On the negative side, Murphy's book lacks the focus which would help readers put the pieces together in the way Murphy himself has managed to do. Instead of separate chapters on different groups or different time periods, each chapter skips across time, space, and context in a manner that can be disconcerting.
For a casual reader simply trying to get an overview of the history and breadth of Islamic extremism, that might not be so bad, because Murphy's writing style is quite engaging and helpful. For anyone trying to study the text closely, however, the constant transitions can become bewildering - students of the subject would have to spend quite a lot of time with the index in order to extract Murphy's information on specific topics and ideas.
One possible criticism against this book might be that it is simply an assault on Islam, but that is a fault which the text does not suffer from. Contrary to what some might think, the book was not written in an attempt to attack Islam itself:
- "This book is not an indictment of Islam, one of the three beautiful religions which bloomed in this desert land. It is an indictment of those who took from Islam its most uncompromising tenets, forgetting the message of love that accompanies them. Extremism is a part of all three religions born of this land. If modern Muslims have their extremism in terrorism, Christianity had its during the Crusades, and the Hebrews in the killing of all those who opposed them when they made their march to the Promised Land. Yet I have chosen to write about Islamic extremism because it represents the most clear and present danger today."
Murphy does not have an argument against Islam itself or the vast majority of Muslims, but he does have a strong argument against Islamic extremists who use many Muslims' orthodoxy to seduce them into an ideology of hatred and fear. Disentangling Muslim orthodoxy from Muslim extremism may not be an easy goal, but understanding the relationship between the two is an important first step.
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