No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, by Reza Aslan (New York: Random House, 2006), 342 pages.
This book is a very lucid and engaging overview of the history of Islam, written by a young Iranian-American scholar of religions. I picked up this book a couple years ago, but was spurred on to reading it by the current uprising in Iran, hoping to get a better understanding of the cultural forces undergirding some of the most momentous events of the age.
Aslan does a great job revealing the cultural milieu in which Islam was born, beginning with a chapter on pre-Islamic Arabia before moving on to the life of Muhammad, the founding of the first Muslim community in Medina, the rapid expansion of Islam after the Prophet’s death, and the rise of the Muslim Caliphates. He devotes special attention to clarifying some of the most-misunderstood aspects of Islam, including a chapter on the meaning of jihad. Aslan shows how Islamic theology and law developed as the power of interpreting the Qur’an became centralized in the hands of the Ulama, the clerical establishment. The story becomes more complicated as various power-struggles and differing interpretations of Islam lead to fractures and the various camps that exist today, including Sunni (orthodox), Shi‘ite, and Sufi Muslims, as well as smaller, more radical sects and interpretations, such as Khomeinism, Wahhabism, and the Taliban.
Aslan’s major theme is the refutation of the idea that Islam is fundamentally opposed to democracy, pluralism, and human rights. He presents Muhammad’s Medina as a radical experiment in egalitarianism and pluralism in its Arab tribal social context, and his presentation of the history makes the case that in the ensuing centuries Islamic leaders often interpreted Muhammad’s message far differently than it was originally envisioned. This leads to the culmination of the book, where Aslan argues that Islam is headed for a “reformation” to parallel the Protestant Reformation, in which the original vision for the faith will be reinterpreted or regained. The violence of groups like Al-Qaeda, he argues, points to the rumblings of this coming Reformation, because they primarily represent a struggle within Islam for the future of the faith.
Aslan’s book is grippingly well-written and fascinating in both its broad coverage and interesting detail. He doesn’t come across as completely objective, however, because he clearly aims to promote his vision of an enlightened Islam and his hope for an Islamic Reformation. It seems like he glosses over some of the questions that have been raised about Muhammad’s integrity and especially the brutality of Islam’s military expansion, saying in effect, “The Christians and Zoroastrians did it too!” Because of this at least apparent lack of objectivity I will probably want to read another perspective on Islam’s history. However, all things considered, I found this book fascinating reading and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get an overview of the history of Islam.
You can check out more of Reza Aslan's stuff here.
4 comments:
I'm not sure if this would be of interest to you, however my professor teaches a class on Middle Eastern Politics at Cascadia CC and also at UW Bothell next Fall (two separate classes). If you had the time/ money to burn, I think you might find him very engaging. He's Persian and has a great perspective, however his classes are labor intensive.
That does sound pretty enticing.
Hi Jordan…
Nice to meet you….
Fascinating review, I have read the Quran 7 times and the majority text of the Haddith. I find often the Haddith is downplayed when explained to non-Muslims as it has many of the peculiar extrapolations of Islam that cause additional friction (rather like how Mormons will talk about the bible or the Book of Mormon but rarely will they admit to their other “scriptures’ such as the Pearl of Great Price.
Does Reza talk much about the Haddith and what spin doe she put on it?
Does he mention much about Muhammad’s wife Aishah that he married while she was 6 and consummated the marriage with no later than when she was 9 (from Islamic sources)? Muhammad was at least in his 50’s at the time…
According to Aslan, the Hadith contains a mixture of authentic sayings and many later additions, because soon after Muhammad's death people began fabricating sayings to justify their own views, and the recording did not happen until much later. In this way he does apparently downplay its significance to some extent.
He does deal with the issue of Muhammad's wives, especially Aisha, though not as thoroughly as he could have. He portrays the Prophet's marriages as primarily political alliances which were necessary and accepted in that society, and asserts that Muhammad was only betrothed to Aisha at age nine 9 and did not consummate the marriage until after she reached puberty, when every girl in Arabia became eligible for marriage. This is one area where I want to do some more checking to see if Aslan is glossing over a difficult issue.
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