Summary
Title: Islamic World: Past and Present
Author: edited by John L. Esposito
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195165209
Pro:
• Extensive and comprehensive coverage of Muslim beliefs, politics, and history
• List of books for further reading & online resources (but missing About.com!)
• Provides important information on modern extremists and terrorists
Con:
• Details about statistics of Muslim beliefs left out
• Some unpleasant information about Muslim history left out
• Very expensive
Description:
• Three-volume set on Islam and Islamic history, including past several years
• Written with students and young adults in mind
• 95 halftones, 8 maps, 45 color line illustrations
Book Review
This is where John L. Esposito‘s Islamic World: Past and Present comes in. Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Esposito has drawn heavily from his earlier four-volume The Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World which is a standard reference work on Islam for scholars. This new three-volume set contains more than 300 articles which have been substantially rewritten to speak to general audience, students, and young adults.
The text itself is generally much simpler than what you will find in encyclopedias or dictionaries of religions. In the margins key terminology is defined, and sometimes there are short descriptions about related issues — for example, the status of women in Afghanistan after the fall over the Taliban next to the entry on Afghanistan.
The set covers a wide range of topics, from the earliest days of Islam to some of the most significant events from the last decade. It’s not all history, though — several controversial ethical issues like abortion are addressed:
- “Based on longstanding traditions, many Muslims reject abortion at any stage of pregnancy. ... Modern Muslim scholars are divided on the issue of the fetus itself. Some scholars, including Shi’i Muslims, believe that the divine creation of life occurs at fertilization. Some Sunni scholars maintain that a human fetus does not exist until separate organs or characteristics form. The majority of the Sunni, however, believe that human life exists only after the angel’s visit — that is, at the end of 120 days.”
Islamic World: Past and Present,
Thus, Muslim views on abortion seem slightly more nuanced than those common to anti-abortion Christians in America — and the same can be said for related reproductive issues:
- “Most Muslims in the United States strongly support [in vitro fertilization], which they regard as a compassionate way to help infertile couples produce a child. Many Muslims also support stem-cell research, which allows testing on unused embryos from IVF.”
The extent of the nuance, however, remains unknown — we aren’t told anything statistically about what Muslims think or how they vote. Maybe the nuance isn’t as strong as it seems? Perhaps such detail was thought unnecessary in a book geared towards high school and college students, but constantly seeing nothing more than “some Muslims” and “many Muslims” makes me really wonder what’s going on, and I’m not sure that leaving the details out really does students a good service.
