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The Fate of Abraham: Why the West is Wrong about Islam
As the Cold War faded into history, it appeared to have been replaced by a new conflict - between Islam and the West. Or so we are told. After the events of 9/11 and the advent of the 'war on terror', this narrative seemed prophetic. But, as Peter Oborne reveals in this masterful new analysis, the concept of an existential clash between the two is a dangerous and destructive fantasy.Based on rigorous historical research and forensic contemporary journalism that leads him frequently into war-torn states and bloody conflict zones, Oborne explains the myths, fabrications and downright lies that have contributed to this pernicious state of affairs. He shows how various falsehoods run deep, reaching back as far as the birth of Islam, and have then been repurposed for the modern day. Many in senior positions in governments across the West have suggested that Islam is trying to overturn our liberal values and even that certain Muslims are conspiring to take over the state, while Douglas Murray claims in his new book that we face a 'War on the West'. But in reality, these fears merely echo past debates, as we continue to repeat the pattern of seemingly wilful ignorance.With murderous attacks on Muslims taking place from Bosnia in 1995 to China today, Oborne dismantles the falsehoods that lie behind them, and he opens the way to a clearer and more truthful mutual understanding that will benefit us all in the long run.
528 pages, Paperback
Published April 13, 2023
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May 16, 2022
*Contains Spoilers*
Oborne is a ‘conscientious conservative’, the kind of figure which seems to be so rare in British society today. Over the last few decades, he has dedicated his professional life to championing honesty, integrity and religious tolerance. In this vein, he has authored books with titles such as, ‘The Rise of Political Lying’ & ‘The Assault on Truth’.
His struggle is all the more amazing considering his long term employment at both The Spectator and The Daily Telegraph, the latter as Political Editor. Both publications have allegedly propagated Islamophobic vitriol. Notably, The Centre for Media Monitoring determined that amongst British publications, The Spectator was the most misrepresentative and antagonistic towards Muslims, whilst The Telegraph published a now infamous column comparing Muslim women in burkas with letterboxes. According to the Islamophobia monitoring organisation, TellMAMA, this column was itself associated with a 375% increase in islamophobic incidents.
To Oborne’s credit, he did not shy away from addressing questionable statements from his colleagues whilst working at these publications. Considering the views proffered by these modern-day conservative publications, it may seem bizarre that Oborne identifies as a conservative at all. He is perhaps best compared to a figure like Wilfred Blunt. Blunt was a 19th Century British political conservative, born into the landed gentry. He spent much of his early professional life undisposed to any kind of political radicalism and was fully ensconced in the British establishment. This would all change from 1880 onwards, when during his posting in Egypt he engaged with the local Islamic intelligentsia. Accordingly, he stated that this experience “affected me profoundly, and to a certain extent revolutionized my ideas”. Priyamvada Gopal explores the development of Blunt’s anti-imperialist consciousness in depth in her book, ‘Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent’. Here she states that, “Blunt’s personal encounters during his lengthy travels in the Middle East were clearly an important element of his evolution from poet-squire to, first, advocate of benevolent British imperialism, and then vociferous critic of British rule in Egypt, India and Ireland”. Oborne shares a similar personal development from a school boy who would shudder at tales of wicked Muslims iniquitously throwing Brits into the ‘Black Hole of Calcutta’, to a conservative journalist who began to realise that global affairs were not what he has been led to believe, and finally a champion for honesty and tolerance for the dispossessed peoples of the world. This final transformation is illustrated well in the book’s final chapter where Oborne shares his conversations with Muslims across the globe, such as Sudanese and Pashtuns, who have felt firsthand the consequences of Islamophobic Western foreign policy.
The book itself is a necessary contribution to what has essentially been a one-sided discussion. I would however like to offer some critiques. Firstly, I felt that Oborne spent too much time delving into the history of Christianity and it’s relationship with Jewish people and Israel. The purpose of this preamble was to provided context for American views on Islam that are discussed in later chapters. Still, this formed a large part of a book on perspectives of Islam and I felt it deviated from the book’s scope.
I also found Oborne’s handling of Churchill rather suspect. It is a matter of public record that Churchill had uttered racist opinions towards myriad ethnic groups during his political career, with a notable visceral hatred for Mohandas Gandhi. The BBC notes that in response to Gandhi’s hungry strike (whilst languishing in a British Raj jail for campaigning for Indian Independence) Churchill Remarked, “We should be rid of a bad man and an enemy of the Empire if he died." Churchill’s personal Doctor, Lord Moran, noted that, “Winston thinks only of the colour of their [Indian’s] skin”, whilst his Secretary of State for India, Leo Amery, noted in his diary that, “He [Churchill] hated Indians… [and considered them] a beastly people with a beastly religion.” Perhaps even more dammingly, Amery noted that during the Bengal Famine that killed approximately 3 million Indians during WWII, Churchill stated the provision of any nutritional relief to Bengal would merely result in Indians “Breeding like rabbits”. (These negative sentiments towards colonised people have been recently evaluated further in Tariq Ali’s latest book, ‘Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes’). Whilst Oborne dutifully acknowledges some controversies in Churchill’s record, he seems at pains to provide false balance and chooses rather spurious examples of Churchill’s reverence for Muslims (bizarrely after citing a racist book passage from Churchill regarding Sudanese Muslims, which he proceeds to reduce to an issue with a particular type of muslim). Oborne offer’s Churchill’s admiration of Ibn Saud (the Muslim founder of the genocidal monarchy of Saudi Arabia and propagandist for the Extreme Wahhabi sect of Islam) as evidence for his tolerance of muslims. I would suggest that Churchill’s admiration for Ibn Saud may have more to do with the latter filial, perhaps even deferential relation towards Britain, and a shared proclivity to socially conservative, authoritarian politics. Nevertheless, the framing of Churchill as an admirer of Islam has the rather clumsy (and perhaps unintentional) effect of attempting to rehabilitate Churchill, when such a rehabilitation is not warranted from his objective track record. It is unclear whether Oborne’s pursues this narrative strategy
because he is conscious of the divisive, highly contested nature of Churchill’s legacy and does not want to irate his ardent followers, or perhaps Oborne’s conservative upbringing and background make it hard for him to overcome ingrained admiration for the most famous conservative prime minister of his country. Whatever the rationale, I felt that false balance was introduced here (although to Oborne’s credit, this was the only incident of perceived false balance in the entire book).
Beyond these critiques, there was much to praise about this book. Firstly, Oborne chooses to address “The West’s” response to Islam by first rooting it in American, British and then French history. This contextualisation is useful when considering nuances and seeming contradictions in a global West approach to Islam. I think the inclusion of French colonial history here (using examples of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) is a particularly strength, as this history is seldom conveyed to an English-speaking audience in popular non-fiction.
Oborne also takes a historical approach to evaluation the West’s regard for Islam. He persuasively argues that an antipathy towards Islam has been long propagated in the West (often for political expediency) from the crusading Knight Templars, through the colonising Orientalists, and finally to the imperialising Neoconservatives. He also rightly acknowledges that this narrative is not as simple as it initially seems with, for example, incidents of mediaeval Christians allying with (then considered heathen) Muslims against other Muslim, and even other Christian powers. The nuances of reality are of course inconvenient to those with an anti-islam agenda, who attempt to reduce history to a perennial battle between Islam and the West.
An interesting inclusion in this book was the discussion of the role of the ‘New Atheists’ (eg Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens & Richard Dawkins) in waging an essentially secular Jihad against Islam. There seems to be a collective amnesia on the role of atheist fundamentalists in epousing hate against theists, in particular muslims, with it rarely being critiqued in the press. As a (tolerant) atheist myself, it is something I feel our community need to address more openly, in order to overcome these divisive tendencies. Oborne also critiques the discrimination against Islam from certain elements of the French left. Whilst he caveats this by noting it was less frequent or stustained than by the (Far) Right, he draws our attention to periods of a cross-political spectrum consensus for Islamophobic sentiments. As a self-conscious conservative it would be all too easy for Oborne to slide into partisan castigations of the French Left here, however he handles the history in a sober and impartial manner.
Oborne really comes into his own in Part Four when he is reporting on the events under New Labour, the Coalition (Conservative-Liberal Democrat) and (Cameron-May-Johnson) Conservative Governments, which have governed Britain since 1997. This is logical as Oborne worked within the British mainstream media during this time, with a stint as Chief Political Commentator at The Daily Telegraph. The enormous readership and power of this publication afforded his access to political elites throughout the country.
He makes tangible the strategy of shadowy think tanks such as Policy Exchange, who promulgated a narrative of ‘non-violent extremism’ to frame all British Muslims as a potential ‘Enemy Within’, and promoted policy strategies such as ‘Prevent’ (citizen-led informing of suspected terrorists) to keep Britain’s muslims subdued. One striking quotation with regards to the Prevent Programme was that, “Over 70 per cent of Muslims in England and Wales live in ‘Prevent Priority Areas’ (PPAs), compared with just over 30 per cent of the general population. By requiring public sector workers to report people they find suspicious, moreover, Prevent effectively compels them to act on their prejudices and makes Muslims subject to majoritarian biases.” Even more disconcertingly, of the disproportionate number of British Muslims referred to Prevent, “86% of referrals to the programme were false positives – representing people who were wrongly referred. Prevent only occasionally catches the people that it wants to. Even these individuals, however, have never committed a crime. There is, moreover, no evidence that they will ever commit a crime in the future, or that they would have committed a crime were it not for being identified by Prevent.”
In Part 4 Oborne also discusses government-coordinated, ‘anti-extremism’ organisations such as Quilliam. On Quilliam, Oborne remarks, “Although Quilliam described itself as the first counterextremist organisation, it did nothing I can discern to counter right wing extremism in any country, barring the misfired stunt with Tommy Robinson [When Qulliam welcolmed with open arms the English far right figure after he quit the English Defence League]”. Instead the organisation appears to have reenforced the false dichotomy of Good Muslims vs Bad Muslims, which has being damaging for community cohesion.
Next, Oborne discredits the so called ‘Trojan Horse’ Conspiracy, where Muslims schools were purported to be attempting to turn Britain into an Islamic state. An unsubstantiated allegation, based on one anonymous letter, but a narrative that at the time the British state and mainstream media leaned into with near unanimity. Recently, The New York Times have recently released a comprehensive investigative series on the Trojan Horse Affair, which also vindicates and corroborates Oborne’s position.
A final strength of the book is Oborne’s acerbic dismantling of the false narrative of Macron as a socially liberal progressive (juxtaposed to Le Pen as his antithetical reactionary), which is so often propagated by the mainstream Western Press. Oborne highlights that in concrete policy proposal terms, the Islamophobia of Macron’s ‘La République En Marche!’ Party is on par with that of Le Pen’s ‘Rassemblement national’. A particular striking example is when Macron’s minister publicly shamed Le Pen in the French Parliament for not being islamophobic enough. The adoration for Macron and the real-time mythologising of him as a progressive hero in the media has gained hegemonic status, and thus critiquing this narrative can only cost Oborne political capital. Nevertheless, he courageously proceeds to do just that, which I think perfectly encapsulates his character.
Oborne is a ‘conscientious conservative’, the kind of figure which seems to be so rare in British society today. Over the last few decades, he has dedicated his professional life to championing honesty, integrity and religious tolerance. In this vein, he has authored books with titles such as, ‘The Rise of Political Lying’ & ‘The Assault on Truth’.
His struggle is all the more amazing considering his long term employment at both The Spectator and The Daily Telegraph, the latter as Political Editor. Both publications have allegedly propagated Islamophobic vitriol. Notably, The Centre for Media Monitoring determined that amongst British publications, The Spectator was the most misrepresentative and antagonistic towards Muslims, whilst The Telegraph published a now infamous column comparing Muslim women in burkas with letterboxes. According to the Islamophobia monitoring organisation, TellMAMA, this column was itself associated with a 375% increase in islamophobic incidents.
To Oborne’s credit, he did not shy away from addressing questionable statements from his colleagues whilst working at these publications. Considering the views proffered by these modern-day conservative publications, it may seem bizarre that Oborne identifies as a conservative at all. He is perhaps best compared to a figure like Wilfred Blunt. Blunt was a 19th Century British political conservative, born into the landed gentry. He spent much of his early professional life undisposed to any kind of political radicalism and was fully ensconced in the British establishment. This would all change from 1880 onwards, when during his posting in Egypt he engaged with the local Islamic intelligentsia. Accordingly, he stated that this experience “affected me profoundly, and to a certain extent revolutionized my ideas”. Priyamvada Gopal explores the development of Blunt’s anti-imperialist consciousness in depth in her book, ‘Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent’. Here she states that, “Blunt’s personal encounters during his lengthy travels in the Middle East were clearly an important element of his evolution from poet-squire to, first, advocate of benevolent British imperialism, and then vociferous critic of British rule in Egypt, India and Ireland”. Oborne shares a similar personal development from a school boy who would shudder at tales of wicked Muslims iniquitously throwing Brits into the ‘Black Hole of Calcutta’, to a conservative journalist who began to realise that global affairs were not what he has been led to believe, and finally a champion for honesty and tolerance for the dispossessed peoples of the world. This final transformation is illustrated well in the book’s final chapter where Oborne shares his conversations with Muslims across the globe, such as Sudanese and Pashtuns, who have felt firsthand the consequences of Islamophobic Western foreign policy.
The book itself is a necessary contribution to what has essentially been a one-sided discussion. I would however like to offer some critiques. Firstly, I felt that Oborne spent too much time delving into the history of Christianity and it’s relationship with Jewish people and Israel. The purpose of this preamble was to provided context for American views on Islam that are discussed in later chapters. Still, this formed a large part of a book on perspectives of Islam and I felt it deviated from the book’s scope.
I also found Oborne’s handling of Churchill rather suspect. It is a matter of public record that Churchill had uttered racist opinions towards myriad ethnic groups during his political career, with a notable visceral hatred for Mohandas Gandhi. The BBC notes that in response to Gandhi’s hungry strike (whilst languishing in a British Raj jail for campaigning for Indian Independence) Churchill Remarked, “We should be rid of a bad man and an enemy of the Empire if he died." Churchill’s personal Doctor, Lord Moran, noted that, “Winston thinks only of the colour of their [Indian’s] skin”, whilst his Secretary of State for India, Leo Amery, noted in his diary that, “He [Churchill] hated Indians… [and considered them] a beastly people with a beastly religion.” Perhaps even more dammingly, Amery noted that during the Bengal Famine that killed approximately 3 million Indians during WWII, Churchill stated the provision of any nutritional relief to Bengal would merely result in Indians “Breeding like rabbits”. (These negative sentiments towards colonised people have been recently evaluated further in Tariq Ali’s latest book, ‘Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes’). Whilst Oborne dutifully acknowledges some controversies in Churchill’s record, he seems at pains to provide false balance and chooses rather spurious examples of Churchill’s reverence for Muslims (bizarrely after citing a racist book passage from Churchill regarding Sudanese Muslims, which he proceeds to reduce to an issue with a particular type of muslim). Oborne offer’s Churchill’s admiration of Ibn Saud (the Muslim founder of the genocidal monarchy of Saudi Arabia and propagandist for the Extreme Wahhabi sect of Islam) as evidence for his tolerance of muslims. I would suggest that Churchill’s admiration for Ibn Saud may have more to do with the latter filial, perhaps even deferential relation towards Britain, and a shared proclivity to socially conservative, authoritarian politics. Nevertheless, the framing of Churchill as an admirer of Islam has the rather clumsy (and perhaps unintentional) effect of attempting to rehabilitate Churchill, when such a rehabilitation is not warranted from his objective track record. It is unclear whether Oborne’s pursues this narrative strategy
because he is conscious of the divisive, highly contested nature of Churchill’s legacy and does not want to irate his ardent followers, or perhaps Oborne’s conservative upbringing and background make it hard for him to overcome ingrained admiration for the most famous conservative prime minister of his country. Whatever the rationale, I felt that false balance was introduced here (although to Oborne’s credit, this was the only incident of perceived false balance in the entire book).
Beyond these critiques, there was much to praise about this book. Firstly, Oborne chooses to address “The West’s” response to Islam by first rooting it in American, British and then French history. This contextualisation is useful when considering nuances and seeming contradictions in a global West approach to Islam. I think the inclusion of French colonial history here (using examples of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) is a particularly strength, as this history is seldom conveyed to an English-speaking audience in popular non-fiction.
Oborne also takes a historical approach to evaluation the West’s regard for Islam. He persuasively argues that an antipathy towards Islam has been long propagated in the West (often for political expediency) from the crusading Knight Templars, through the colonising Orientalists, and finally to the imperialising Neoconservatives. He also rightly acknowledges that this narrative is not as simple as it initially seems with, for example, incidents of mediaeval Christians allying with (then considered heathen) Muslims against other Muslim, and even other Christian powers. The nuances of reality are of course inconvenient to those with an anti-islam agenda, who attempt to reduce history to a perennial battle between Islam and the West.
An interesting inclusion in this book was the discussion of the role of the ‘New Atheists’ (eg Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens & Richard Dawkins) in waging an essentially secular Jihad against Islam. There seems to be a collective amnesia on the role of atheist fundamentalists in epousing hate against theists, in particular muslims, with it rarely being critiqued in the press. As a (tolerant) atheist myself, it is something I feel our community need to address more openly, in order to overcome these divisive tendencies. Oborne also critiques the discrimination against Islam from certain elements of the French left. Whilst he caveats this by noting it was less frequent or stustained than by the (Far) Right, he draws our attention to periods of a cross-political spectrum consensus for Islamophobic sentiments. As a self-conscious conservative it would be all too easy for Oborne to slide into partisan castigations of the French Left here, however he handles the history in a sober and impartial manner.
Oborne really comes into his own in Part Four when he is reporting on the events under New Labour, the Coalition (Conservative-Liberal Democrat) and (Cameron-May-Johnson) Conservative Governments, which have governed Britain since 1997. This is logical as Oborne worked within the British mainstream media during this time, with a stint as Chief Political Commentator at The Daily Telegraph. The enormous readership and power of this publication afforded his access to political elites throughout the country.
He makes tangible the strategy of shadowy think tanks such as Policy Exchange, who promulgated a narrative of ‘non-violent extremism’ to frame all British Muslims as a potential ‘Enemy Within’, and promoted policy strategies such as ‘Prevent’ (citizen-led informing of suspected terrorists) to keep Britain’s muslims subdued. One striking quotation with regards to the Prevent Programme was that, “Over 70 per cent of Muslims in England and Wales live in ‘Prevent Priority Areas’ (PPAs), compared with just over 30 per cent of the general population. By requiring public sector workers to report people they find suspicious, moreover, Prevent effectively compels them to act on their prejudices and makes Muslims subject to majoritarian biases.” Even more disconcertingly, of the disproportionate number of British Muslims referred to Prevent, “86% of referrals to the programme were false positives – representing people who were wrongly referred. Prevent only occasionally catches the people that it wants to. Even these individuals, however, have never committed a crime. There is, moreover, no evidence that they will ever commit a crime in the future, or that they would have committed a crime were it not for being identified by Prevent.”
In Part 4 Oborne also discusses government-coordinated, ‘anti-extremism’ organisations such as Quilliam. On Quilliam, Oborne remarks, “Although Quilliam described itself as the first counterextremist organisation, it did nothing I can discern to counter right wing extremism in any country, barring the misfired stunt with Tommy Robinson [When Qulliam welcolmed with open arms the English far right figure after he quit the English Defence League]”. Instead the organisation appears to have reenforced the false dichotomy of Good Muslims vs Bad Muslims, which has being damaging for community cohesion.
Next, Oborne discredits the so called ‘Trojan Horse’ Conspiracy, where Muslims schools were purported to be attempting to turn Britain into an Islamic state. An unsubstantiated allegation, based on one anonymous letter, but a narrative that at the time the British state and mainstream media leaned into with near unanimity. Recently, The New York Times have recently released a comprehensive investigative series on the Trojan Horse Affair, which also vindicates and corroborates Oborne’s position.
A final strength of the book is Oborne’s acerbic dismantling of the false narrative of Macron as a socially liberal progressive (juxtaposed to Le Pen as his antithetical reactionary), which is so often propagated by the mainstream Western Press. Oborne highlights that in concrete policy proposal terms, the Islamophobia of Macron’s ‘La République En Marche!’ Party is on par with that of Le Pen’s ‘Rassemblement national’. A particular striking example is when Macron’s minister publicly shamed Le Pen in the French Parliament for not being islamophobic enough. The adoration for Macron and the real-time mythologising of him as a progressive hero in the media has gained hegemonic status, and thus critiquing this narrative can only cost Oborne political capital. Nevertheless, he courageously proceeds to do just that, which I think perfectly encapsulates his character.
May 31, 2024
Excellent book about the West's attitude towards Islam.
The content has been thoroughly researched over the best part of two decades.
Peter Oborne used to be a journalist for the right-wing publications the Spectator, the Daily Mail, and the Daily Telegraph before resigning. He now writes for the Middle East Eye and Byline Times.
In short, Oborne urges us to learn to separate the truth from the lies. When we do, this book shows how we can reach a mutual understanding of each other's opinions and beliefs that will work to the benefit of humanity.
Recommended.
The content has been thoroughly researched over the best part of two decades.
Peter Oborne used to be a journalist for the right-wing publications the Spectator, the Daily Mail, and the Daily Telegraph before resigning. He now writes for the Middle East Eye and Byline Times.
In short, Oborne urges us to learn to separate the truth from the lies. When we do, this book shows how we can reach a mutual understanding of each other's opinions and beliefs that will work to the benefit of humanity.
Recommended.
November 19, 2022
Peter Oborne, a former conservative British journalist whose views were upended after working for years in the Middle East, has put together a thoughtful, compelling and worthy defence of the Islamic faith and its people. Without shying away from condemning the actual terrorists, hateful sects and related atrocities - not too much anyway - Oborne shines a light on the role Western civilization has played throughout history in both screwing and maligning this religion, from the Crusades, to religiously or politically motivated propaganda, to xenophobic ignorance, to our many cynical allegiances with despots, dictators and shady oil barons.
Few things annoy me more than those who wilfully overlook or justify Islam's less "socially acceptable" aspects, while at the same time lambasting the same, if more moderate forms, in Christianity. It's all just a case of your typical "enemy of my enemy" thinking, that will only result in a less Westernised and watered-down religion one day gaining a cultural foothold that will ultimately benefit traditional religious values anyway.
I loved this book (among other reasons) because I very much share Oborne's desire (he is also a Christian), for the three great Abrahamic faiths to somehow transcend their entrenched hostilities and recognise the imperativeness of our standing unique but unified for the largely common goals of our faiths, as the spiritually ambiguous future unfolds ahead of us.
Few things annoy me more than those who wilfully overlook or justify Islam's less "socially acceptable" aspects, while at the same time lambasting the same, if more moderate forms, in Christianity. It's all just a case of your typical "enemy of my enemy" thinking, that will only result in a less Westernised and watered-down religion one day gaining a cultural foothold that will ultimately benefit traditional religious values anyway.
I loved this book (among other reasons) because I very much share Oborne's desire (he is also a Christian), for the three great Abrahamic faiths to somehow transcend their entrenched hostilities and recognise the imperativeness of our standing unique but unified for the largely common goals of our faiths, as the spiritually ambiguous future unfolds ahead of us.
November 18, 2024
The book did not entirely meet my expectations. It focuses on the detailed history of US, UK, and, to a lesser extent, French relations with Muslim groups and states. While it aims to prove that these relations are entirely based on prejudice and bigotry, it misses the opportunity to address broader questions: Why is Islamophobia so prevalent in the West? What should the relationship between the West and Islam actually be? How should the West integrate its Muslim communities? To make its point, the book cherry-picks facts and figures— for instance dedicating one chapter to an Islamophobic incident in the UK while skimming over any Islamist attacks in Europe.
February 20, 2024
6 out of 5 if I could
August 17, 2024
If you ignore the bit where he pretends Churchill wasn't a racist, then this is pretty good for a tory.
December 29, 2023
Unfortunately, this book is more of an opinion piece rather than an explanation as to "Why the West is Wrong about Islam". On occasion, the book starts to explain the Western perception and compare it to Islam itself, but quickly reverts to it's 'pity me' attitude.
It's well-referenced, which may create the appearance of impartiality, but the references are all one way. It doesn't take much self-research to read the other side of the story.
The book contains interesting, and sometimes completely valid, points. However it never actually achieved what it sets out to do and at times comes across as the ramblings of the author.
A great shame 😞
It's well-referenced, which may create the appearance of impartiality, but the references are all one way. It doesn't take much self-research to read the other side of the story.
The book contains interesting, and sometimes completely valid, points. However it never actually achieved what it sets out to do and at times comes across as the ramblings of the author.
A great shame 😞
August 21, 2025
This clearly written, well-researched book critiques the idea, first popularised by Bernard Lewis and later by Samuel Huntington, that the West and Islam are locked in a perpetual ‘clash of civilisations’- a notion Oborne carefully dismantles and exposes on various levels.
Oborne examines how this Orientalist way of thinking about Islam and Muslims amongst Western governments has shaped policy that has led Muslims facing intense scrutiny and violent control through systems of organised, structural Islamophobia in his case-study countries: the UK, USA, and France.
Each chapter is straightforward and breaks down complex ideas without losing their significance and depth—no small feat.
Overall, it’s a really helpful book that aids readers take stock of a long & complex history, particularly more recent history. For anyone seeking a well-researched yet accessible book on the West’s approach to Islam from an author who can cut through the noise, this is worth picking up.
Oborne examines how this Orientalist way of thinking about Islam and Muslims amongst Western governments has shaped policy that has led Muslims facing intense scrutiny and violent control through systems of organised, structural Islamophobia in his case-study countries: the UK, USA, and France.
Each chapter is straightforward and breaks down complex ideas without losing their significance and depth—no small feat.
Overall, it’s a really helpful book that aids readers take stock of a long & complex history, particularly more recent history. For anyone seeking a well-researched yet accessible book on the West’s approach to Islam from an author who can cut through the noise, this is worth picking up.
March 4, 2024
Not sure what I expected here. I like Oborne's journalism but do I need him to talk to me about faith interactions? Turns out, yes. This is a surprisingly strong book that essentially makes the case that:
'The "clash of civilisations" is mostly BS. Our political and media classes have villainised Muslims *and* Islam (predominantly in the UK & US). That needs to change'.
It's excellently argued with plenty of parallels drawn and with the UK on the cusp of major anti-democratic reforms designed to persecute its Muslim minority while its media and political classes say and print some of the most patently racist and bigoted things, it proves prescient and valuable.
You end the book wishing that our media had more figures like Oborne and fewer of the nepobabies tramping out barely-literate rubbish in service of the very worst our politics has to offer.
'The "clash of civilisations" is mostly BS. Our political and media classes have villainised Muslims *and* Islam (predominantly in the UK & US). That needs to change'.
It's excellently argued with plenty of parallels drawn and with the UK on the cusp of major anti-democratic reforms designed to persecute its Muslim minority while its media and political classes say and print some of the most patently racist and bigoted things, it proves prescient and valuable.
You end the book wishing that our media had more figures like Oborne and fewer of the nepobabies tramping out barely-literate rubbish in service of the very worst our politics has to offer.
September 3, 2022
I thought that this book was brilliant. It starts with the history of Islamophobia in the US, UK and France. I found this very informative as I discovered that it predates significantly 9/11. I was also shocked about some injustices like the Trojan Horse affair and the case of Ahmed Robbani, a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay known to be innocent as he was arrested and tortured due to a mistaken identity, was due to be released but is still languishing in Guantanamo Bay. It is particularly noteworthy that Peter Oborne (the author) had a journalistic career in conservative newspapers but managed to write this very objective well researched book.
January 13, 2025
I listened to this one. Peter Oborne goes back to the origins of contacts and relations between US, England and France and Muslim populations around the world. He brings this up to date with the current deep suspicions promoted between the “West” and the Islamic world - basically pushed through an ongoing Cold War. I learned a great deal from listening to this comprehensive and quite up-to-date recounting of colonial and post-colonial history, and of anti-Islamic smear campaigns, mainly in UK. I was moved by Oborne’s pleas for the natural state of peace which should exist among the followers of the three monotheistic religions practiced by the descendants of Abraham.
April 16, 2025
Excellent book.
If you want a look at the nowadays thorny subjects of Islam and Middle East, from a western perspective, but with genuine intellectual integrity (a rare treat these days - sadly) and from a genuine British conservative (as they used to be - true believer in conservative values not the travesty that the neo-cons have made of them)
If that is what you seek, then this is a very good book for you.
Plus, it is written by an author with mastery of both the art of investigative journalism and writing in the English language. Makes for an agreeable read.
If you want a look at the nowadays thorny subjects of Islam and Middle East, from a western perspective, but with genuine intellectual integrity (a rare treat these days - sadly) and from a genuine British conservative (as they used to be - true believer in conservative values not the travesty that the neo-cons have made of them)
If that is what you seek, then this is a very good book for you.
Plus, it is written by an author with mastery of both the art of investigative journalism and writing in the English language. Makes for an agreeable read.
July 15, 2022
A meticulously researched book about how we need to separate the truth from the lies with regard to how the West views Islam .This book opens your eyes to state propaganda,media manipulation and falsehoods that run deep in history . The three great monotheistic religions share a common ancestor ( hence the title ) and the author urges us all to share a common humanity with constructive pragmatic ways forward .
May 5, 2023
Not bad for western mainstream liberals and conservatives. Helpful for objective fact reporting. However, As an third world far-left ex-Muslim, I believe this book has superficial approach and couldn’t reach to the roots of the problem. Yet, it’s a good book for those who are novice about politics. Too Eurocentric and superficial for someone who has interests in politics.
July 20, 2024
Fantastic book and wholly worth the time. At times deeply sad, at others, indirectly inspirational (fuel for my own opinions and actions). I was gripped by Oborne's immensely well-researched book, and the expose on the collective efforts of leaders, governments and 'influencers' to control the narrative is expertly laid out and argued.
October 11, 2024
Brilliant! A masterpiece of investigative journalism and research, this book exposes the blatant hypocrisy of western media and politics. As the author observes: "The American, British, and French media don't report on Muslims. It targets them, fabricating stories and fomenting at best distrust and at worst, hatred."
Read it to open your eyes and minds.
Read it to open your eyes and minds.
October 11, 2023
I liked it, then I tried to keep convincing myself I liked it. Has the power to start as a story, but devolves in a string of opinions and author-selected facts. Still, glad I read it though and learned a lot.
April 24, 2024
I had an idea about what I was getting into, but it's far worse.
I wonder how it isn't more popular.
If I was an Islamist, this book would have been one of my absolute favourites.
May Allah save the West!...
I wonder how it isn't more popular.
If I was an Islamist, this book would have been one of my absolute favourites.
May Allah save the West!...
January 12, 2023
Excellent book that explores the history of Islam and the UK, US, and France, how that influences experience today, and ongoing misunderstandings and deliberate misrepresentations of Islam.
February 28, 2024
A monumental work. Without a doubt the greatest contribution a former Boris Johnson colleague has made to this world.
March 28, 2024
Very well researched and a necessary narrative for world peace
February 1, 2025
Witty, articulate, thorough, respectful, and increasingly important.
Read the ancestry of Islamophobia's propaganda machines.
Read the ancestry of Islamophobia's propaganda machines.
September 7, 2024
This is a really good picking-apart of how various western governments, media and citizens think of Islam, it's adherents, and it's political representatives. It's an excellent corrective to lazy assumptions. The trouble is that hew starts off by saying there's a huge conspiracy involving politicians, media, judges, police and the Jews to make Muslims look like the new enemy. On other words, we haven't just got things out of perspective, no, there's an organised campaign to demonise a minority and almost everyone is on on it. That's a big claim and it needs some solid evidence and he doesn't bring it.
And the problem goes a little beyond the conspiracy mindset: he seems to skip over a lot of very real atrocities by Muslim terrorists and acts as though they were nothing. And he describes the "Grooming Gang Myth" as though that whole thing was no big deal either. You can't make a case of you're not taking all the facts into account. It's all a bit Hitchensish really: very erudite, very well out together but asking you to believe some really mad stuff.
And the problem goes a little beyond the conspiracy mindset: he seems to skip over a lot of very real atrocities by Muslim terrorists and acts as though they were nothing. And he describes the "Grooming Gang Myth" as though that whole thing was no big deal either. You can't make a case of you're not taking all the facts into account. It's all a bit Hitchensish really: very erudite, very well out together but asking you to believe some really mad stuff.
May 29, 2024
Important book that puts the current western understanding and perception about people with the Islamic fait in a historical context.
January 22, 2024
This book gives a great in-depth analysis of the way the West has interacted with Islam and Muslims since its inception. It the talks about specific examples of recent events where Muslims were unjustly targeted in the West, followed by a somber walk-through of Muslim war-torn areas of the world.
I enjoyed the read and found it beneficial, but I felt it was lacking in describing the ways that the teachings of Islam are similar to the teachings of the other Abrahamic religions. I appreciated the last few pages for touching on those similarities, but would have liked more so as to shorten the distance between these three religions that are truly cousins of each other.
I enjoyed the read and found it beneficial, but I felt it was lacking in describing the ways that the teachings of Islam are similar to the teachings of the other Abrahamic religions. I appreciated the last few pages for touching on those similarities, but would have liked more so as to shorten the distance between these three religions that are truly cousins of each other.
July 22, 2023
I know what the book is about and I know the attitudes are in all probability correct but I feel only half the story told. East is East and West is West the only way they get on together is when there is some compromise and mutual beifit which usually means money.
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