Islamic World: Past and Present

Naturally, important Muslim figures, like A’ishah are also discussed in Esposito’s Islamic World:

“A’ishah was the third and youngest wife of the Prophet Muhammad. Born in Mecca, she was the daughter of Abu Bakr, one of the Prophet’s most important supporters. Muhammad married her in 624 after the battle of Badr. A’ishah’s intelligence, courage, and personal charm established her as his favorite spouse, and she sometimes accompanied her husband on his travels.”

Left unsaid here is the fact that when Muhammad married her, A’ishah was just nine years old — hardly an appropriate age for marriage or sexual activity. Perhaps these details were left out because of the age of the book’s audience, but I’m not sure that really justifies pretending that she was anywhere close to a proper age when Muhammad married her. It seems much more like an effort to whitewash Muhammad’s actions.

At the same time, though, there are some excellent insights in other articles. The piece on jihad doesn’t succumb to the common temptation to whitewash the concept by insisting that it really means a personal, internal struggle and has been twisted by violent extremists to mean “holy war.”

Even better, a sidebar piece explains how extremists have gotten around the prohibition against killing believers by pretending that “insufficiently Muslim” leaders aren’t really Muslims after all, therefore they can be assassinated. This is a key doctrine for Islamic terrorists today and it deserves more attention than it usually gets, but I’m impressed that it comes up at all in a work like this.

Islamic World: Past and Present,

Although the set has flaws, overall it’s excellent. The biggest drawback is surely the price — it’s expensive enough that few individuals are likely to purchase it. If you have a chance to use it, it’s mostly like going to be in a library, so if you can’t afford it yourself you might want to encourage your local libraries to get copies. This set might also serve the needs of parents who homeschool their children, if they feel that it’s a worthwhile investment.

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