Islam Unveiled : Disturbing Questions About the World’s Fastest-Growing Faith

in Islam Unveiled, Robert Spencer Dares To Face The Hard Questions About What The Islamic Religion Actually Teaches--and The Potentially Ominous Implications Of Those Teachings For The Future Of Both The Muslim World And The West. Going Beyond The Shallow Distinction Between A True Peaceful Islam And The Hijacked Islam Of Terrorist Groups, Spencer Probes The Koran And Islamic Traditions (as Well As The History And Present-day Situation Of The Muslim World) As Part Of His Inquiry Into Why The World's Fastest Growing Faith Tends To Arouse Fanaticism. Islam Unveiled Evaluates The Relationship Between Islamic Fundamentalism And Mainstream Islam; The Fixation With Violence And Jihad; The Reasons For Muslims' Disturbing Treatment Of Women; And Devastating Effects Of Muslim Polygamy And Islamic Divorce Laws. Spencer Explores Other Daunting Questions--why The Human Rights Record Of Islamic Countries Is So Unrelievedly Grim And How The Root Causes Of This Record Exist In Basic Muslim Beliefs; Why Science And High Culture Died Out In The Muslim World--and Why This Is A Root Cause Of Modern Muslim Resentment. He Evaluates What Muslims Learn From The Life Of Muhammad, The Man That Islam Hails As The Supreme Model Of Human Behavior. Above All, This Provocative Work Grapples With The Question That Most Preoccupies Us Today: Can Islam Create Successful Secularized Societies That Will Coexist Peacefully With The West's Multicultural Mosaic? booknews spencer Bases This Distinctly Anti-muslim Book On A Selection Of Sources That Includes Newspaper Articles, Trade Books, The Websites Of Fundamentalists, And An Uncritical Reading Of The Koran (rather Than Consideration Of Actual Religious Practice). Among The Inaccurate And Gross Generalizations Put Forth Here Are: All Muslim Men Are Allowed To Be Polygamists, The Practice Of Jihad Was Fully Established Before The Crusades, And The Whole Of Islam Is Determined To Take Over The West. Annotation C. Book News, Inc., Portland, Or (booknews.com) Contents......Page 7 Foreword......Page 9 Author’s Note......Page 13 What Does Islam Really Stand For?......Page 15 Is Islam a Religion of Peace?......Page 21 Does Islam Promote and Safeguard Sound Moral Values?......Page 53 Does Islam Respect Human Rights?......Page 71 Does Islam Respect Women?......Page 87 Is Islam Compatible with Liberal Democracy?......Page 107 Can Islam Be Secularized and Made Compatible with the Western Pluralistic Framework?......Page 115 Can Science and Culture Flourish under Islam?......Page 127 The Crusades: Christian and Muslim......Page 145 Is Islam Tolerant of Non-Muslims?......Page 157 Does the West Really Have Nothing to Fear from Islam?......Page 179 Acknowledgements......Page 191 Notes......Page 193 Index......Page 217 Annotation Taking on the hard questions about what the Islamic religion actually teaches, Robert Spencer sets forth the potentially ominous implications of those teachings for the future of both the Muslim world and the West. Islam Unveiled goes beyond the shallow distinction between a "true" peaceful Islam and the "hijacked" Islam of terrorist groups. Spencer probes the Koran and Muslim traditions, as well as the history and present-day situation of the Muslim world, to explain why the world's fastest-growing faith tends to arouse fanaticism Robert Spencer probes the Quran and other sacred documents to find out why the world's fastest growing faith tends to arouse extremism. A student of the religion for the last twenty years, he brings a critical sensibility to this brave, searching work A view of Islam argues such points as the practice of jihad was established before the Crusades and that all of Islam wants to take over the West