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Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World
Although there are over one billion Muslims in the world, and over ten million in the West, most discussions of Islam are based on clichés or outright prejudice. This lively and compelling book sets out to bridge the gulf of misunderstanding. Islam, argues Akbar Ahmed, does not mean the subordination of women, contempt for other religions, opposition to the modern world, or barbaric punishments for petty crimes. One cannot fully come to terms with modern Islam without understanding its sources and traditions.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
Akbar Ahmed
49 books49 followersAkbar Salahuddin Ahmed, is a Pakistani-American academic, author, poet, playwright, filmmaker and former diplomat. He currently holds the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and is Professor of International Relations at the American University in Washington, D.C.Immediately prior, he taught at Princeton University as served as a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He also taught at Harvard University and was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Anthropology. Ahmed was the First Chair of Middle East and Islamic Studies at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. In 2004 Ahmed was named District of Columbia Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. A former Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland, Ahmed was a member of the Civil Service of Pakistan and served as Political Agent in South Waziristan Agency and Commissioner in Baluchistan. He also served as the Iqbal Fellow (Chair of Pakistan Studies) at the University of Cambridge. An anthropologist and scholar of Islam. He completed his MA at Cambridge University and received his PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He has been called "the world's leading authority on contemporary Islam" by the BBC.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 7, 2017
I was looking for a quick, short and simple read for my all Non-Muslim friends, who always want to know about Islam. They are curious to know the complexity and diversity which makes them puzzle.
The rise of Islamophobia and the emergence of Saviour Narrative especially against Muslim Women. The false view in the International Media and the slogans of "Barbaric Religion". This all is something very common assumption among people. So, all those who are curious to know the truth, pick this "Short" read. Mind you, topics are shrink but this book covered much for a reader. I loved the chapters about the Central Asia and its culture. And of course, its glorious past.
It was my very first experience with Ahmed's writing. Although, I have heard about him regarding his lectures on contemporary politics and Islam. Well, I am glad that I picked his read and learned about facts and important issues to deal with. "Islam Today" is not only about the basic knowledge about Islam, it's a lot more than that. Politics in Islamic World, its issues, history, relations with allies or neighbours and above all International Relations and Interfaith Harmony. My most fav chapter was about the empires of Ottomans, Safavid and Mughals and their inheritor states. From culture to revolution, from food to great architecture, from the role of Media to Lobbying, this book is a good source of info. I really appreciate the simple, quick and strong writing style which can never make anyone tired, doesn't matter how hard questions they are dealing with.
Indeed, a great read.
The rise of Islamophobia and the emergence of Saviour Narrative especially against Muslim Women. The false view in the International Media and the slogans of "Barbaric Religion". This all is something very common assumption among people. So, all those who are curious to know the truth, pick this "Short" read. Mind you, topics are shrink but this book covered much for a reader. I loved the chapters about the Central Asia and its culture. And of course, its glorious past.
It was my very first experience with Ahmed's writing. Although, I have heard about him regarding his lectures on contemporary politics and Islam. Well, I am glad that I picked his read and learned about facts and important issues to deal with. "Islam Today" is not only about the basic knowledge about Islam, it's a lot more than that. Politics in Islamic World, its issues, history, relations with allies or neighbours and above all International Relations and Interfaith Harmony. My most fav chapter was about the empires of Ottomans, Safavid and Mughals and their inheritor states. From culture to revolution, from food to great architecture, from the role of Media to Lobbying, this book is a good source of info. I really appreciate the simple, quick and strong writing style which can never make anyone tired, doesn't matter how hard questions they are dealing with.
Indeed, a great read.
February 12, 2008
Pretty good book. It was what I was looking for, a broad overview of beliefs without politics.
October 3, 2010
I was looking forward to this book as a potential good reference on Islam that would provide a good overview of its tenets, history, and challenges for today. Sadly, this book does not deliver.
My father gave me the book several years ago after he read it but I let it sit around. I thought it was time to read it. While it does provide some of the things I was looking for, it is too disjointed, too full of the writer’s wishes, opinion, anecdotal evidence, and simple unbacked assertions to be that good. There are very likely better books that would serve as good introductions to Islam.
I guess the author does provide warning. He tells you the book is based on a BBC series and that in the book, “we will travel to and fro in time and space…The book is not academic. I am not propounding and defending a thesis. It is not a chronological history…The book is impressionistic-part travelogue, part history.” I was warned.
Certainly early on and generally throughout the book, it reads more like an essay and potentially an homage to Islam. The author makes assertions without facts. He writes that Muslims revere the Koran and uses flowery language to describe how they honor it. How about some information and facts? He tries to defend Mohammed from critics that say he had many wives and therefore was a man of sensual pleasures and of the material world by telling the reader that the women Mohammed married were older widows who he was protecting. That may be a fact from the Koran. However, he then writes that Mohammed was revered and loved and if he really wanted to sleep with a lot of women, he could have because of his charisma and reputation. Is that a fact or just something one would like to think about a powerful person?
The book is a little too disorganized. For example, he writes about U.S.-Iranian situation through the lens of the fatwa on Salman Rushdie for the “Satanic Verses” and puts it into some context. He then veers off U.S.-Iranian relations and ends with the Iranians beating the Americans at the 1998 World Cup. It is just too haphazard and impressionistic.
Some good things about the book: He does a good job of explaining the differences between Sunnis and Shia (he is Sunni) and provides insight into the Shia’s vision of the world that provides the Western view of Islam. Apparently, Shia have more a sense of being aggrieved and oppressed and are more apt to follow a religious leader. So although ten percent of the world’s Muslims, the Shia’s fiery rhetoric and vivid demonstrations play more to the media and an image that can be grasped for a quick TV story than the picture that would be gained by those from Sunnis. He also does an adequate job of talking about past Muslim empires and rulers, giving a wider sense of the different types of Islam and Islamic countries and empires based on their local customs, geography, and culture.
His defense of Islam as not anti-woman does not stand up. He essentially says that Islam reveres and honors woman and that the Koran has passages that cite the important role they play and how they should be honored and respected. But he does not say that is how people act and he doesn’t quite let us know that the women may be important, but only in certain spheres. One silly example is the Friday prayers. Men must pray at a mosque and this is quite inconvenient, he writes. But to honor women, they can go to the mosque and pray in their own area or just stay home. None of the burden of going to the mosque! Ergo, Islam honors women! I’m unconvinced.
There are other examples like that. In the end, there are very likely other, better books on the subject. Seek them out (and let me know what they are so I can read a better one). Oh and one last item. The cover of my copy has a blurb that this was “Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year” by the LA Times. I guess I will never trust that as a source of quality books.
My father gave me the book several years ago after he read it but I let it sit around. I thought it was time to read it. While it does provide some of the things I was looking for, it is too disjointed, too full of the writer’s wishes, opinion, anecdotal evidence, and simple unbacked assertions to be that good. There are very likely better books that would serve as good introductions to Islam.
I guess the author does provide warning. He tells you the book is based on a BBC series and that in the book, “we will travel to and fro in time and space…The book is not academic. I am not propounding and defending a thesis. It is not a chronological history…The book is impressionistic-part travelogue, part history.” I was warned.
Certainly early on and generally throughout the book, it reads more like an essay and potentially an homage to Islam. The author makes assertions without facts. He writes that Muslims revere the Koran and uses flowery language to describe how they honor it. How about some information and facts? He tries to defend Mohammed from critics that say he had many wives and therefore was a man of sensual pleasures and of the material world by telling the reader that the women Mohammed married were older widows who he was protecting. That may be a fact from the Koran. However, he then writes that Mohammed was revered and loved and if he really wanted to sleep with a lot of women, he could have because of his charisma and reputation. Is that a fact or just something one would like to think about a powerful person?
The book is a little too disorganized. For example, he writes about U.S.-Iranian situation through the lens of the fatwa on Salman Rushdie for the “Satanic Verses” and puts it into some context. He then veers off U.S.-Iranian relations and ends with the Iranians beating the Americans at the 1998 World Cup. It is just too haphazard and impressionistic.
Some good things about the book: He does a good job of explaining the differences between Sunnis and Shia (he is Sunni) and provides insight into the Shia’s vision of the world that provides the Western view of Islam. Apparently, Shia have more a sense of being aggrieved and oppressed and are more apt to follow a religious leader. So although ten percent of the world’s Muslims, the Shia’s fiery rhetoric and vivid demonstrations play more to the media and an image that can be grasped for a quick TV story than the picture that would be gained by those from Sunnis. He also does an adequate job of talking about past Muslim empires and rulers, giving a wider sense of the different types of Islam and Islamic countries and empires based on their local customs, geography, and culture.
His defense of Islam as not anti-woman does not stand up. He essentially says that Islam reveres and honors woman and that the Koran has passages that cite the important role they play and how they should be honored and respected. But he does not say that is how people act and he doesn’t quite let us know that the women may be important, but only in certain spheres. One silly example is the Friday prayers. Men must pray at a mosque and this is quite inconvenient, he writes. But to honor women, they can go to the mosque and pray in their own area or just stay home. None of the burden of going to the mosque! Ergo, Islam honors women! I’m unconvinced.
There are other examples like that. In the end, there are very likely other, better books on the subject. Seek them out (and let me know what they are so I can read a better one). Oh and one last item. The cover of my copy has a blurb that this was “Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year” by the LA Times. I guess I will never trust that as a source of quality books.
February 28, 2012
Another book required for reading for an International Relations class. It gives an excellent overview of Islam with great historical and cultural explanations.
August 20, 2021
A nice overview of Islam-touches on a bit of everything without going into much depth, so a good starter book. I read Ahmed's Journey into America first, and found that to be exceptional. I have a few critiques with this book, namely the inconsistency in focusing on "Western colonialism" as a negative factor while harkening back fondly to collective memories of Islamic empires, which were themselves colonial (mentioned without irony the near conquests of Vienna, Muslim empires in North Africa which assumed control and subjugated indigenous peoples like Coptics or Berbers), into central and souteast Asia, and even Turkey. The author captures well much of the sentiment held by parts of the Muslim world, and perhaps that was the goal, but academicaly it seemed to lack objectivity. Overall if you want an intro to Islam book, this is a good start, broad but readable.
February 18, 2025
This book is rather dated now, but I still found it quite educational. As someone who doesn't clearly remember a time before 9/11/2001, it was especially interesting to read the perspective of a Muslim historian right on the precipice of that moment and all that followed after.
January 20, 2019
It's a good gateway to know more about today's Islam, not quite in-depth but comprehensive.
March 16, 2017
Certainly a helpful book to read in our modern world.
March 22, 2014
This review is also published on my book blog Captivated by Books
As I now live in an Islamic dominant area, and I don’t really know much about the religion or the culture, I wanted to learn a bit about it. Islam Today wasn’t what I expected. I was hoping to learn the religion’s rules and values, and while this book does touch on them, it was more like a (very long) history lesson. In one way this is good as it shows how different areas of the world have affected the religion, as well as explaining the differences among Muslims. However I finished this book still not sure about much of the religion.
My main issue with the book was how defensive Akbar Ahmed is about Islam. He is constantly reminding us that we shouldn’t judge a community based on the actions of a few etc. To me this seemed a little redundant to keep repeating as presumably the reader who chooses to pick up this book is aiming to learn and understand, rather than to judge. Unfortunately, Ahmed then undermines everything he says about judging by assuming that ‘the West’ have x opinion of Islam. This irritated me as, as I’ve said, the chances are the reader wants to understand, and by being hypocritical in this way the author makes it a lot more difficult to believe and trust him.
Another reason I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who knows nothing of Islam (such as myself) is that the writing is very dense. It is difficult to follow and the fact that many new terms are thrown at us at once makes it much harder to understand what the author actually means.
Personally I feel this book is aimed at someone with a clear understanding of Islam as a religion, but who wishes to learn more about it as a culture. Ahmed not only explains how Islam grew across the world, but also brings up the many issues Muslims face today (though it has to be taken into consideration that Islam Today was republished over 10 years ago), going as far as giving suggestions on the perfect way to integrate all societies (though I doubt any of his suggestions are actually feasible in reality, as they seem more like a child’s simple answer of assuming everyone can accept each other – but that’s just my opinion). Therefore I would recommend this book to those who are looking for a more in-depth look at the history of Islam; however I doubt this is the best book out there on the subject, though it is one of the more available ones.
As I now live in an Islamic dominant area, and I don’t really know much about the religion or the culture, I wanted to learn a bit about it. Islam Today wasn’t what I expected. I was hoping to learn the religion’s rules and values, and while this book does touch on them, it was more like a (very long) history lesson. In one way this is good as it shows how different areas of the world have affected the religion, as well as explaining the differences among Muslims. However I finished this book still not sure about much of the religion.
My main issue with the book was how defensive Akbar Ahmed is about Islam. He is constantly reminding us that we shouldn’t judge a community based on the actions of a few etc. To me this seemed a little redundant to keep repeating as presumably the reader who chooses to pick up this book is aiming to learn and understand, rather than to judge. Unfortunately, Ahmed then undermines everything he says about judging by assuming that ‘the West’ have x opinion of Islam. This irritated me as, as I’ve said, the chances are the reader wants to understand, and by being hypocritical in this way the author makes it a lot more difficult to believe and trust him.
Another reason I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who knows nothing of Islam (such as myself) is that the writing is very dense. It is difficult to follow and the fact that many new terms are thrown at us at once makes it much harder to understand what the author actually means.
Personally I feel this book is aimed at someone with a clear understanding of Islam as a religion, but who wishes to learn more about it as a culture. Ahmed not only explains how Islam grew across the world, but also brings up the many issues Muslims face today (though it has to be taken into consideration that Islam Today was republished over 10 years ago), going as far as giving suggestions on the perfect way to integrate all societies (though I doubt any of his suggestions are actually feasible in reality, as they seem more like a child’s simple answer of assuming everyone can accept each other – but that’s just my opinion). Therefore I would recommend this book to those who are looking for a more in-depth look at the history of Islam; however I doubt this is the best book out there on the subject, though it is one of the more available ones.
November 24, 2011
I found this book to be very well written. For the first time I have a picture of the differences between Sunni and Shia Islam and what the Islamic countries and peoples are going through in modern times as well as giving a consise history of the Islamic empires of the past. The author does not present a lop sided picture at all but strives to show the problems that Islam faces from both within and without. It most definitely made the Islamic people more human to me.
July 15, 2007
Author is Muslim
A good short introduction.
A good short introduction.
February 14, 2008
Another introductory book I read several years ago. It was very beneficial for me at that time.
March 19, 2015
Nicely traced history. Good fill-in for reading other works. 1999, but still, everything up until that time is good. Some very personal observations by the Pakistani author.
June 22, 2016
Ordered immediately after 9-1-1. I wanted to learn more about the Islamic faith. Good book.
April 29, 2017
A pretty solid introduction to the Islamic world. The apologetics became irritating at times. Give it a read!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews