A good book - I expected it to a be a little more basic than it was. However, not necessarily a criticism. The sections on the origins of Islam and how it exists today are very fascinating and a useful read for people to gain an understanding of the religion and the culture.

I did find at times however the book was quite hard to get through as it got quite technical into the study of religion, using a lot of terms that I was unfamiliar with the terms and meant it was a struggle to get through. However, was worth persevering.

more an introduction to Islam as a cultural identity and political ideology than as a religion

not very short, not easy to understand, written as if it was shorter but then made longer and thus more confusing

I listened to this one as an audio. It is definitely brief, and I imagine if it was assigned reading for a course, it would be a little more enjoyable. Having very little historical knowledge of Islam, I was a bit lost, especially when he made references to historical figures that I have no knowledge or background information on. I found myself frequently zoning out. Despite all that, I did learn quite a bit, and now I have a better frame of reference to learn more.

Good overview and introduction.

A poorly written, underwhelming, inconsequential and useless introduction to Islam, which frankly deserves better than 100+ pages of academic frottage disguised as accessible to the casual reader. Contains a lot of useless factoids, relies heavily on secondary texts for critical analysis and context, and is overall a dry, dull read. There is an excellent PBS documentary, narrated by Ben Kingsley, which covers the origins of Islam and follows its history; I would recommend watching that instead.

This was one of the better books in this series. The author was good at placing Islam's role in modern society and how the religion and the countries where it is practiced are often at odds.