A Brief Guide to Islam: Faith, Religion, Politics »

While writing his critically successful novel Upon a Wheel of Fire, Paul Grieve became interested in events in the eastern Mediterranean. After two years at the Mosquée de Paris he spent a further three years in the Middle East studying Islamic history, jurisprudence, politics and Arabic. The result is this book. Grieve lives in London.

Differences and conflicts make for sensational headlines, but A Brief Guide to Islam starts with the similarities between the major Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Only then can the differences be understood. By exploring the beliefs, history and politics of the ordinary people of Muslim countries, Paul Grieve offers a fully comprehensive survey that combines authoritative analysis with carefully chosen primary sources. The result is a user-friendly book that challenges cliché and stereotype in areas such as art, women, banking, war, Malcolm X, and the dos and don'ts of visiting a Muslim country. It also exposes the big issues behind the headlines: can Islam support true democracy? Is true democracy what the West really wants for the Middle East, or are we merely seeking a cover of legitimacy for a policy of 'might is right'?

Paul Grieve is an unbeliever; he is not a born-again Muslim, a proselytizer or a frustrated desert romantic. His aim is simply to inform. This is the ideal summary for the reader looking for a broad overview of the political and religious contentions that are part of our everyday lives.

Publishers Weekly

Grieve, a London-based writer and self-styled student and traveler of the Islamic world, puts forward a riveting book on Islam that decries and then corrects the widespread ignorance about the faith and its history. He consistently jolts the reader out of preconceived notions about Islam and Muslims, particularly concerning the Palestinian conflict. Grieve's precise insights into the Muslim worlds, past and present, are astonishingly accurate. He provides the real and surprising backstory on everything from the Crusades and colonialism to Muslim immigration to Europe and women under Islam. He also provides succinct introductory information on Islam, including recommending Qur'an translations and reviewing standard prayer techniques. Of the harsh reputation Islam has received in the West, Grieve writes: "The universal message of Christianity would be similarly diminished... if the faith were to be defined only by reference to sectarian murders in Northern Ireland, the history of the Spanish Inquisition, or the sad stories of lust and greed in modern television evangelism." His book is by no means an ode of praise to Islam; he is properly critical of the marginalization of women in Muslim societies, which he argues will hold the Muslim world back. If you read only one book about Islam this year, this should be it. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.