Islam: The Religion and the People

Bernard Ellis Lewis · Buntzie Ellis Churchill

Aug 2008 · Pearson Prentice Hall

About this ebook

Praise for Bernard Lewis

"For newcomers to the subject[el]Bernard Lewis is the man."

TIME Magazine

“The doyen of Middle Eastern studies."

The New York Times

“No one writes about Muslim history with greater authority, or intelligence, or literary charm.”

British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper

“Bernard Lewis has no living rival in his field.”

Al Ahram, Cairo (the most influential Arab world newspaper)

"When it comes to Islamic studies, Bernard Lewis is the father of us all. With brilliance, integrity, and extraordinary mastery of languages and sources, he has led the way for[el]investigators seeking to understand the Muslim world."

National Review

"Bernard Lewis combines profound depth of scholarship with encyclopedic knowledge of the Middle East and, above all, readability."

Daily Telegraph (London)

"Lewis speaks with authority in prose marked by lucidity, elegance, wit and force."

Newsday (New York)

"Lewis' style is lucid, his approach, objective."

Philadelphia Inquirer

"Lewis writes with unsurpassed erudition and grace."

Washington Times

An objective, easy-to-read introduction to Islam by Bernard Lewis, one of the West’s leading experts on Islam

For many people, Islam remains a mystery. Here Bernard Lewis and Buntzie Ellis Churchill examine Islam: what its adherents believe and how their religion has shaped them, their rich and diverse cultures, and their politics over more than 14 centuries. Considered one of the West’s leading experts on Islam, Lewis, with Churchill, has written an illuminating introduction for those who want to understand the faith and the global challenges it confronts and presents. Whatever your political, personal, or religious views, this book will help you understand Islam’s reality.

Lewis and Churchill answer questions such as...

• How does Islam differ from Judaism and Christianity?

• What are the pillars of the Islamic faith?

• What does Islam really say about peace and jihad?

• How does the faith regard non-Muslims?

• What are the differences between Sunni and Shi’a?

• What does Islam teach about the position of women in society?

• What does Islam say about free enterprise and profit?

• What caused the rise of radical Islam?

• What are the problems facing Muslims in the U.S. and Europe and what are the challenges posed by those minorities?

Ratings and reviews

Ever since the events of September 11th 2001 there has been an increase in the interest for Islam in the West, and particularly in the US. This increased interest has resulted in a formidable increase in the number of studies, publications and college courses, all of which try to explain and inform the public about what Islam is, what its basic teachings are, and what is the history of the Islamic world. One was faced with a veritable embarrassment of riches, and there was no easy way to decide which author was truly an expert in the field, and which ones were trying to capitalize on a new publishing fad. With that in mind, one person that clearly stands out head and shoulders above all the other polemicists and scholars is Bernard Lewis, a doyen in the field of Oriental and Middle Eastern studies. He has been actively involved in this field since at least World War II, and his knowledge of the Islamic history is second to none. His books have explored several different themes, but now in one volume comes a digest of all the basic facts about Islam. This is a very accessible and informative first introduction to Islam, and it covers all the basics really well. It avoids both of the traps that many other books fall into: either painting Islam with overly rosy spectacles, or vilifying it to the point that it becomes a distortion of what it really is. The end of the book provides reader with a list of terms and topics, which in itself is a useful guide to the main words and ideas that frequently occur in all discussions about Islam. Many of those terms have by now become familiar to the public at large, but even those benefit form having some new light shed on them. Overall, if you either don't know much about Islam, or would like to systematize and refresh what you already know, this is a great book to read.

About the author

Bernard Lewis is Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Emeritus, at Princeton University. He is the author of the best-sellers What Went Wrong: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response and The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror. He has performed the invaluable service of placing current events in the context of history. Lewis has advised policymakers in the U.S., UK, and the Middle East on the complex relationship between Islam and the West.

A number of his articles have been extraordinarily prescient. The Return of Islam was published 3 years before the Iranian revolution, and the award-winning The Roots of Muslim Rage anticipated 9/11 by a decade. His two dozen books have been translated into more than two dozen languages, including Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Indonesian.

His contribution to the understanding of history has been recognized by the 15 universities that have awarded him honorary doctorates.

Buntzie Ellis Churchill served for 23 years as President of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, hosting dozens of world leaders from Mikhail Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher to Henry Kissinger and Colin Powell. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she has served as a trustee of many non-profit organizations, including the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology and Drexel University. She has been awarded several honorary doctorates.

For a decade she hosted “WorldViews,” a daily radio show, interviewing experts on international issues