Packed with tons of information, this book dives deep into a religion that has inspired billions of people since the 7th century.
Muhammad is the founder of Islam and is said to be the final prophet of the one and only God — the God of Abraham. A central belief is that of an eternal soul that will be judged and spend the afterlife in paradise or hell. Pillars, laws, practices, teachings, tenets, and doctrines are written in the Quran as well as other texts such as the Hadith. Early military success led to a Caliphate ruling over much of the Middle East and North Africa. The Islamic Golden Age was full of scholastic achievements. The Mughals built an empire in India. The Ottomans expanded into Europe. Today there are Muslims almost everywhere in the world, with the largest population in any country being in Indonesia. The holy pilgrimage sites are in Saudi Arabia, and thus the Arabic language plays a key role in the religion. Oil money, global economics, new technology, and (negatively) terrorism have integrated Islam with non-Muslim societies. Reformists (such as Malcolm X or Benazir Bhutto) strove to update some beliefs. It seems like a fantasy that Islamic nations will become democratic, but young social media influencers showed a flash of hope during the 2011 Arab Spring. More future events to come.