I find this an excellent guidance/introductory book to gift to new converts to the Faith of Islam. They find it very palatable, easy to understand and follow. I also strongly recommend it for teens being raised in the West. Not at all "biased" and definitely not fiction.

I find this an excellent guidance/introductory book to gift to new converts to the Faith of Islam. They find it very palatable, easy to understand and follow. I also strongly recommend it for teens being raised in the West. Not at all "biased" and definitely not fiction.

I was looking for an explanation of the Islam religion. What they REALLY believe. This was fiction. This was not open and honest, it was a picture painted on a canvas but if you could take that image and peel it away you would see something completely different. I am now purchasing The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion. If I can save one person from buying The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam, I will be happy. There is more to Islam than this.

The title says it all - one would have to be completely in the dark concerning even the very basics of Islam to even consider this book as having anything more than the function of a thinly-veiled apologetic on Islam's behalf.

I'm afraid it is simply a work of fictional propoganda. In the opinion of this Masters student in the study of Islam - it is worse than worthless, it is harmful. An interested enquirer would be best suited with examining Robert Spencer or Patrick Sookhdeo.

This book is exactly what it says and more. It is written and organized very well. You can follow this book from front to back as well as any topic you are interested without being confused. I found it particularly useful for the simple things that other books ignored about daily life. Written from the perspective of a converted muslim, the writer makes it very clear the essence of this misunderstood religion very well for anyone who's not familiar with this religion. At the same time, it's well researched and informative even for the muslims. My best regards for the writer.

I found this book to be clear, easy to understand, and full of information on a variety of questions regarding Islam. It's writen very well and is great for people who have never heard of, or learned about Islam. It's even great for people who do have some history with Islam. A joy to read and I highly recommend it.

While this book did a great deal to enlighten me regarding the fundamental tenets of Islam, there are areas where the explanations are not complete. I learned about the history of the religion, who Muhammad was and his fundamental beliefs. The author states many times that Islam is a religion of tolerance and peace. There are many examples of that throughout history, but there are also many examples to the contrary.
Where the author's explanations seem especially weak is when he is "explaining" the reasons for Islamic fundamentalism, such as the beliefs of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the death sentence against Salman Rushdie. His explanation of the Rushdie affair is particularly unconvincing. He states that while the death sentence is real, it was also no big deal because Rushdie is in the west and heavily guarded. The exact phrase was "Given that Rushdie, an Indian expatriate, was living in England at the time, he was in no immediate danger." He then argues that while Western liberals rushed to Rushdie's defense, they were silent when Muslims in other countries were not allowed to wear headscarves, engage in Qu'ranic education or the free practice of the religion. To compare a death sentence to a ban on wearing headscarves in public is ludicrous.
I was very disappointed when reading this book. While I did learn much of the history and the beliefs inherent to Islam, I learned very little of what I wanted to learn. Namely, why the religion is making such a resurgence and why the people riding the wave of the resurgence seem so violent, destructive and intolerant.

I didn't even bother to finish it before dumping it in the round file.

I didn't even bother to finish it before dumping it in the round file.

I am a proud Muslim. I loved this book for its SIMPLICITY and FORTHRIGHTEOUSNOESS. It did not beat about the bush in any matter. Over the years I have forgotten the indepth nuances of certain aspects of my faith and this was a great refresher course. The contemporary style of the book differentiates it from more rigid and polarized versions of books on faith. It is written for people living in todays complex world, and being pulled in all directions at the same time, as I find myself as a Muslim in the US. Great Read!

I have read other books about Islam and "Complete Idiot's Guides" on other topics, but never anything so annoying as this book. It is full of criticism of all non-Muslims as prejudiced and the author clearly cannot fathom the mindset of any non-Muslim reader. It is painful to try to wade through all the self-cheerleading to get to the necessary basic information. Blatant contradictions abound. On one page, the author declares wife abuse to be totally un-Islamic and blames non-Muslims for spreading lies and prejudice on this matter. Yet on the next page, the author quotes the prophet Mohammed stating that a man should slap his wife if she gets on his nerves and only if she is obedient after that, should he not resort to worse punishment. The same is true with the author declaring that men and woman have equal status in Islam, only to follow by explaining that according to Islamic law, a woman's life and court testimony are only worth half of a man's and how a man can easily divorce his wife but a woman must convince a court that she has just cause if she wants to get a divorce. Instead of this book, I would recommend buying a book that simply presents the religion without all the "See? See? Isn't Islam great? Isn't everything else stupid?" editorial commentary. I would also caution Muslims against mistakenly recommending this book to their non-Muslim friends without realizing how sickeningly patronizing it is. I think one would get a better picture of Islam by reading the Quran itself and doctrinal commentary written by Islamic scholars for Muslims.

I am a proud Muslim. I loved this book for its SIMPLICITY and FORTHRIGHTEOUSNOESS. It did not beat about the bush in any matter. Over the years I have forgotten the indepth nuances of certain aspects of my faith and this was a great refresher course. The contemporary style of the book differentiates it from more rigid and polarized versions of books on faith. It is written for people living in todays complex world, and being pulled in all directions at the same time, as I find myself as a Muslim in the US. Great Read!

Many reviews have been negative due to the subjectiveness of the author's views which, I will admit, are common throughout the text. However, how does one write about his or her faith without being "for it". Any Christian book about Christianity follows the same suit.

This book is an overview of a beautiful faith that is closer to the basics of Christianity then I ever knew. It won't tell you everything but enough to begin to understand Islam and it's followers and that's really the point.