No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 352 pages
• Published by: Random House Trade Paperbacks January 10, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0812971892
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0812971897
• Book Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 8 ounces

From The New Yorker
Aslan, a young Iranian emigrant, lucidly charts the growth of Islam from Muhammad's model community in Medina—depicted as a center of egalitarian social reform—through the chaotic contest to define the faith after the Prophet's death. Within generations, seven hundred thousand hadith—accounts of Muhammad's words and deeds—were in circulation, many "fabricated by individuals who sought to legitimize their own particular beliefs." Out of this muddle was born the primacy of the ulema, Islam's clerical establishment. The ulema, in Aslan's view, foreclosed Koranic interpretation, detoured from the Medinan ideal, and obscured Islam under a thicket of legalistic decrees. Fifteen centuries after Muhammad, Islam has reached the age at which Christianity underwent its reformation; Islam's renewal, Aslan attests, "is already here." However, both modernizers and their "fundamentalist" opposites call themselves reformers, and the victory of the former is not assured.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
Aslan's introduction to the history of Islam, which also devotes several chapters to the place of Islam in the contemporary world, tackles its subject with serious and well-informed scholarship. But, miracle of miracles, it's actually pretty fun to read. Beginning with an exploration of the religious climate in the years before the Prophet's Revelation, Aslan traces the story of Islam from the Prophet's life and the so-called golden age of the first four caliphs all the way through European colonization and subsequent independence. Aslan sees religion as a story, and he tells it that way, bringing each successive century to life with the kind of vivid details and like-you-were-there, present-tense narration that makes popular history popular. Even so, the depth and breadth here will probably be a bit heavy for some, who might better enjoy Karen Armstrong's shorter, if less authoritative, Islam (2000). That said, this is an great overview that doubles as an impassioned call to reform. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam (Hardcover) A few days after I was asked if I'd be willing to review Reza Aslan's new book "No god but God," and before I committed myself to doing so, I happened to catch the author's appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" where he and four other gentlemen were discussing the role of religion in current affairs. The panel included the author, two Protestant leaders, one Roman Catholic theologian, and an editor from a news magazine, and Aslan was by far the youngest participant. I was so impressed with his discussion of the topic, particularly in reference to the impact of Islam on the world today, its historical antecedents, and what is currently going on, that I immediately consented to read and review his book. I'm glad I did. Reza Aslan is a brilliant young scholar of Islam and also of comparative religion in general, just the sort that we so dearly need today when there is so much confusion surrounding one of the world's great historical religions and its theological beliefs and political intentions. Born in Iran a few years prior to the overthrow of the Shah and the return of the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, the young boy was whisked out of the country and settled in the United States. Later, he studied religions at Santa Clara University, Harvard University, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. At the University of Iowa he received a master's degree in fine arts and served as a visiting assistant professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. In my opinion, one of the advantages he has when speaking and writing about Islam for the American audience is that he is not only knowledgeable about his own heritage, but appears to be thoroughly acquainted with the Western religious tradition and the American culture. This places him in an extremely enviable position for a discussion about the impact of Islam on contemporary geopolitics. There is little doubt in my own mind, after listening to many Christian leaders and thinkers expound their views about Islam in the popular press (particularly after the 9/11 tragedy), that an unfamiliarity with the history, tradition, and beliefs of Islam abounds in the United States and, probably, in most of the West as well. (This, by the way, has always struck me as strange since I have always considered Islam to be a "western" religion, along with Judaism and Christianity, as contrasted with the "eastern" religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and so forth.) Anyway, some of the more recent and scurrilous attacks on Islam and its founder -- "Muhammad is a pedophile," for instance -- by some "leaders" of Christian churches, show an abysmal ignorance of Islam and its founder, not to mention a frightening lack of perspective in this age of scandals involving Christian televangelists consorting with prostitutes and perpetrating financial fraud and Catholic priests going to prison for the sexual abuse of minors. I won't discuss the Muhammad-pedophilia issue here as Aslan provides the explanation in his book, but the charge made against the founder of Islam, while groundless and misunderstood, is also very stupid. Most of "No god but God" is devoted to a history of Islam. But it must be understood that this is not a singular nor simple chronological presentation. I suspect there's a presumption among most Westerners, and particularly non-Muslim Americans, that Islam is a rather uncomplicated fanatical faith that is deliberately trying to destroy Western civilization and replace it with some sort of theocratic tyranny. Well, Aslan will straighten you about that. Islam is a very complex faith and his history of it is intertwined with accounts of internecine disputes over doctrinal and moral theology, over leadership and hegemony, over traditions as opposed to meeting contemporary necessities, and all sorts of other problems which any movement -- be it political, social, or religious -- is bound to face. These internal conflicts within Islam should not be a surprise to anyone knowledgeable about the history of Christianity. In fact, one of the things that intrigued me most about his account of the "philosophical" history of Islam is how it parallels in many respects the "philosophical" history of Christianity. After all, Christianity is hardly a "unified" movement and hasn't been for over a thousand years (think Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, just to mention three). Islam, contrary to the common view of most Americans, is not a unified religious force with a totalitarian script written by theocrats who want to dominate the entire world. There are various factions -- "sects," if you will -- within Islam opposed to each other. This appears to have been the case almost from the beginning. While some factions within Islam have striven to create theocratic states, others have supported the building of democratic, pluralistic societies. Think about the current situation in Iraq with the disputes between the Shi'ites and the Sunni, both religious factions of Islam. Then think about Wahhabism, another faction which arose in Saudi Arabia and is much more "fundamentalistic." Think "Taliban," probably the most extremist of the Islamic factions. Islam is hardly a unified movement, anymore than modern Christianity is. Aslan goes to great lengths in his book to explain all this and does a superb job doing it. And he shows, I think, that Islam can live and thrive in a modern democratic and pluralistic world, without being the "threat" that many have envisioned. I highly recommend this book. If there's one thing we need desperately today it is an understanding of other religions and philosophies. Islam is a mysterious faith to many Americans. Fear is most often founded upon ignorance. And there can no longer be a justification for ignorance about a major religion which is so impacting the world's stage today. The world is getting smaller every hour. Isolationism and parochialism are no longer viable options. We either learn to live together or we destroy each other. Read, contemplate, discuss, and understand. Aslan's book is a contribution to that protocol.