Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World
Islam is the fastest-growing world religion, with over ten million Muslims in the West. As their number increases, so do the misunderstandings and conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims. Anthropologist Ahmed accurately explains the conflicting cultural values and ignorance of East and West and does an excellent job explaining the differences between the Shi'ite and Sunni branches of Islam, women in Islam, and Muslim minorities. Unfortunately, owing to space constraints, Nigeria and Indonesia are not covered. Ahmed is a visiting professor at Princeton and Harvard; his Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society (Routledge, 1989. reprint) was highly praised. An essentially identical hardcover version of this book was published in the U.K. in 1993 under the title Living Islam: From Samarkand to Stornoway (BBC). Highly recommended for all libraries as a companion to John Bowker's What Muslims Believe (Element, 1999).AMichael W. Ellis, Ellenville P.L., NYCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.