Islam in Context: Past, Present, and Future

by Peter G. Riddell, Peter Cotterell

Go behind recent crises and discover a way forward with this description of Islam's history, basic structure and beliefs, and divisions.

Genres: Islam, History, Nonfiction, Religion

319 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2003

Reviews

[Ethan Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, very helpful introduction to the diverse facets of Islam. The book offers introduction to the history, beliefs, and modern issues relating to Isalm. The major focus is history and modern issues. The book could have been strengthened with a chapter devoted to a more in depth description of Muslim belief and theology. I also didn't agree with all of the perspectives of the book, but still a helpful introduction.

[Nathan Stine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful primer on the story of Islam and it’s core tenets.

Ended on a bad note though: the authors bafflingly try to assert that the solution to Western-Muslim enmity is for Muslims to adopt a new hermeneutic that turns the Quran into something more palatable for the rest of the world. I would love to see radical Islamism gone, but the traditionalists of Islam seem to interpret the Quran most accurately. While terrorism is not required by this hermeneutic, enmity with the non-Muslim world certainly is. I don’t see this enmity going away anytime soon because it is baked into the Quran and the Hadith.

[Joshua Coleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for class. Useful overview.

[Mike Blyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is OK but suffers a bit from being too short and rather scattered if considered to be an introduction to Islam. It might be best described as an introduction to the history of relations between Islam and the West.

Bruce Bradshaw's review here is quite useful and accurate. The fact that the review discusses the tension between the Christian pacifist views of Yoder and those of Rheinhold Niebuhr, while the former is not even mentioned in the book, is illustrative of the spotty nature of the book. I'd really like to see an updated version, twice the length, with a lot of gaps filled. By now, seven years after the book was published, there must be better sources for reviewing the tensions between Muslim "fundamentalism" and Christianity.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good intro so far, from what I can see. My only complaint is that it's focussed mainly on Islam's interaction with Western / Christian civilisation. I'd love to know more about the spread of Islam into the Indian subcontinent & Indonesia, but these two movements are given only a couple of paragraphs each. The authors are very up front about their geographical focus; however, there are also a handful of unimpressive passages I've come across which suggest an unspoken philosophically Christian bias.

[Luís Branco · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have read so far on Islam. It provides a clear understand of the Islamic way of life, Islamic history and Islamic controversial problems I do recommend the book! "There is a need to encourage and initiate audacious, free, productive thinking on Islam today."- Mohamed Arkoun

[Collin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be an excellent introduction to those looking for a simple overview of a struggling discourse inside and outside of the Islamic Community.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great broad introduction to Islamic history up through the early 21st century.