Product Description

Alone among the world's religions, Islam is not just surviving but flourishing. Yet many people know little about Islam and regard its continuing attraction as something of a mystery. In this book, Du Pasquier, an award-winning Swiss journalist, provides a thorough introduction to Muslim belief, history and culture. He deals not only with topical issues, such as 'fundamentalism' and the status of Muslim women, but provides an overview of the Qur'an, the Prophet, Islamic history, and the nature of Muslim art and literature. Unbiased yet passionate, the book offers an 'unveiling' which must be heeded if the present mutual incomprehension between East and West is to be overcome.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #415745 in Books
• Published on: 1993-02-01
• Original language: French
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 157 pages

Review
'This book offers an exceptionally lucid and concise introduction to Islam specially intended for those with little prior knowledge or understanding of it...The author is endowed with a pronounced gift for thoroughly explaining complex issues or ideas in only a very few words.'Maryam Jameelah (Muslim World Book Review); 'In this excellent translation by T. J. Winter from the French original, the principal tenets of Islamic faith are presented elegantly and succinctly...Recommended to both non-Muslims who want to learn more...and to Muslims who find their commitment wavering, and are in need of intellectual reinforcement.' Islamica.

Islamica
'In this excellent translation by T. J. Winter from the French original, the principal tenets of Islamic faith are presented elegantly and succinctly...Recommended to both non-Muslims who want to learn more...and to Muslims who find their commitment wavering, and are in need of intellectual reinforcement.'

Muslim World Book Review
'This book offers an exceptionally lucid and concise introduction to Islam specially intended for those with little prior knowledge or understanding of it...The author is endowed with a pronounced gift for thoroughly explaining complex issues or ideas in only a very few words.' Maryam Jameelah

Customer Reviews

Brilliant!
This is a very good introductory text on Islam, concise yet comprehensive, enunciating not only the basic precepts and principles upon which the faith rests, but also containing quite detailed chapters on the civilisation and culture which stemmed from the historical inception of the faith. I would recommend this book especially for people born and living in the West, or who have had significant contact with the now dominant Western mode of living, as the author - himself having been born and lived in the West - writes in a way which acts as a bridge, connecting and establishing a bond of understanding over the gulf which presently separates the two cultures. A non-Muslim reader will gain a real insight into the mind and heart of a true Muslim - someone who really believes - becoming familiar not only with how he thinks and what he feels, but also with what motivates him and how he acts. The quality of the translation from the original French into English is superlative: lucid, accurate and easily comprehensible. All-in-all, this is one of the best introductory texts on Islam I have come across in the English language, and, on a more personal level, I would say that this book is an essential step which needs to be taken, in allowing sincere, thinking people anywhere to forge an understanding of the world and existence in a viable and tenable manner, at once congruous with modern knowledge and discoveries, and yet, at the same time, consistent with ancient wisdom and truths.

Buy it, borrow it, READ it
Absolutely excellent in every respect and is suitable for non-Muslims as well as Muslims. Totally excellent dawah material. Beautifully written, encapsulates Islam with breathtaking brevity and insight.

Concise and well written
An excellent introduction to Islam. Concise, accurate and clear. The book is superb introduction to the history and practice of islam - a must for Moslems and non-Moslems. Easy to read and is explains how the religion is actaully practiced. A must read.