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The Devil We Don't Know: The Dark Side of Revolutions in the Middle East
Respected human rights activist Nonie Darwish assesses the potential for freedom to succeed following the recent revolutions in the Middle East The recent powerful wave of Middle East uprisings has fueled both hope and trepidation in the region and around the world as the ultimate fate—and fallout—of the Arab Spring continue to hang in the balance. Born and raised as a Muslim in Egypt and now living in the United States, Nonie Darwish brings an informed perspective to this carefully considered assessment of the potential outcome of the revolutions in the Middle East. This thought-provoking book will add to the ongoing debate on what the future holds for the people and the politics of the region and on the ultimate compatibility of freedom and democracy in the Muslim world.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 10, 2012
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January 17, 2023
2.5 stars
Written at the peak of the Arab Spring, this is a tricky book to rate because so many of her predictions did not come true. Or at least, not to the extent she seemed to expect. Enough of her expectations did occur to make it almost worth reading. I found her analysis of the cyclical nature of revolutions in the Middle East fascinating. She also highlights some really relevant (and controversial) problems with Islamic feminism. But then, she also seemed one step removed from thinking President Obama was about to usher in sharia law and...yeah, not so good.
Nonie Darwish's story and testimony are quite powerful and to the extent they applied here, I found this book interesting. But the line between political/social commentary and her own personal story blurred too often. This wasn't academic enough to stand alone or specific enough to work as a memoir.
She also comes across...really naïve at times. There would be random interjections where she praises Benjamin Franklin or claims Islam invented slavery that made me cringe. I think it is especially frustrating because there were other moments when she would make an observation about Middle Eastern society or Islamic history that clearly shows research and understanding. But then a part of me would wonder if there was a similarly basic historical fact being ignored.
This made for an interesting read so close to What's So Great About America. I was particularly fascinated by the parallels when discussing freedom. They both bring complimentary critiques of multiculturalism that are worth discussing. She also left me with a few names I want to look up and do further research on.
Some good content, just not the best delivery. I'm curious if her more recent books came with a better editor.
Written at the peak of the Arab Spring, this is a tricky book to rate because so many of her predictions did not come true. Or at least, not to the extent she seemed to expect. Enough of her expectations did occur to make it almost worth reading. I found her analysis of the cyclical nature of revolutions in the Middle East fascinating. She also highlights some really relevant (and controversial) problems with Islamic feminism. But then, she also seemed one step removed from thinking President Obama was about to usher in sharia law and...yeah, not so good.
Nonie Darwish's story and testimony are quite powerful and to the extent they applied here, I found this book interesting. But the line between political/social commentary and her own personal story blurred too often. This wasn't academic enough to stand alone or specific enough to work as a memoir.
She also comes across...really naïve at times. There would be random interjections where she praises Benjamin Franklin or claims Islam invented slavery that made me cringe. I think it is especially frustrating because there were other moments when she would make an observation about Middle Eastern society or Islamic history that clearly shows research and understanding. But then a part of me would wonder if there was a similarly basic historical fact being ignored.
This made for an interesting read so close to What's So Great About America. I was particularly fascinated by the parallels when discussing freedom. They both bring complimentary critiques of multiculturalism that are worth discussing. She also left me with a few names I want to look up and do further research on.
Some good content, just not the best delivery. I'm curious if her more recent books came with a better editor.
August 20, 2012
This is a short book, warning us not to be optimistic about the Arab Spring. These popular uprisings of early 2011 were motivated by a desire of the people to improve their living conditions. Darwish believes that the Islamists are gaining control of the movement.
Egypt: In 1991 Hosni Mubarak, under pressure from Islamists, added Article 2 to the Egyptian constitution, which states that sharia supersedes any other law. In 2011, rocks were thrown at Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei when he hinted at removing Article 2 from the Egyptian constitution. Amina Tharwat Abaza resigned from her position in Egyptian television to protest its pro-Islamist bias. Egyptian Muslims protested the appointment of Major General Emad Mikhail, as a governor of Qena, because he was a Christian. Muslim Salafis rioted at killed twelve Copts in the Embaba suburb of Cairo in May, 2011. The Copts are the only minority left in Egypt, because the Jews, Greeks, Italians and Armenians had already been expelled when Nasser came to power in the 1950s.
Tunisia: Darwish also discussed the situation in Tunisia. She is distrustful of Rached Ghannouchi, a self-identified Islamist, who returned to Tunisia in 2011 after twenty years of exile in Great Britain.
Turkey: In 2007 at Zirve Publishing House, in Malatya, Turkey, two Muslim converts to Christianity were tortured and beheaded by five Sunni Muslims.
Israel and Palestine: Darwish mentions the staged, imaginary Israeli 2000 war crime in Al Durah, which was exposed by French media analyst Philippe Karsenty. Qatari Cleric Sheik Muhammad Al-Muraikhi said that the Muslims will kill every Jew on Earth, even if they return Palestine (Israel) to the Arabs. Darwish also mentions that many conspiratorial-minded Arabs believe that Palestinian terrorist Yasser Arafat was killed by the Jews.
History of Islam: Darwish writes that the prophet Muhammad hated the Jews of Medina out of envy. The Jews had wealth because of their productive intelligence, while he had wealth because of his acquisitive intelligence (that is, raiding). He killed the Bani Quraytha Jews of Medina (Yathrib), blaming the victims for violating the treaty. Darwish claims that there is no proof that the Jews ever signed such a treaty. Elsewhere I have read that either they signed under threat of death, and that even then, they abided by the treaty, and Muhammad's accusations that they violated the treaty were lies. Nonie Darwish believes that Muslims will have trouble dealing with the 1972 discovery of a Quran in Sanaa, Yemen, that has minor textual differences with the standard Quran.
Apostasy: Darwish discusses the difficulties that Muslims have if they attempt to leave Islam. Rashad Khalifa, an American-Egyptian biochemist, published heretical ideas regarding the numerology of the Quran, in particular, the number 19. You remember the number 19. Calypso Louie Farrakhan spoke about the number 19 at the million-man march. The Islamic Legal Council of Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa against him in 1989, accusing him of heresy. Khalifa was assassinated in 1990. Dr. Ibrahim al-Khouli of Al-Azhar University in Cairo has accused Wafa Sultan of committing blasphemy. Although this professor is not allowed to officially issue fatwas calling for the assassination of heretics, Sultan has taken precautions against hot-headed jihadists who may interpret al-Khouli's remarks as encouragement to punish apostasy. Nonie Darwish and other ex-Muslims have created the Former Muslims United (FMU) to protected themselves and other apostates from being killed by the violent jihadists, who are the enforcement division of the Islamist intellectuals. They have asked moderate Muslim organizations to support them, and speak out publicly against assassinating apostates, but none have responded positively. In particular, Sheila Musaji, former editor of The American Muslim, claims that Islam allows Muslims to freely leave their religion, quoting an early Meccan verse of the Quran, which was later abrogated by commandments to kill apostates. Sheikh Yussef al-Badri, a proponent of female genital mutilation, has also called for apostates to be killed. He has also argued that Muslim wives are never allowed to refuse to have sex with their husbands. And he issued a fatwa calling for the shedding of the blood of Maher el-Gowhary, who converted from Islam to Christianity.
Muslim Feminists: Egypt's First Feminist, Hoda Shaarawi, started a revolt against the public wearing of the veil in 1923. El Saadawi, an Egyptian psychiatrist, has spoken out against female genital mutilation. At the age of six, Nawal Saadawi herself was held down and had her clitoris was cut off with a razor blade. Ghada Jamshir of Bahrain has spoken up for women's rights. She has advocated the transfer of family law from sharia courts to civil courts. Darwish asserts that women who support the veil and sharia are suffering from a Stockholm syndrome.
Egypt: In 1991 Hosni Mubarak, under pressure from Islamists, added Article 2 to the Egyptian constitution, which states that sharia supersedes any other law. In 2011, rocks were thrown at Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei when he hinted at removing Article 2 from the Egyptian constitution. Amina Tharwat Abaza resigned from her position in Egyptian television to protest its pro-Islamist bias. Egyptian Muslims protested the appointment of Major General Emad Mikhail, as a governor of Qena, because he was a Christian. Muslim Salafis rioted at killed twelve Copts in the Embaba suburb of Cairo in May, 2011. The Copts are the only minority left in Egypt, because the Jews, Greeks, Italians and Armenians had already been expelled when Nasser came to power in the 1950s.
Tunisia: Darwish also discussed the situation in Tunisia. She is distrustful of Rached Ghannouchi, a self-identified Islamist, who returned to Tunisia in 2011 after twenty years of exile in Great Britain.
Turkey: In 2007 at Zirve Publishing House, in Malatya, Turkey, two Muslim converts to Christianity were tortured and beheaded by five Sunni Muslims.
Israel and Palestine: Darwish mentions the staged, imaginary Israeli 2000 war crime in Al Durah, which was exposed by French media analyst Philippe Karsenty. Qatari Cleric Sheik Muhammad Al-Muraikhi said that the Muslims will kill every Jew on Earth, even if they return Palestine (Israel) to the Arabs. Darwish also mentions that many conspiratorial-minded Arabs believe that Palestinian terrorist Yasser Arafat was killed by the Jews.
History of Islam: Darwish writes that the prophet Muhammad hated the Jews of Medina out of envy. The Jews had wealth because of their productive intelligence, while he had wealth because of his acquisitive intelligence (that is, raiding). He killed the Bani Quraytha Jews of Medina (Yathrib), blaming the victims for violating the treaty. Darwish claims that there is no proof that the Jews ever signed such a treaty. Elsewhere I have read that either they signed under threat of death, and that even then, they abided by the treaty, and Muhammad's accusations that they violated the treaty were lies. Nonie Darwish believes that Muslims will have trouble dealing with the 1972 discovery of a Quran in Sanaa, Yemen, that has minor textual differences with the standard Quran.
Apostasy: Darwish discusses the difficulties that Muslims have if they attempt to leave Islam. Rashad Khalifa, an American-Egyptian biochemist, published heretical ideas regarding the numerology of the Quran, in particular, the number 19. You remember the number 19. Calypso Louie Farrakhan spoke about the number 19 at the million-man march. The Islamic Legal Council of Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa against him in 1989, accusing him of heresy. Khalifa was assassinated in 1990. Dr. Ibrahim al-Khouli of Al-Azhar University in Cairo has accused Wafa Sultan of committing blasphemy. Although this professor is not allowed to officially issue fatwas calling for the assassination of heretics, Sultan has taken precautions against hot-headed jihadists who may interpret al-Khouli's remarks as encouragement to punish apostasy. Nonie Darwish and other ex-Muslims have created the Former Muslims United (FMU) to protected themselves and other apostates from being killed by the violent jihadists, who are the enforcement division of the Islamist intellectuals. They have asked moderate Muslim organizations to support them, and speak out publicly against assassinating apostates, but none have responded positively. In particular, Sheila Musaji, former editor of The American Muslim, claims that Islam allows Muslims to freely leave their religion, quoting an early Meccan verse of the Quran, which was later abrogated by commandments to kill apostates. Sheikh Yussef al-Badri, a proponent of female genital mutilation, has also called for apostates to be killed. He has also argued that Muslim wives are never allowed to refuse to have sex with their husbands. And he issued a fatwa calling for the shedding of the blood of Maher el-Gowhary, who converted from Islam to Christianity.
Muslim Feminists: Egypt's First Feminist, Hoda Shaarawi, started a revolt against the public wearing of the veil in 1923. El Saadawi, an Egyptian psychiatrist, has spoken out against female genital mutilation. At the age of six, Nawal Saadawi herself was held down and had her clitoris was cut off with a razor blade. Ghada Jamshir of Bahrain has spoken up for women's rights. She has advocated the transfer of family law from sharia courts to civil courts. Darwish asserts that women who support the veil and sharia are suffering from a Stockholm syndrome.
January 13, 2013
The books made me want to research and understand better this theme.
May 3, 2018
Good editing and proof-reading will do this book justice, alas the essence of this book carry it through.
I can see the way this book was shaped and written a reader may perceived that the author harbor hatred towards Islam therefore it's hard to take what she said seriously. On the contrary as I read through the book, I identified the author's deep frustration of Islam and what the ideology did and continue to do to humanity. I'm aware the author is Arab and English speaking and had studied Sharia law and the research she did for this book, thus what she put forth as 'case-study' of sort weighed credibility. The reason why I identify her deep frustration of Islam is because I am too a former Muslim. I learned a lot about the dark side of Islam, Sharia law and Mohammad long after I left Islam--that's because literature about Islam, Sharia law and Mohammad aren't easily available for the commoners in a language that I can read them. As Muslims we were suppose to accept "what is" about Islam and Muhammad at face value.
It's 2018 now and has Middle East changed for the better since the Arab Spring movement? No, so the author had a point here, don't you think?
I can see the way this book was shaped and written a reader may perceived that the author harbor hatred towards Islam therefore it's hard to take what she said seriously. On the contrary as I read through the book, I identified the author's deep frustration of Islam and what the ideology did and continue to do to humanity. I'm aware the author is Arab and English speaking and had studied Sharia law and the research she did for this book, thus what she put forth as 'case-study' of sort weighed credibility. The reason why I identify her deep frustration of Islam is because I am too a former Muslim. I learned a lot about the dark side of Islam, Sharia law and Mohammad long after I left Islam--that's because literature about Islam, Sharia law and Mohammad aren't easily available for the commoners in a language that I can read them. As Muslims we were suppose to accept "what is" about Islam and Muhammad at face value.
It's 2018 now and has Middle East changed for the better since the Arab Spring movement? No, so the author had a point here, don't you think?
November 24, 2015
It is with sadness that I write this in the wake of the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris, and the bombing of a Russian airliner by ISIS. I found this book very insightful for understanding the turmoil that seems to be the fate of the middle east from the seventh century to the present day. I also read the author’s “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” which I found valuable for her personal stories of living in Egypt. First of all, she is not anti-Muslim. Remember, 85% of the people killed by Islamic terrorists are Muslims, and that nearly all the people oppressed by Sharia law and its dictators are Muslims. So she is really standing up for an oppressed people. The book describes nicely what we have learned the hard way; that there is no “Arab Spring”. Well-meaning citizens of Islamic countries undoubtedly thought they were supporting democracy and freedom, but the Islamists always seem to take over. It is quite hard for people raised and indoctrinated from childhood in Islamic lands to understand that there is (or at least should be) a distinction between Islam as a religion, and Islamism as a repressive dictatorial political system. Until the people realize that Islamism is the enemy, they are doomed for endless cycles of revolution and violence. All the Islamic countries that refused to sign the UN declaration for human rights at the end of WW II, are Islamic States. The new governments in Iraq and Afghanistan are, like ISIS, Islamic states, as are Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Such countries can adapt to modern democracy and freedom by deviating from strict Sharia law. They vary only in degree to which this is done, and when a country is too friendly with the West, makes peace with Israel, or denounces terrorism too loudly, it is at risk for an Islamic revolution. For me the book provided a framework for understanding what is going on in middle eastern countries.
February 7, 2015
Excellent book on (political)Islam. Nonie Darwish explains why the revolutions(Arab Spring) in the middle east are not necessarily evidence of democracy taking hold. She answers and explains some very pertinent questions and topics that come up when discussing Islam, such as, why Islamic revolutions are doomed to fail, the rise of Islamic apostasy and the penalty of leaving, the lack of a feminist movement within Islam, but also why woman are beholden to Islam. Also the western vulnerability to Islamic supremacism is discussed. How the U.S. is being infiltrated at every level by the Muslim Brotherhood and their plan for a caliphate in America and the rest of the world. One of THE BEST books I have read on the subject of Islamic ideology!
July 28, 2013
This book had some interesting and thought provoking points to make regarding Sharia law and Islamic revolutions. But, clearly the author has an anti-Muslim agenda, having been Muslim herself before she chose to leave Islam. Much of her writing is filled with her extreme contempt and hatred for Islam. It was difficult for me to determine what might be a fact and what was her own anger coming through. It took longer than necessary to read because I was trying to sift through the hatred and determine what was factual. In her defence, the author has an incredible amount of references she drew on to write this book.
September 11, 2018
An excellent, well researched read, from a person who has seen, suffered, and been a part of Islam. This read will open the eyes of many who are blind to the effect Shari and Islam is having on our Western World. They are Hell bent in destroying our freedom, and way of life. By using what ever lies, vioence, murder, genocide, to accomplish there aim, to destroy us.
July 29, 2017
I think every American should read this book. We have so many Muslims living in our
country and you never know what they might do. We as Americans should at least know
from this book how they act and how they would just as soon kill us as not.
country and you never know what they might do. We as Americans should at least know
from this book how they act and how they would just as soon kill us as not.
November 5, 2012
This book gave great insight into the Muslim mind set in the Middle East and the affect political Islam has on a culture and a government. It was written by a former Egyptian Muslim who now lives in the United States, and she reflects on some of the ideals and ideas she was taught as a young child. Her book is filled with examples from her own past to help support many of the statements she makes. She also supports her points with verses from the Koran, and the history of Mohammed the prophet of Allah. She puts her points into a context of how the current revolutions that occurred during the Arab spring will likely usher in a stricter form of Islam. She states how Islam is supported and spread thanks to financing from Saudi petro dollars and if it was not for the Arabian Peninsula having such an in demand resource such as oil Islam may have died out or at least dwindled down after World War Two. One of the most interesting facts that I learnt from this book was that in 1972 in Yemen while renovating an old mosque a bunch of old manuscripts and Korans were found. A German university was asked to help and they discovered that they came from the fourteen century and that the Koran has been altered over from the version they found. However the findings were suppressed and swept under the rug by the Yemeni government, this is because Islam portrays itself as being unaltered and the message coming straight from god through his prophet Muhammad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2015
2.5 stars. This book was hard to get through because A) the author is so unapologetically biased and B) the writing was rife with jumbled run-on sentences that I had to re-read in order to glean meaning. The latter should probably be forgivable since English isn't the author's first language, but, well, that's when you get a good editor. It did read the way someone would speak, for the most part. Anyhow, I did learn some key things about sharia law; unfortunately they seemed to be merely sprinkled in among the repetitive mantra of the author. I get that she's bitter and she has every right to be, but this book tempts me to be intolerant and hateful. If you've only been reading about the supposedly peaceful side of Islam this book would provide some good balance. If you're just looking for introductory knowledge on the subject as I was, however, there are probably better (more organized and objective) sources.
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