Islam: A Short History (Karen Armstrong, 2000)This is my first audiobook and I’m completely sold on it. I spend a lot of time in traffic (takes me 1.5 hours to reach work, 1.5 hours to come back, and more if I’m out for sales calls) and I figured to educate myself while I’m giving other drives the bad eye.
And like my other decisions, this one was also a brilliant one. I chose “Islam: A Short History” by Karen Armstrong, and it is a brilliant listen. As per Amazon, the book itself is only 222 pages, so it should be a quick read too. That also means that you need to take the “short” part of the title very literally. It is a short history. Well, it covers the entire history of Islam from the beginning to modern times, but it goes through the events quickly and does not dwell too much on the events.
Meaning that people who read this book should not close the chapter and suddenly think they know everything about Islam. When it comes to history, and when you read it from one source, and when that source is not detailed, then you obviously don’t get the full picture. This is the kind of book where knowledgeable people about Islam will have issues with lots of parts of the book, and will claim it is apologetic to Islam or against Islam, depending on their own leanings.
But I find it a great start. It gives you a quick and basic idea of the complex and diverse history of Islam. It is amazing to hear about the different paths it has taken throughout the centuries, the different schools of thoughts that have arisen from it, and the different approaches to it. It does not give me the full picture of Islam, but it makes me appreciate it more, and makes me want to know more about the subject. For being able to peak my interest, the book does wonders.
4/5
