12.17.05
Book on Islam
Prometheus Books has a new book out on the issue of Jihad in Islam, with a Foreword by Ibn Warraq. You almost have to whisper on this one, your move. Still, we have to pick up the slack on free speech here for those who don’t have it, as Warraq notes in his intro.
Most histories of Islam are obsolete at one stroke here.
The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims by
Andrew G Bostom
Spot Review:
Despite its controversial character in a charged atmosphere this important work answers a question for many who have read too many histories of Islam scratching their head, and wondering what was left out. Comprehensive and a bit devastating,the book lays to rest once and for all the ambiguities of the term ‘jihad’, and will make it harder to study most of histories now available that have sanitized the record. On the other hand, it is a difficult business for those who don’t have the luxury of dealing with these issues from a distance. But then as Warraq
notes in the Foreword we have a responsibility to assist in the burdern of
getting the facts right from just that distance.