Review by Library Journal Review
It is frequently stated that Islam is one of the great world religions and that its adherents are generally nonviolent and tolerant toward other people; it is strictly radical fundamentalists who have interpreted jihad in a violent way and chosen the path of terrorism. Bostom, who has published numerous magazine and newspaper articles on Islam, aims to dispel these notions. In a book that is both broad in coverage and thorough in scope, he uses both primary and secondary sources to describe the violent nature of jihad conquests over the past 1400 years. Drawing from the Qur'an, commentators on the Qur'an, Islamic jurists, and Muslim and non-Muslim scholars, Bostom provides vivid accounts of such events as the massacres of the Qurayzah in the seventh century and the Armenians in Turkey in the 19th. From a historical perspective, this book is an excellent resource and is valuable for academic libraries with collections in Islamic studies. However, while Bostom successfully argues that violent episodes have occurred throughout the history of Islam, it does not necessarily follow that the vast majority of people who presently adhere to that faith encourage violent practices.-John Jaeger, Dallas Baptist Univ. Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Library Journal Review
