The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS

by Robert Spencer

The comprehensive history of the role of war and terror in the spread of Islam. It is taken for granted, even among many Washington policymakers, that Islam is a fundamentally peaceful religion and that Islamic jihad terrorism is something relatively new, a product of the economic and political ferment of the twentieth century. But in The History of From Muhammad to ISIS, Islamic scholar Robert Spencer proves definitively that Islamic terror is as old as Islam itself, as old as Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, who said “I have been made victorious through terror.” Spencer briskly traces the 1,400-year war of Islamic jihadis against the rest of the world, detailing the jihad against Europe, including the 700-year struggle to conquer Constantinople; the jihad in Spain, where non-Muslims fought for another 700 years to get the jihadi invaders out of the country; and the jihad against India, where Muslim warriors and conquerors wrought unparalleled and unfathomable devastation in the name of their religion. Told in great part in the words of contemporary chroniclers themselves, both Muslim and non-Muslim, The History of Jihad shows that jihad warfare has been a constant of Islam from its very beginnings, and present-day jihad terrorism proceeds along exactly the same ideological and theological foundations as did the great Islamic warrior states and jihad commanders of the past. The History of From Muhammad to ISIS is the first one-volume history of jihad in the English language, and the first book to tell the whole truth about Islam’s bloody history in an age when Islamic jihadis are more assertive in Western countries than they have been for centuries. This book is indispensable to understanding the geopolitical situation of the twenty-first century, and ultimately to formulating strategies to reform Islam and defeat radical terror.

Genres: History, Islam, Nonfiction, Religion, Politics, Middle East, War

420 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 7, 2018

About the author

ROBERT SPENCER is the director of Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and the author of seventeen books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book is The Complete Infidel’s Guide to Free Speech (and Its Enemies). Coming in November 2017 is Confessions of an Islamophobe (Bombardier Books).

Spencer has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the FBI, the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army’s Asymmetric Warfare Group, the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), the Justice Department’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council and the U.S. intelligence community. He has discussed jihad, Islam, and terrorism at a workshop sponsored by the U.S. State Department and the German Foreign Ministry. He is a consultant with the Center for Security Policy.

Spencer is a weekly columnist for PJ Media and FrontPage Magazine, and has written many hundreds of articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism. His articles on Islam and other topics have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, the New York Post, the Washington Times, the Dallas Morning News, Fox News Opinion, National Review, The Hill, the Detroit News, TownHall.com, Real Clear Religion, the Daily Caller, the New Criterion, the Journal of International Security Affairs, the UK’s Guardian, Canada’s National Post, Middle East Quarterly, WorldNet Daily, First Things, Insight in the News, Aleteia, and many other journals. For nearly ten years Spencer wrote the weekly Jihad Watch column at Human Events. He has also served as a contributing writer to the Investigative Project on Terrorism and as an Adjunct Fellow with the Free Congress Foundation.

Spencer has appeared on the BBC, ABC News, CNN, FoxNews’s Tucker Carlson Show, the O’Reilly Factor, Megyn Kelly’s The Kelly File, the Sean Hannity Show, Geraldo Rivera Reports, the Glenn Beck Show, Fox and Friends, America’s News HQ and many other Fox programs, PBS, MSNBC, CNBC, C-Span, CTV News, Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News, France24, Voice of Russia and Croatia National Television (HTV), as well as on numerous radio programs including The Sean Hannity Show, Bill O’Reilly’s Radio Factor, The Mark Levin Show, The Laura Ingraham Show, The Herman Cain Show, The Joe Piscopo Show, The Howie Carr Show, The Curt Schilling Show, Bill Bennett’s Morning in America, Michael Savage’s Savage Nation, The Alan Colmes Show, The G. Gordon Liddy Show, The Neal Boortz Show, The Michael Medved Show, The Michael Reagan Show, The Rusty Humphries Show, The Larry Elder Show, The Peter Boyles Show, Vatican Radio, and many others.

Robert Spencer has been a featured speaker across the country and around the world and authored 17 books. Spencer’s books have been translated into many languages, including Spanish, Italian, German, Finnish, Korean, Polish and Bahasa Indonesia. His Qur’an commentary at Jihad Watch, Blogging the Qur’an, has been translated into Czech, Danish, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

Spencer (MA, Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) has been studying Islamic theology, law, and history in depth since 1980. His work has aroused the ire of the foes of freedom and their dupes: in October 2011, Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups wrote to Homeland Security Advisor (and current CIA director) John Brennan, demanding that Spencer be removed as a trainer for the FBI and military groups, which he taught about the belief system of Islamic jihadists; Brennan immediately complied as counter-terror training materials were scrubbed of all mention of Islam and jihad. Spencer has been banned by the British government from entering the United Kingdom for pointing out accurately that Islam has doctrines of violence against unbelievers. He has been invited by name to convert to Islam by a senior member of al-Qaeda.

Reviews

[Alok Mishra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I have any clue about the facts presented in this book? Very much yes!
Did any author say it openly before? Very much no!
Does Robert Spencer deserve my applaud? Very much yes!
If anyone wants to know the 'significant role' that terror and violence played in the spread of islam, here you go. Read this well-researched book and you will have your answers. Muslims who are moderate must read this book and realise what they often ignore and miss.

[Amit · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0 ⭐

GENRE: - NON-FICTION / RELIGION.

PAGES: - 448.

TO begin with I had thought of this as a propaganda book against Islam but as I kept reading further and further my opinion about the book started to shift. The book is full of violence, rape, looting, pillaging, arson, forced conversions, dictatorship and theocratic mind set!!!

Islam, Christianity and Judaism are all part of the Abrahamic religion however the 3 communities cannot get along with each other, reason being is the 3 are in competition with each other challenging each another's existence with a soul intention of proving to society that which religion amongst the 3 is the true religion of God.

Judaism and Christianity are better off because with time they have reformed the religion and tried to make it more comfortable for people of today's day and age. (at least to a certain extent), but when it comes to Islam there is no scope for reform and no acceptance to anybody's point of view or opinion!!!

People who comment about Israel's stance against Islam and their struggle with the Palestinian issue should read this book particularly because they will have a fair understanding of why Israel is the Israel it is today, very protective about its existence and going to any extent to protect their state!!

The Jews have suffered at the hands of the Muslims and Christians throughout centuries!! The Muslims target Jews because they do not worship Allah and the Christians target Jews because they were the ones who betrayed Jesus, hence throughout generations the Jews faced persecutions wherever they resided.

I was intrigued and fascinated with this book especially because the author has quoted the Quran and is giving evidence about each and every criticism of the religion with proof from the Quran.

After reading this book I get to understand that :-

1) Islam is not a religion of peace definitely and even if this world became entirely Islam followers this religion will bring nothing but destruction!! The Shia don't validate the Sunnis as true Islam followers and both the Shias and the Sunnis don't validate the Ismailis as part of Islam and apart from Shia, Sunnis and Ismailis there are more sects and subsects within Islam which most of us do not know and by reading this book you will understand further.

2) Woman are considered property of the Man; Man and Woman are not equal also the Quran justifies Rape of woman if she comes from the community of the infidel or is captured in war that is why even in modern warfare when there is military conflict involving a Muslim country you will often come across atrocities like Rape.

3) According to Islam there is no tolerance for any other religion but Islam and hence the goal of the Muslim is to convert every nonbeliever to Islam, if they accept Islam they are spared, if they refuse Islam demand Jizya (Tax) if they refuse both than eliminate them!!

4) Islam is Theocratic and hence under Islam no nation can be democratic!

This book should be according to me be made a part of the study curriculum in all the Non-Muslim countries so as to understand the mindset and psychology of the religion and its followers.

P.S. THIS BOOK WILL GIVE YOU CHILLS!!

Thank You 😊✌️❤️

[Rama Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satan in the field

Robert Spencer is a fearless Islamic scholar who argues how Muslims have historically targeted the weakness of non-Islamic countries, and manipulated their political, economic, and social circumstances. This book is a critical, unbiased review of jihad, which is a religious duty for all Muslims. The discussions are based on historical events across the globe. The author quotes Islamic texts like, Quran and Hadith. Over the past 1400 years of its history, civilizations have been forced to conform to a belief system that favors Muslims over non-Muslims, and men over women. It is fraternal order that was created to benefit only Muslim men, in fact, it has become a death cult to achieve success. The first case of jihad was the Battle of Badr (624 CE), which is one of the earliest examples of jihad in the military sense when Muhammad and his followers fought the Quraysh tribe. The early Islamic conquests led to the spread of Islam through Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent, North Africa, Spain, and Persia, and the Byzantine Empire.

Jihad was dominant in the history of India, particularly during the medieval period, influencing the region's politics, society, and culture. The first Islamic invasion of India occurred in 636 CE, during the reign of Caliph Umar, and later Muhammad bin Qasim's conquest of Sindh (711-712 CE) was the beginning of Islamic jihad in India. Forced conversions and intimidation has led to numerous jihad attacks throughout the history. In fact, Indian Buddhists and Jains were forcibly converted into Islam or driven into the neighboring countries.

There were a series of religious wars initiated by Christian Europe to reclaim the Holy Land from Muslim control, these Crusades (1096–1291) saw a renewed emphasis on jihad in the Islamic world. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1922) invoked jihad during its military campaigns in India and Europe, and it was religiously motivated to spread Islam.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Islamic movements such as the Wahhabi movement in the Arabian Peninsula, and the Fulani jihads in West Africa, and recently by Taliban in Afghanistan sought to purify Islamic practices and establish religious states using the language of jihad found in Islamic texts. In the 20th century, this war cry evolved as Muslim-majority fought with modernity, and colonialism. The concept of jihad became central to the ideology of groups like Al-Qaeda which attacked United States on 9/11/2001. The rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria (2014–2019), Taliban in Afghanistan, Al-Shabab in Africa, and Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Pakistan helped create numerous terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hizbul Mujahideen, and Harkatul Mujahideen have intensified jihad as a regional and global apocalyptic battle to create a new Islamic caliphate. In the contemporary Period, the conflicts in the Middle East have intensified the belief in jihad. Teaching jihad to Palestinian children over several generations have destabilized the relationship with Israel. But the belief in jihad has no signs of diminishing despite the fact that Islamic forces like Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Iran, Syria, and Iraq are heading towards defeat. Myanmar, a Buddhist country where Islamic militancy grew significantly after independence from British rule leading to periodic tensions with Buddhist majority. Harakah al-Yaqin (HaY), a Rohingya insurgent group linked to global jihadist networks like Al-Qaeda and ISIS contributed to significant jihadist activity which led them to their displacement into neighboring India where they joined forces with Indian jihadis and are terrorizing Hindu population Northeastern and northern states.

The history of jihad is deeply intertwined with Islamic theology, law, and politics. The nations that have Muslim population are convinced that Islam is a religion of peace and jihad is the work of an isolated extremist or someone who has “mental” issues. The reality we see in India, Middle East, Western Europe and Noth America is quite disturbing. Muslims do not want into fit into other countries they migrate into. Readers who are familiar with the work of this author or his work on social media like Twitter knows that his work is focused and well-informed, but he could have included some key information about jihad in India and jihad against Israel.

[Lydia Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Spencer what a well written book. This is a very interesting, thorough, and unbiased history of Jihad. It seems Jihad is base state of the militant wing of Islam throughout its existence. I continue to question why the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) have such violent clashes, all in the name of the same God, each professing to be the promised people. I found this to be an excellent source of the history of Jihad (and much of Islam). It reads much like a textbook, listing and explaining the acts of Islamic imperialism and treachery throughout its existence. I highly recommend.

[Graham Cammock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievable.

I am shocked, astounded and mind blown by the details of this unbelievable book. I highly recommend this book to everyone. You will be a lot less naive and gullible for reading it.

[noone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall its a good book, and you should read it if you know nothing about Islam.

While it accomplishes this goal, it could have gone the extra mile and addressed the myths that buttress the "religion of peace" concept. Those myths are: (1) Muslims only attacked in defense, (2) Muslim states were more tolerant and led to a "golden age"of peace and love, and (3) Muslims who attacked others did so not because of Islam, but because of XYZ."

The books starts with Mohammed. It gives a sufficient summary of his life, but it's not in-depth. Muslims usually come up with excuses like "he was attacked first", or "yeah he had slaves but he introduced reforms too", or "yeah he slaughtered all the polythesists but they were bad so it's okay, or "yeah he was a warlord but everyone was doing that at the time so it's okay."

The book doesn't address these excuses at all. I really feel like this is a missed opportunity because it doesn't take that much time/space to do, and it is necessary to debunk the myths I described above. Religion of Peace . com has many sections devoted to just this, and it's worth checking out.

Also recommended is to read The Life of Mohammed by I. Ishaq (Author), A. Guillaume (Translator), and read a Koran. I also liked Understanding Islam Through Hadis: Religious Faith or Fanaticism? by Ram Swarup

Next the author goes into how Islam spread (by the sword, of course), and how they treated the conquered people. Much is left out, as covering centuries of warfare would mean making a book 10 times the size of this one. Gradually he starts using more secondary sources, whereas the first section is entirely primary sourced.

He addresses some of the figures that Westerners idolize: Saladin, Ghanzi, Rashid, etc, and rightly points out that they were not saints. Even the most tolerant of Islamic rules still imposed Jizya and Dhimmitude to their subjects, which was contemptible back then as it is now. The most benevolent of rulers, Akbar, ended up not being Muslim in the end.

Additional reading: Jizyah and The Spread of Islam by Harsh Narain

He briefly touches on religious tensions during Islam's advance, but he could have gone further. He leaves out the Coptic Christians in Egypt and the persecution of the Jews under Christianity. One of the reasons Westerners think Islam brought about an era of multicultural harmony is because they are comparing it to other Christian states at the time. Consider after the Muslims were kicked out of Spain, the Christians imposed a form a Jizya on Muslims and Jews.

More recommended reading: The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain by Darío Fernández-Morera, and The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians.

The modern era is where the author really dropped the ball. He address huge topics and leaves out large chunks of VITAL information. His description of the Iranian revolution is pitiful. Yes the Revolution was bad, but he paints the Shah as an angel and makes no mention of the democratically elected gov. that the Americans overthrew to put the Shah back in power.

His description of the Israel/Palestine conflict is similarly one-sided. A funny Youtube video called "This Land is Mine" is worth checking out in regards to this. He claims there is no such thing as a "Palestinian". Those people on that land are "Jordanian, Lebanese, Syrian". This is an incredibly contentious claim. Obviously there were people on that land, whether you call them Palestinian or not, and they were not given a choice on whether to let in millions of Jews, or whether they wanted to live in a Jewish state.

I support Israel, but I call it like it is.

His coverage of the partition of India is to short. Readers are given only a glimpse of what happened and to not appreciate the full scope of problem. If you can get it, read The tragic story of partition by H.V. Sheshadri, but if you can't, read Muslim Separatism: Causes And Consequences by Sita Ram Goel

He ends with discussing various terrorist groups in our era, and I'm glad he covered Burma, but I wish he covered China and the Muslim revolts. It would have given much needed context to why the Chinese treat their Muslim population like they do now. I wish he talked about the plight of minorities in Bangladesh and Pakistan. I wish he talked about Kashmir.

The author mistakenly attributes the distorted view of Islam to Saudi and various Muslim organization. In truth, Europeans have idealized Islam ever since the Middle Ages. Western European countries, for the most part, did not have to deal with Islamic invasions, and could afford to see Islam through rose-colored glasses. Later with colonization, the image was made clearer but was still incomplete. Thomas Carlyle praised Mohammed as one of his great men. Will Durant at the beginning of the 20th century writes fondly of Mohammed, and Islamic civilization in general, but even he had to admit the barbarism of Islam in India.

In our modern era it appears any balanced view on the subject is not allowed. People who hate the author and what he stands for will hate the book without even reading it. I do hope my fellow liberals give it a chance and learn a bit about Islamic history that has not been taught to them.

[Lee Irons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hard book to read, not because there was anything wrong with the writing, but because the content is uncomfortable, gruesome, brutal, and troubling. I can only imagine the emotional distress that the author, Robert Spencer, had to force himself to endure in the process of researching and writing it. Page after page is filled with accounts of the slaughter and enslavement of millions. Spencer documents how jihad is central to the Muslim religion and has been practiced continuously (with only temporary intermissions) from the beginning of the religion in the 7th century to the present day.

On one level, the book is simply a historical account tracing the military expansion of Islam from the Arabian Peninsula outward, both chronologically and geographically. On a deeper level, it is an argument about how we should view the Islamist terrorism that we in the West are currently witnessing and experiencing. The argument hits home in the following way. For the first 326 pages, he documents the reality of jihad from the 7th century up to al-Qaeda's terrorist activities in the 1990s (the 1993 twin tower bombing and the 1998 attacks on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania). He shows how jihad was a theological imperative for Islam. He documents the commands in the Quran and the hadith (sayings of Muhammad) to engage in jihad - to forcibly spread Islam by the sword.

Then, on page 327, he springs the trap by quoting President Bill Clinton who in 1998 told the United Nations that bin Laden was a false prophet using his religion to justify his political aims, but that his actions did not represent Islam in any way, that in fact terrorism was contrary to the Islamic religion. The previous 326 pages makes Clinton's statement look foolish and absurd. The remaining 43 pages merely put the seal on the argument by pointing out the same foolish and absurd response to 9/11 (by President George W. Bush) and subsequent attacks like Charlie Hebdo, the formation of ISIS, etc. Of course, it is valid to recognize that not all Muslims are terrorists and that Muslims living in Western democratic societies ought to be able to live unmolested as long as they remain peaceful and do not provide material support to terrorists. But it is misguided to assert that Islam historically is a religion of peace that does not countenance the use of violence. That is simply not the case, as Spencer has proved pretty decisively.

This book is not for the faint of heart, but it is important to read. We really do need to stop being in denial about the theological character and aims of Islamist terrorism. Spencer helps us put our current troubles in historical context. When viewed in the context of the long history of 1,400 years of Islamic military expansion, modern Islamist terrorism takes on a whole new and very sinister light.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going into this book, I was aware of Spencer’s reputation as someone rabidly against the doctrine of Islam, but I was curious after listening to him in an interview. In it, I saw someone who strongly disliked the doctrine, but also someone who was eloquent, sharp as a razor, and his knowledge of the subject seemed vast. Spencer claims to have mostly memorized the entire Quran, and he quotes verses automatically.

This book was a page turner, albeit with blood-soaked ones. Spencer writes about Jihad over the years and it is horrific. His research is top-notch, and impressively uses primary sources throughout. I learned a ton about Muhammad’s conquests, the early Caliphate, the Sunni-Shiite split, Islamic Spain, Tamerlane, the Mughals, the Ottoman Empire, the modern Palestinian movement, ISIS, and more. Spencer is hard on Islam, yes, but after reading it, I believe he was fair. This is a very interesting book and I would like to hear what other scholars say about it.

[Denise Spicer · Rating 5 out of 5]

With extensive Bibliography and Index this excellent book presents the appallingly brutal history of Muslim conquests in varying areas geographically and over different time periods. Well researched and documented (41 pages of Endnotes), the author uses primary sources to give many examples. Of interest is that virtually all accounts of Muhammed's life are from the 8th and 9th century (over a century after the traditional date of his death) and many of the key events of his life likely never happened. (p. 15, 16). Also of note is the information on pages 309 and 310 about the creation of the so-called "Palestinian" people/nation in the 1960s and 70s. The book explores the historical evidence of the Muslim use of slavery (janissaries and sex-slaves) and the heavy, punitive form of taxation known as jizya.
The author also includes chilling accounts of current day jihadi terrorism and the inability of Western (European and American) political leaders to recognize the dangers inherent in this totalitarian belief system.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good overview of Islam's 1400 year war on the world.

[Avinash Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive book that puts the much misunderstood phenomenon of islamic terrorism into a wide historical perspective. Contrary to the usual politically correct narrative of islamic wars waged on non-muslims as purely economically motivated campaigns the book conclusively shows that the sole motivation of it was purely religious. The genocide of non-muslims and the humiliating conditions for dimmis in a sharia state makes it a captivating and eye-opening reading material.

[J.M. (Joe)]

I'll abstain from grading this since I was contracted by Post Hill Press to proofread it, but I will say Mr. Spencer is extremely accomplished and well-informed. He has done—and can support—his research (you'll find a massive bibliography, a glossary, and 1,210 endnotes in the back!). This was an enlightening read for me as an agnostic non-Muslim. It clarified some questions I've had about the modern Western position toward a religion that's driven and persisted in an ongoing war for countless generations; it has also left me disturbed by the acts of barbarity perpetrated on so many innocents based on religion (what I refer to as 'mythology'). No surprise, of course, though Spencer furnishes detailed accounts drawn from the chronicles of history, often spoken by the perpetrators. A recommended read for all Westerners.

Note: The details about the size of this book are not reflected accurately on Goodreads (as of March 3rd, 2018). The manuscript is 130k words, so it will easily be 400+ pages.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A historically informative book, well researched. I have read many articles by Spencer, and he knows Islam well. No doubt, the most successful product and export of Islam, as established in this book, has and continues to be, terror.
In 1924 Kemal Ataturk, the founder of secular Turkey, abolished the caliphate. The British Empire had successfully fought the Ottomans and this was the final blow to the Ottoman Empire which had consumed lands from India, the Middle East and into the Mediterranean and North Africa. In 1928 Hasan al-Banna formed the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to restore the caliphate. It invoked the Qur'an to " fight them until there is no fitnah (sedition) and worship is for Allah" (2:193). , exhorting them to recapture the glory of Islam and reestablish the caliphate. They maintain "No justice will be dealt and no peace on earth until the rule of the Koran and the bloc of Islam are established. Muslim unity must be established . It is the Qur'an and the Sword. And such it has been since Mohammed burst forth from the sands of Arabia with a "new" revelation of God's word. At his death, he said " I have been made victorious with terror."
Qur'an :24 "When you meet those who disbelieve, strike necks until, when you have inflicted slaughter upon them, then secure their bonds,and either favor afterwards or ransom until the war lays down its burden." Islam advanced with a blood drenched path, which has not let up for 1,500 years. This is history I never learned when we studied World History in high school. I took that comparative religion class in college, but never learned how Islam has slaughtered hundreds of millions, forced conversion by sword, and the Jizzyah taxed forced on non believers and their dimnhi status, which extorted the huge taxes on fear of death. We have heard of the Moghul Empire in India but it was the result of the largest genocide in the history of the world. Over an 8 century Jihad, somewhere between 200 and 400 million Hindus were slaughtered. 2/3 of the population. Whole cities were destroyed in days. Didn't get that fact in history class.
It was Islam, not the Visigoths, who caused the Dark Ages, They seized control of the Mediterranean, and their reign of terror cut off the supply of papyrus for the production of books. Europe successfully beat back Islam when Jon Sobieskim of Poland, defeated them during the seige of Vienna on September 11, 1683.
In the 21st century, the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates .enjoy a protected status throughout the world, proclaiming Islam as a religion of peace. (Taqqiyah, encourages telling lies in order to advance Islam).Yet, 34,000 deaths since 9-11 from Islamic terror make that questionable. Hijrah, Jihad by immigration continues apace as the West gives up their will to survive after 1,500 years of attack.(

[N Rizkalla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based hundred percent on Islamic sources, this book exposes the terroristic and fascistic reign of Islamic States since its inception till present day.

If you are living in the Western World, cure yourself from all the hype and lies that had been fed to your brain by media and politicians and learn the pure facts by reading this book.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

October 26 2024 10:30am "One way to deal with the anger toward one's enemy is to focus on the enemy's good qualities. Try to develop respect and sympathy instead. Dalai Lama.
In my life I mostly only look at the problem directly in front of me. Vision to see further around myself is a skill and with much practice I hope to claim a piece of that cake, sometimes.

Robert Spencer, American author, jihad watcher, researcher, political commentator, historian, Islamic government advisor, fearlessly brings radical Islam to front and centre.
The status quo for most democratic world leaders is Islam is a religion of peace and elimination of radical Islam is their only enemy, and any view other than that is stigmatised. RS pretty much says its so complex, so nuanced, so mind boggling, its so hard and unsolvable, so the mistake many make is that it isn't.
The information in this book can't be ignored it has ver batim Presidential and Prime ministers speeches it has FBI training manuals operandums, it has ISIS code of conduct, speeches of leaders from Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah this can't be cancelled unfortunately its a reality somewhere out there.

[Atul Subramanian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting read! A comprehensive History of Jihad and it's ideology. The author has quoted primary references extensively that it's now difficult for the negationists/apologists to remain in denial. A must read for everyone to understand the root cause of the problem of Global Terrorism.

[Pavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accurate picture of the past 1400 years with occasional omissions

I read different books by authors of diverse racial/religious backgrounds about this subject and I have to say that most of the ideas are supported elsewhere as well.

There are occasional omissions and inaccuracies which make the book slightly less balanced but they certainly do not weaken the central thesis of the book.

One aspect that I would like the author to address in the future is about how the current Western leaders approach the problem of jihad. As opposed to what the author thinks, I think the leaders at least somewhat know the source of the problem but being blatant about it only makes the problem worse and this their behavior. I don't condone the Western leaders approach here but I can understand their situation.

The author ignores the transmission of knowledge from East to West via the Muslims, which was central to the modern science. This, in no way diminishes the author's scholarship on jihad but would have made the book more balanced.

Another aspect of the history I would have liked the author to address is the role of Mongols in ending the so called Islamic golden age.


On many occasions in history when a society plundered wealth from their surrounding societies and put them to death, the excess wealth enabled some thinkers to invent abstract mathematical and scientific tools, 7th century Arabs and the English later are examples of this. The problem, however, is that, while the English have acknowledged/repented their attrocities, the Mulsims are yet to do so. I would have liked the author to explore a sub-thesis along these lines.

[Dwayne Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be an excellent source of the history of Jihad (and much of Islam). It reads much like a textbook, listing and explaining the acts of Islamic imperialism and treachery throughout its existence. There is so much that it would be very difficult to spend much time on any one thing.

[Joseph Cardali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Read !! Everyone should read it.
Historical facts. Vetted many times over.

[Jurij Fedorov · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new start for me in reviewing books. Very few people have read my reviews so far so I needed to rethink how I do them. I used to have a pro and con part about each book to clearly present my opinion but those reviews are not popular. So I wanted to create a new way to structure my reviews to make them more informative so that more readers can use them as guides. This is where it struck me that my chapter by chapter review structure I used from time to time was actually pretty good and functioned well for long books. Finally I feel like I can review books properly.

This is the audiobook.

Chapter 1 "I Bring You Slaughter": The Battles of Muhammad
8/10

This chapter is about Muhammad the army leader. He leads men into battle by telling them that if they die in jihad they'll go to heaven. There are also stories about him being interested in women and jizya.

Unfortunately it's basically the same text found in the really good Muhammad biography by Robert Spencer. So this is basically reading a very short intro to Muhammad. Whole passages and points are repeated the same way. There were a few minor new things here but not many.

Still, his Muhammad book is really good so obviously this chapter is really good and a ton of fun to reexplore even just days after finishing the biography. But it won't get a 10/10 as it's the same text. If you want to skip text skip this chapter instead of the biography as it's must-read for people interested in Islam.

Chapter 2 The Age of the Great Conquests
8/10

Here we learn about something very few books write about. It's the age right after Muhammad's death with tons of conflict and fights. There are quite a few characters here but the basics are endlessly interesting. Yet again the chapter is respectful to Muslims but does of course focus on jihad and destruction not the science or advancements of Islam, which to be fair were few and far in between for most of Muslim history.

There are a lot of really important historical lessons here like the Sunni and Shia split and various extra verses potentially added to the Quran. We don't really know what Islam was at this point but a lot of rethinking was going on and civil war was common.

Chapter 3 The Jihad Comes to Spain and India
7/10

We now move further up in time to Spain, France and India and the destruction and rape by Muslims in these areas. It's a gloomy chapter focusing on the negatives and there are plenty of them. It's not really a full history of Muslims in Europe as you don't learn about them building great Mosques or any advancements they may have made for Europe. Surely there are some? But it is a chapter that illustrates the Muslim history in Spain fairly well which is amazing to read.

There are quite a few kings and commanders here. Too many for me to really keep track off. It's also all over the world. I think a chapter about Spain alone would be better but then the book wouldn't be chronological. Still, I'd read a book about Muslims in Spain alone for sure! There are a lot of traitors who didn't get all they wanted in Christian Spain who therefore worked with Muslims. It's not even tortured souls but just really greedy people as the national feeling in Europe was not strong yet. Like for example a guy who kidnapped a nun to marry her as he found her attractive. These traitors meant that Muslims could easily capture a lot of Europe as Europeans kinda just saw a good opportunity for themselves at times, but it also meant that thousands of Christians and Jews were killed and raped. Some of the most horrible Muslim leaders liked to torture people or rape nuns. And clearly Muslims staying in Europe wouldn't be possible as this was hell for many groups. Any savior was a welcome sight but as Europe or Spain was not yet united it took some time to kick Muslims out.

One can only imagine that Islam could stay in Europe if Muslims weren't so hateful towards all outsiders.

As a Muslim leader reached India it's even more destructive and gloomy. Idol statues were destroyed and the Muslim army barely met any resistance which meant that they could mowe everything down and not be compassionate. These events are so horrible that they can even be compared to Nazis during WW2. It's utter destruction and torture. But it's 1000 years ago so it's not as morally horrible I guess.

Still, this chapter is not easy to read. It's a lot of battles and people and a lot of death. It's historically great but I'd rather read it from the Spanish perspective alone for example as that would create a more positive ending and make the story structured. Here the story just continues as jihad continues. It's scary stuff.

Chapter 4 Consolidation and Oppression
7/10

It's basically a continuation of chapter 3. Same stories but a bit later in time. We also hear more about how Muslims humiliated Western and Middle Eastern people and leaders like when they took over the Byzantine empire. This is surely the glory days of Islam and it shows how potent a war religion it is. Anyone dying in battle goes to heaven. Anyone not fighting is a bad Muslim. It makes sense that such a war religion would trample over the world as far as they could. But they were a land army and mainly used ships for transportation it seems, so you don't really see them sail far here. They just sail somewhere and then live by attacking cities and towns and plundering them for gold and women while killing thousands of people and prisoners while destroying churches and other houses of worship.

It's a bit hard to read this much negativity, but I knew what the book was about so it's expected. I do recommend his other books over this one, maybe. This one is historically amazing but his other books are more intellectual and about Islam as an idea and philosophy. This one focuses a lot on singular leaders in some specific region.

Chapter 5 The Victims of Jihad Strike Back
7/10

Unfortunately jihad doesn't mean Muslims were bad and their enemies were good. The Christian crusades to Jerusalem don't end up with some good guys victory. Christins for example massacred Jews because "they killed Jesus". At least Muhammad said Jews only thought they had killed Jesus. They were tricked.

I was kinda looking forward to seeing some good guys finally win but this seems to just not really happen 1000 years ago. At least some people could live in peace for some periods of time.

Chapter 6 The Jihad Advances into Europe
6,5/10

It's hard to know when one chapter ends and the other begins as Robert Spencer just says the title of the chapter fast and then continues narrating. So you won't really feel like this book has chapters which unfortunately makes it feel overly long and meandering as the stories about the different rulers have similar emotional valence and structures. It's more of the same here. Muslims have taken over large parts of the world and are now fighting for greater control everywhere with more and more local rules, laws and attacks.

This chapter is pretty repetitive. Muslims keep smashing idol statues or giving them to butchers as weights. They steal the statues and send them to Mecca to place in front of Mosques so that Muslims can trample on them when walking in and out of the Mosque.

Some of these Muslim leaders even don't care as much about jizya anymore and just use their great power to kill infidels and make them all Muslim. With so much power the Muslims, a war people, seem to constantly strive for war, but as their expanses are too easy they find blood and destruction in other ways.

At the end of the chapter Ottomans start conquering everything. They are one united Muslim front and even declare Shias non-Muslims to be able to attack them. Again, they seek war where they can. This is not just a Muslim war, but now also a war for a nation though a weird one with no clear rules yet it seems. Jihad still dominates everything but now it looks more structured. Even though in India whole towns are wiped out and sex slavery is still a thing. But at this time sex slavery is slowly disappearing as Christians grow in power and contracts between countries are not one-sided anymore. Muslims need to adapt their faith to survive. But largely it's not done fast.

Chapter 7 The Ottomans and Mughals in Ascendance
6,5/10

A continuation of the Ottoman empire. It's basically the same stuff. More killing and more deaths. But now we move into a more deal making focused international conflict area where the West clearly tells the Muslims to stop their wars, mass killings, jihad, slavery, torture, and sex slavery. The West grows and becomes more powerful and more structured and science focused and Muslims lose out in the race as Islam actually is about keeping people down and faithful while not allowing much creativity and development that creates progress and new technology. And as huge groups in Islamic countries are kept down and poor to an extreme degree, Christians and Jews, Islam starts actually losing wars. But when they can find weakness they strike and kill still.

I'm rating these chapters low because it becomes repetitive. It's great history, but I forget what this is about as there is soooo much info.

Chapter 8 Dégringolade
7/10

With Western progress Muslims can't just attack and kill in other countries, yet they still have ideas of expansion and killing Christians, and the Armenian massacre is one such massacre they can still have as it's in their own territory.

Muslims do shirmish fighting and ISIS type fighting here similar to how jihad is done today. And just like ISIS they attack other Muslims just to have something to do as the British are too strong.

Be aware, I'm not trying to say they only attack other Muslims because the Christinans are too strong. It's just one of the main reasons here. They can't create huge armies and travel to Christian Europe and or British India, this is why they have to either do small scale attacks or create war in nearby regions.

Chapter 9 Resurgence
9/10

New ideas and topics! Nice.

Final chapter on historical Islam. Same as the other chapters but close to modern time. The West tried to solve the Islam issue but as the Quran is pro violence it's impossible. Modern Muslim countries move to guerrilla warfare tactics and Saudi Arabia and Iran are both still huge sponsors of terrorist groups as they want jihad but now can't just openly attack countries.

Chapter 10 The West Loses the Will to Live
8/10

Very good endnote chapter. It's personal and tells the story of how the USA government banned Robert Spencer from lecturing the FBI or other agencies as now Muslim left-wing groups have called the government out for hiring people that claim that Islam may be harmful. So, at that time, the Obama administration started cancelling most Islam critics whole claiming that Islam is a religion of peace. It's a personal chapter with many assumptions and loose theories but after reading a million historical facts this is such a wonderful chapter to end it all on.

With more Muslims being welcomed to the West more problems will arise. As ISIS stated: they want war in the Middle East as the Muslim refugees will ruin Europe by jihad.

My full review
8/10

This is a great intro to jihad for sure. Even if you are Muslim and love Muhammad there is enough pure history here to entice you. It's just a really great history book. The narrow focus makes it a bit weird and the chronological order makes it at times a bit chaotic. But the really clear and direct writing style is a blast. Making this an audiobook anyone can read and especially historians will love.

It does tackle jihad. So for Muslims this is obviously not a book that will tell the full story of Islam. But once you understand the goal of the book you will understand the point. His main argument is perfectly answered and while many of these books are weak on logic this book clearly and conclusively proves that jihad will always remain as long as the Quran remains. It's a really great intro to jihad and one can not wish for much more from such a book. Unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of books with such a narrow negative scope and the narrow historical anecdotes get repetitive so I detract a star from the rating but it has nothing to do with the book. I'm just a lazy reader/listener. It's just that I like neutral sources that tell all sides I can find meaning in myself. This will take you by the hand and explain the point to you slowly which doesn't leave me much intellectual work to do.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good history book seeks not only to retell past events, but provide contextual markers and reasoning. It shouldn’t merely say A happened, then B. Rather, it should say here was the state of play at A, politically, socially, culturally and that’s why B occurred (and extra points if the historian explains that whilst history is a straight line in reverse, looking forwards there are always many options).

This is a very simplistic history book, detailing the story of Jihad—a version of Islamic prothletising struggle—from first example to last. It’s an obvious way to write a history book, but it means themes aren’t clumped together, but rather we’re forced to march through every event in history in a version of a first-year undergraduate essay, the author too afraid to omit any quote or piece of data.

Because of this, there’s a surfeit of information, but not a large amount of analysis by the author. However, when the author does throw in his opinion, occasionally it’s is laughably, horrifically, simplistic. Here he is levelling the entire history of India/Pakistan hostility at the feet of the Islamic country (Pakistan):

“Pakistan and India have remained in an ongoing state of war since the partition, due to Pakistan’s jihadi intransigence and fanaticism…”

Authors like Sam Harris have written about the challenges the liberal west faces with Islam, citing such studies as Pew study: The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society. It’s a problematic study to read because large numbers of Muslims in different nations give responses to questions we in the WEIRD countries (Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, Democratic) entirely disagree with. There’s much more concord with capital punishment, stoning for adultery, death penalty for apostasy etc.

These are fraught issues which demand discussion, but author Robert Spencer brings a broadsword rather than a scalpel to this discussion. There’s a lot here, but I wish another historian would take his work and use it toward crafting something that highlights the many risks of jihad under the Muslim faith, but with better analysis of the hows and whys.

[Tony Rinella · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0/ This is a very interesting, thorough, and unbiased history of Jihad. It seems Jihad is base state of the militant wing of Islam throughout its existence. I continue to question why the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) have such violent clashes, all in the name of the same God, each professing to be the promised people.

This was a particularly interesting read after Harari’s Sapiens and Homo Deus. Harari speaks of intersubjective realities (shared concepts that exist only in people’s minds - eg. religions, countries, and corporations), and their ability to guide a common objective. This book is about how Islamic scripture is used to amass armies and justify large scale slaughter and selling people by the tens of thousands into slavery. Despite the religious foundation of the movements, many overlook their leaders’ impious behaviors. It is unclear the extent to which much of the violence represented power maneuvers and land grabs of the day. Many an empire clashed in this history - led by several charismatic leaders. Each found a way to transcend local clashes by defining a common foreign enemy (typically an alternate faith or culture). The Christian Crusades committed similar atrocities. Jihad continued until better-funded superpowers emerged, and their offensive strategies were forced to adapt. They continue today in the form of terrorism.

I found myself wondering the extent to which these violent ideas represent a militant subgroup vs. Muslim-thought more broadly. This is not really covered in the book. I would have liked more in-depth analysis of themes in the past 50-100 years, and their roots in older traditions. The discussion of rise of the Palestinian state is particularly interesting. At minimum, it left me with more questions than answers, and a desire to dive deeper into the topic.

[LAMONT D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Robert Spencer, for giving us such an important and timely book to read concerning the history of Islam and the centuries of jihad throughout the world that has terrorized and killed millions. I like that he relates several times throughout the book how the false rhetoric has been promoted by world leaders, politicians and the media regarding the false premise that Islam is a religion of peace and accommodation (including famous speeches by the likes of Bill Clinton and Obama). At times it gets overwhelming since it is a constant theme of if you don't recount your Jewish or Christian or Hindu faith, or if you don't pay a monetary tribute to the Muslem leadership, you will be forced to leave your home or die (and many died of course - the word be-heading mut of been mentioned 50 times). That was a consistent theme throughout history that obviously continues today. I did not realize too how much went on in India throughout the ages as the jihad tried to wipe out all things related to being a Hindu. It appears to be thoroughly researched and documented presenting what has been written and said over the years by those that have promoted the religion from Muhammad and his followers.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spencer has delivered a fantastic and unique work with this volume. Meticulously researched and footnoted, this work gives an overview of Islamic holy war from the time of Muhammad up to the present day. In contrast to agenda-driven imams and capitulating and ignorant western politicians, Spencer openly reveals the true face of Islamic jihad from historical sources and the Islamic sources themselves. This is an invaluable volume for anyone seeking to truly study Islam and its history. Anyone seeking to contradict and undermine what is found in this volume should be ready to defend their points from the Islamic sources themselves and not just make unfounded assertions.

[Chris Ricklefs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS and it was mind blowing. To not even get political on this topic, the brutality of EVERYONE in the past is just beyond comprehension and shocking. Having finished this book I realized how lucky I am to be born in the time period i was born in. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking into Islam though the history. Since it deals with Islam it naturally touches on the Crusades and like I said EVERYONE in this time period was brutal. I am going to get 1984 this afternoon and really look forward to reading that.

[Hisham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously, the book was written by a far right writer. Although, the book is inclusive history of Islamic states and Empires. The book doesn’t differentiate between Islam and Islamism (political Islam). What Muslims did in history is so similar to what Romans, Persians, and Alexander the Great did, but modern-day-Islamists think they can revive the history and do it again.

[Julio Cesar Herrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt that this book was a great secular look at the creation and spread of Islam. It did an excellent job at letting us see the history of its creation and how it ruled the people it subjugated. Overall, it appears to be a religion that will never truly be peaceful, and people must understand that.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview. Must read for anyone who wants a non mainstream bias. Want to know what Islam wants and how it gets it? Find your answers here.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

beginning tedious, last two chapters best.

[Gautham Guganesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enlightening.