Islam: The Religion and the People Review

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Islam: The Religion and the People ReviewOf the making of books about Islam, there is no end, especially not in the post- 9/11 environment. Unfortunately, books about Islam published to a popular readership too often fall into the mutually exclusive categories of hagiography (e.g., those by Karen Armstrong) or demonology (e.g., those of Robert Spencer). Well, almost mutually exclusive. Stephen Schwartz manages both to sanctify Sufism and demonize Wahhabism in the course of one book (The Other Islam). What is needed is a just-the-facts-ma'am approach, which is what Bernard Lewis and Buntzie Ellis Churchill provide in Islam: The Religion and the People.
Lewis is a nonagenarian Orientalist of international repute and impeccable scholarship, formerly of Princeton University. Churchill is a past president of the World Affairs Council and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has authored numerous books on Islam, Arabs, Turks, and all things Middle Eastern. This is their first book together.
In addition to its just-the-facts-ma'am approach, this book is welcome for its concision, evenhanded tone, historical depth, and scope of coverage. This book introduces the reader to the broad spectrum of ethnic groups that identify themselves as Muslim, their faith, their scripture (the Koran), their religious habits, their attitudes toward nonbelievers and deviant believers, their divisions (especially Sunni versus Shia), their history, their attitude toward government and the economy, the role of women, and the challenge of "radical Islam." It also does a good job of comparing and contrasting Islam with its predecessor religions, Judaism and Christianity, and of outlining the competing schools between and within Sunni and Shia Islam. An Appendix addresses issues of Arabic language, the Muslim calendar, and food and drink. And a glossary defines a cornucopia of terms from abaya to Zaidi. One interesting feature of the book is its citation of examples of Muslim humor throughout. Interesting, and very humanizing of Muslims and their faith.
On the other hand, in an introduction of such brief length, there are bound to be disappointments. I was surprised that Lewis and Churchill did not devote a chapter to Muhammad, which is standard in such introductions. The book does not have footnotes, a bibliography, or a list of suggestions for further reading. If this is your first book on Islam, you won't know what to read next. Finally, while the book outlines the various Sunni and Shia schools, it does not explain in sufficient detail the fundamental points that divide them from one another, the exception being its explanation of the basic division between Sunni and Shia Islam itself.
Overall, however, I found this to be a good introductory level text to the religion and people of Islam. If it does nothing else, it will provide interested readers with a tolerant, fair-minded treatment of a group and its faith whose perception in the American mind is too often tainted by apologies or excoriations, but not balanced scholarship.Islam: The Religion and the People Overview

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