Aslan is a skilled historian and storyteller who holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and was trained in religion at Santa Clara University, Harvard University, and the University of California-Santa Barbara. He flawlessly incorporates Arabic language and vocabulary, names, locations, and connections. As a reader, you’ll have to confront your concerns as you watch the roots of issues that we face now being sowed centuries ago. Fatwa, Jihad, Wahhabism. For the most part, they are words that elicit apprehension. However, these expressions did not necessarily bring up ideas of suicide bombers and hostage kidnappers in the past of Islam that Aslan recounts. Rather, they are a part of the fastest-growing religion’s rich and comprehensive cultural and religious heritage. Aslan’s book questions the popular notion of a “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West. Our warped views of Islam do not do credit to the religion’s complexity, beauty, compassion, or history, but Aslan’s book goes a long way toward helping us understand and appreciate it. One will know through his debut book No God but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam.”
The story begins before Islam, when pagan Arabs, nomadic tribesmen, Jews, and Christians, all congregated in Mecca. Before being cleaned and rededicated to Allah, the Ka’ba was an ancient sanctuary that held tribal deities of practically all religions. “The connection between Jews and pagan Arabs was symbiotic in those early days in that not only were the Jews strongly Arabized, but the Arabs were also heavily impacted by Jewish ideas and customs.” The Ka’ba itself provides proof of this impact. Adam, Moses, Noah, Abraham, and Aaron were all affiliated with the Ka’ba in one form or another long before the advent of Islam.”
Aslan gives several examples of Muslims being significantly more tolerant of other faiths than Christians. “Orthodox monarchs often persecuted both Jews and non-Orthodox Christians for their religious views, compelling people to convert to Imperial Christianity under the threat of death. Muslim law, on the other hand, considers Christians and Jews to be protected peoples (dhimmi) and does not mandate or promote conversion to Islam.”
| Name | No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam |
| Author | Reza Aslan |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Pages | 336 |
| Language | English |
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No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam by Reza Aslan Pdf Download
No deity but God chronicles the history and development of Islam from its beginnings to the present. The book chronicles the succession of caliphs who led Islam, as well as more recent events such as the Iranian revolution, British Colonialism, and the forces that eventually generated al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas. Although these organizations are briefly discussed, this is not a saber-rattling, chest-pounding book authored by a retired Army general. Aslan’s art is strongly rooted in the past, depicting the current consequences of old actions. Finally, Aslan argues that the current problems with Islamic terrorism and violence are “nothing short of a Muslim civil war — a fitnah — that is driving the Muslim community apart into opposing groups, just like the fight to define Islam following the Prophet’s death.” Reza Aslan’s book is a fascinating insight into this intellectual debate, debunking many of our preconceived notions about religion.
The ancient Arabs’ religious and moral beliefs are reflected, although in part, in their poets’ poetry. His advice to both sides in the fight was to agree in good faith because dishonesty would always result in the betrayer’s punishment. In the book’s conclusion, he recorded these cautionary remarks after a long and often stormy life in a renowned poem.
No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam Full Book Pdf Download by Reza Aslan
Neither the poet’s pagan ideals nor the poem’s pessimistic pagan principles were undermined by the poet’s allusion to Allah (al-ilah = God). Aslan says nothing about a lawful, democratic Islamic state’s borders. Based on what he says, the United States of America appears to be on the verge of becoming an Islamic state. Aslan also appears to believe that if this occurs, the country will remain a democracy. It’d be fascinating to know if Aslan would prefer to live in an Islamic democracy rather than a democracy like the one we have now in the United States. It would also be fascinating to learn how such a transition would occur and what the end effect might be.
The book takes a sympathetic but critical look at Islam’s beginnings and progress. This book will feel like a revelation to many Muslims, an opening up of knowledge that has been buried, denied, and tainted by generations of men succeeding in turning a religion of imagination, hope, liberation, spirituality, and mercy into a heartless rule-book of control freakery.
The author is a compelling guide for non-Muslim readers, taking them on a 1400-year trip that begins with the founding of Islam and ends with passionate arguments about what it meant to be a Muslim and the contradictions between eternal divine precepts and human growth. Consider the cogent points Aslan masterfully gave, and you’ll realize you know far more than the yelling talking heads on TV.