What do You think about The Politically Incorrect Guide To Islam (2005)?
Well, I never really expect a balanced, nuanced view from a PIG guide. :-) This just happened to be the first of a group of books I began hunting down last summer to show up on my doorstep so. I am still hunting and searching for answers to the paradoxes of Islam--how did a flourishing, progressive culture in the Middle Ages become backward and anti-progress? How can the same people who partner with the Church in standing for decency and family, be the same people who murder those who disagree with them and dress up small boys in fake-bloody shirts and run them through the streets with knives and "Death to All Jews" posters? I was so disturbed last summer after reading Ayaan Hirsi Ali's stunning and heartwrenching Infidel (HIGHLY recommended reading) that I've been on an answer hunt. I didn't find too many here. I did get a list of possibly enlightening further reading. In a history sense, this book is OK. In a "OK, what now" sense, it is sort of dismal. I got a little annoyed at the repetition and little "Jesus vs. Mohammed" sidebars, and a few of Spencer's answers don't quite wash (In answer to the "How did such an advanced society end up backward" his answer is, essentially--never happened. They never WERE advanced. It was all Jews, Christians and apostates who were advanced, the Muslims were always neanderthals--ugh) However, Spencer correctly points out that the Crusades were essentially defensive, Islam has always been militant and always stressed offering a maximum of THREE choices to all the rest of the world, (1. Convert, 2. Pay a heavy tax and subject yourselves, or 3. Die.), and he points out the logical absurdity of saying that Pat Robertson saying something dumb is the same thing as a mullah issuing a fatwa of death on someone who said something he didn't like. I got a nice list of further reading from the notes at least. But I still don't really have a fix on how "Infidel" and the nice Muslim family who lived down the student-housing block from us are from the same world.
—Michelle
An excellent book by a respected scholarI have been reading the work of Robert Spencer for last several years and I must say he is one of the fearless scholars who write honestly about Islam and the threat it poses to Western civilization. The population of Islamists is growing in the Western world, and the threat of Islamic terrorism is here and very real.This is very well researched book by a highly respected conservative scholar. Robert Spencer discusses the facts about Islam that most scholars shy away for the fear of being politically incorrect. This book covers plenty of ground with a study of Muhammad, his early life, the making of the Qur'an, the spread of Islam, and Islam's early wars, culminating in the Crusades. Islam has been presented by a few politically correct scholars as "a religion of peace" mainly to please Islamic population in Western countries. The truth is that it is anything but a peaceful religion. The intolerance to other cultures and other faiths are clearly expressed in Islamic literature, when forgiveness is the principal concept of ChristianismThe author provides an exposé of Islam that "won't be taught in school" or "heard on the evening news." He describes the religion vividly and draws our attention to the goal of Islamists; that is to globalize Islam by causing fear and using force. The view that Islam is a religion of peace has been hijacked by a very small minority of liberals and apologists. The author quotes great many number of historical figures critical of Islam, including John Quincy Adams, Winston Churchill and many others. Using facts like the Danish cartoon episode, and the Pope Benedict's speech with quotes calling Muhammad's teachings "evil" and "spread by the sword," the aftermath of Islamic rampage witnessed across the globe, the author cleverly discusses the facts of Islamic culture in chapters like; "Muhammad: Prophet of War" and "Islam--Spread by the Sword?At the end of the book Robert Spencer warns that if West does not act in a timely manner, it will be too late to win against Islam. Jihad has already been declared against the Western society. The war on terror can be won if the Western allies in the Muslim world receive support, and these moderates can create an environment in Islamic countries where the ideology of hate is replaced with respect for other faiths and coexistence in peace and harmony.I believe that this book must be made mandatory for all freshman entering the colleges and universities to learn the truth about Islam.
—Rama
This book was recommended to me by an avid reader as "the best summary I have seen of the main tenants of Islam and how they relate to the current socio-political challenges of our world." The power of this book is it's focus. Spencer uses primary sources to illustrate, not ALL the tenets of Islam, but simply those that have bearing on the socio-political interaction of Muslims within Islamic society and with those outside of Islamic society (be they co-located or in outside nations). Throughout the book there are recommendations for primary source research should the reader desire more information. Spencer also has an agenda to expose the fallicies of the politically correct presentation of both Islam and Christianity in Western society. While I wasn't too interested in the Crusades section when I picked the book up, Spencer's logic was compelling enough for me to devour these sections when I came to them. His basic point is that both Islam and Christianity are being misrepresented in public discourse. Islam is being presented too favorably, while Christianity is being presented too harshly. The result is a dangerous underestimation of the political threat of Islam combined with an apathy toward Western civilization (and the Christianity it was built upon) which is rendering the West somnolent. This was a compelling arguement that made me recognize my apathy and rethink some of actions. As somewhat of an aside, I should mention that Spencer is intentional about documenting that NOT ALL MUSLIMS agree with ALL the concepts of Islam that he is presenting. But his point is three-fold: 1) We simply don't know a credible way to determine what percentage of Muslims embrace specific doctrines of their faith; 2) The concern remains that if one is truly commited to Islam, this IS what Islam teaches; and 3) While atrocities have certainly been commited by Christians, sometimes even in the name of their faith, an examination of Christianity (via the primary source method Spencer applies to Islam) reveals that Jesus and the Bible neither endorse nor encourage these egregious acts. Which brings me to...Another theme of Spencer's work, though less developed, is that whether or not you agree with Christianity, it's presence was essential to the development of Western Civilization as we know it. The Christian (and in some cases Judeo-Christian) concepts of a natural order, freedom, loving others as yourself, intrinsic law (and therefore the requirement of lawfulness), and compassion for the oppressed, have not only influenced but molded our society into what it is today. Spencer contrasts the Islamic society which was established by Mohammed in rejection of these Judeo-Christian concepts and notes that the two worldviews are drastically different. And not in idea only, for the society created by each is also vastly different, and not many of the West would want to live in the Islamic version. I know I certainly wouldn't. Of course, the challenge Spencer faces is that telling Westerners this different worldview exists and is threatening their lifestyle is kind of like warning fish that water is drying up. Who can really fathom it? In order to increase my own comprehension, I think this is a book I will need to read again.
—Ebookwormy
