The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Islam by Yahiya Emerick available at Amazon.com
I read this book for two reasons. First, I’ve appointed myself the task of learning about the various world religions. Secondly, I have an Arabic friend (stay away Homeland Security) who is Muslim, and I wanted to understand where he was coming from a little better.
I wanted to give this book 3 and half stars, but that is not an option. I gave it four because the author fulfilled his primary mission of teaching the reader the basics of Islam. He also threw in a brief history Islam and Arabs that was interesting. When they talk about Sunnis and Shiites on the news, now I understand the difference. I now feel that at least I have a basic understanding of this religion, and new respect for its primary concepts.
I wanted to give it 3 stars for the following reason. I do not expect great scholarly works from the Idiot series, but I do expect an objective treatment of the subject. This author was anything but objective. If his editorializing was eliminated the book would have shorten up by 50 or so pages. Islam is an evangelic religion like Christianity, and I definitely felt the missionary zeal of the author. If you skip through those sections it is a worthwhile read.