50 Islam Ideas You Really Need to Know

by Mona Siddiqui

No other religion is subject to as much debate and controversy as Islam. But who was Muhammad, and what did he teach? Does the Qur'an really preach holy war? What is the role of women within Islam? And what does the rise of Isil and militant Islam mean for Muslims and for the world?

Explaining Islam's history, core beliefs and rituals, as well as current issues of political and social importance, this book covers everything you need to understand the world's fastest-growing religion. Written by renowned scholar and Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies, Mona Siddiqui, it addresses such varied concepts as the five pillars of Islam; the divisions between Sunni and Shi'a; the importance of Shari`a law; the significance of Mecca and the Ka'ba; the role of Ramadan, the veil, the mosque and the madrasa; and much more - all in 50 concise and expert essays.

Genres: Islam, Nonfiction

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 3, 2016

About the author

Mona Siddiqui is professor of Islamic and interreligious studies at the University of Edinburgh. She lives in Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Mazhar Iqbal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mona Siddiqui’s book is a lovely exploration of the key concepts that are the basis of this faith. She brilliantly explains the major terms and themes associated with Islam. While many of the ideas can be found in basic books on Islam, the ideas discussed in this book are hugely varied and rich in content. She has dealt with many basic subjects of faith, halal, haram, Ramadan, fasting, etc. with great acumen and knowledge. Then she equally goes on to describe and explain much more complicated ones. For example, she sometimes goes to discuss theology, then sociological influences. The content is as such sometimes subjective and sometimes objective.
The topics such as those related to faith Quran, Sunnah, and Prayers are abundantly discussed then she also touches on the more complex nature of human dealings such as values, culture, human rights, faithfulness, etc.
Some of the descriptions are very engaging and explanatory to the minute scale. For instance, when discussing Witness to faith, she goes on to describe the whole intent and philosophy of the basic Muslim faith of testifying or the verbal recognition of the reality of God and His Messenger.
I would recommend this book to everyone, particularly those people who are in Western culture.

[Chris Seltzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

As always, the book format constrains the content.

It would be much better to start with the historical context of Islam and explain the story of how we arrived in the present day. The Five Pillars of Islam are discussed separately when it would have been helpful to present them as part of a cohesive framework of the religion.

Modern day topics are also handled poorly and in a limited way.

I'd suggest seeking about a better book on the topic.

[Hina Majeed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book at a Waterstones store and simply had to read it. I'm only a few ideas in but I'm already in love! I love how there are 50 mini essays about 50 different things to know about Islam, very academic, simple and filled with lots of historic details and references.

[Solomon Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was useful for learning some basic things about Islam, but it makes weird political pronouncements that it does not back up or explain in any way.

[Virginia Rand · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like the '50 Ideas You Really Need to Know' format really didn't work with this subject. It constrains the author, making divisions that don't help the discussion and assigning the same number of pages for vastly different subjects. I'll probably be finding different books on the subject further down the road.