but after 349 pages I found strong relevance in the statement.
He offers fair view on both side. Don't 'blame Islam' for everything as well as don't 'blame the West' for everything. Grudges and past histories might bias the perception or 'feeling' that lead to aggressive and defensive actions. But, we just can't help it. It is human nature and wisdom are not readily available along with our birth. It is acquired. Especially, when it comes to civilization, it could take up to centuries of learning process. But again, how long can one civilization (and now regimes) last? Then, it is as if the learning process have to start over when it ends.
If only we could start from a clean slate then work towards the solution. It would be super great, not to mention - Utopian.
Funny how non muslim author managed to write a book about Islam in a much clearer and detailed manner. I thought Reza Aslan is the best writer till date, but Fuller is just amazing. It was balanced in argument and no biases detected. There are things that I disagree but that was the point of reading, to gain knowledge. In my experience of reading this book, i ended up knew about Christian and judaism faith and in the same time, got rid of my pre conceived notion that I've had for those two. Reading this definitely helped in strengthening my faith. For me, this is not a book of apology or a pile of excuses for Islam and muslims for their previous crimes or cruelty acts. It is an enlightenment of looking at different angle especially why religion shouldn't be the first thing you think whenever terrorism occurred. Why it happened in the first place could be stem from political and power struggle rather than religion itself. I rated it 4 stars, I was impressed by his honesty.
Fuller's thesis is that without Islam, the world wouldn't be that different. His argument is that a lot of the issues we associate with Islam come from ethnic disputes and political decisions, nothing to do specifically with the existence of the religion.
A well thought out book. At some points it had me engaged, at others not. Some conclusions would be made at the end of the chapter in which I didn't agree the chapter supported. Still, an interesting thought process.
3/5 stars for being interesting and well written, but not quite capturing me.
A well thought out book. At some points it had me engaged, at others not. Some conclusions would be made at the end of the chapter in which I didn't agree the chapter supported. Still, an interesting thought process.
3/5 stars for being interesting and well written, but not quite capturing me.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This book has come to me through the First Reads program -- and I will be moving it to the top of my TBR pile. Look for a review here soon.
A very readable book, in fact the only reason it has taken me as long as it has to read it is that is has a lot of thoughts/ideas I needed to digest.
I think I can sum up what this book has to say with a quote from the end of the book:
"It is not a new revelation to note that power and any ideology tend to corrupt each other. If there was no Islam, there would certainly be other religions around playing similar roles under similar conditions. With no religions at all, we would still readily find or create other ideologies to justify the same acts. Thus, a world without Islam does not markedly change the nature of things."
Mr. Fuller brings up so many good points, I can't possibly put them all here -- some of them are in my status updates if anyone cares to check those out.
I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, and actually I plan to do just that.
A very readable book, in fact the only reason it has taken me as long as it has to read it is that is has a lot of thoughts/ideas I needed to digest.
I think I can sum up what this book has to say with a quote from the end of the book:
"It is not a new revelation to note that power and any ideology tend to corrupt each other. If there was no Islam, there would certainly be other religions around playing similar roles under similar conditions. With no religions at all, we would still readily find or create other ideologies to justify the same acts. Thus, a world without Islam does not markedly change the nature of things."
Mr. Fuller brings up so many good points, I can't possibly put them all here -- some of them are in my status updates if anyone cares to check those out.
I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, and actually I plan to do just that.
A poignant and interesting analysis all leading to the same scenario where we are today as to be expected. I enjoyed the writing approach.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This was a great, if dense, study of a simple question Fuller decided to explore: "Would the world's current struggles and geopolitics issues have occurred if Islam never existed?"
The author explained how Islam came about and spread throughout the world, the rise and fall of Islamic empires, and the ensuing conflicts that shaped and contributed to the current landscape of politics in the 21st century. Fuller provided the nuances and context behind the history of the last few centuries' geopolitical issues to argue that even if Islam did not exist, the current strifes would have still likely occurred, but under another vehicle other than religion.
So, it took me almost two years to read this book due to various factors. I started reading this back in 2018 and read it on and off before putting it aside at 50% read for more than a few years before I decided to finally pick it up again. One of the reasons I had to put the book down was not because of the dense subject matter and history discussed—it was in the way it was told. This read like a scholars' work—or worse, a history textbook—more often than not, especially in the first part of the book. So it came off as exceedingly dry and lost my attention for a good year or so, heh. For that reason, I'm deducting one point from the rating (even if I don't always agree with the rating system when it comes to GR).
In the end, I'm glad I pushed through the end of the book, because it provided some great insights into the struggles that the Middle East—or "Muslim countries" as Fuller puts it—faced for the past several decades, some of the grievances even dating back to the previous millennium, which in turn gave rise to our current precarious state of existence.
A recommended read if you'd like to know the context behind some of the Muslims' ire when it comes to Bush's purported "War on Terror".
The author explained how Islam came about and spread throughout the world, the rise and fall of Islamic empires, and the ensuing conflicts that shaped and contributed to the current landscape of politics in the 21st century. Fuller provided the nuances and context behind the history of the last few centuries' geopolitical issues to argue that even if Islam did not exist, the current strifes would have still likely occurred, but under another vehicle other than religion.
So, it took me almost two years to read this book due to various factors. I started reading this back in 2018 and read it on and off before putting it aside at 50% read for more than a few years before I decided to finally pick it up again. One of the reasons I had to put the book down was not because of the dense subject matter and history discussed—it was in the way it was told. This read like a scholars' work—or worse, a history textbook—more often than not, especially in the first part of the book. So it came off as exceedingly dry and lost my attention for a good year or so, heh. For that reason, I'm deducting one point from the rating (even if I don't always agree with the rating system when it comes to GR).
In the end, I'm glad I pushed through the end of the book, because it provided some great insights into the struggles that the Middle East—or "Muslim countries" as Fuller puts it—faced for the past several decades, some of the grievances even dating back to the previous millennium, which in turn gave rise to our current precarious state of existence.
A recommended read if you'd like to know the context behind some of the Muslims' ire when it comes to Bush's purported "War on Terror".