Karen Armstrong's Islam: A Short History
Karen Armstrong, billed on the jacket as "one of the world's foremost scholars on religious affairs," comments on everything from the Christian Crusades, the formation of the state of Israel in 1948, the taking of hostages by Ayatollah Khomeini and his issuance of a fatwah on author Salman Rushdie, and Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam to the Taliban in her book Islam: A Short History. It is important to note that the book was published prior to the destruction that occurred in the United States on September 11, 2001. Armstrong's observations, though often flawed because of her rose-colored view of Islam's mysticism, accurately reveal the impending nightmare of the Taliban. She harshly condemns the Taliban as fundamentalist and contrary to
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As stated earlier in this review, Islam: A Short History was published prior to September 11. In the wake of that devastation, Armstrong's critical observations about the Taliban will be well received by her readers. She explicitly condemns the Taliban:
A man called Sayyid Qutb (19061966) insisted that the Qur'anic injunction to toleration couldoccur only after the political victory of Islam and the establishment of a true Muslim state .Every Sunni fundamentalist movement has been influenced by Qutb. Most spectacularly, it has inspiredMuslims to assassinate such leaders as Anwar al-Sadat .The Taliban, who came to power in Afghanistan in 1994, are also affected by his ideology. They are determined to return to what they see as the original vision of Islam .Only religious broadcasting is permitted and the Islamic punishments of stoning and mutilation have been reintroduced .The ethnic chauvinism between the Pashtun tribe and the people in the north, and the harsh treatment of minority groups is also opposed to clear Qur'anic requirements. The Taliban's discrimination against women is completely opposed to the practice of the Prophet and the conduct of the first unmah (Muslim community).
As stated earlier in this review, Islam: A Short History was published prior to September 11. In the wake of that devastation, Armstrong's critical observations about the Taliban will be well received by her readers. She explicitly condemns the Taliban:
A man called Sayyid Qutb (19061966) insisted that the Qur'anic injunction to toleration couldoccur only after the political victory of Islam and the establishment of a true Muslim state .Every Sunni fundamentalist movement has been influenced by Qutb. Most spectacularly, it has inspiredMuslims to assassinate such leaders as Anwar al-Sadat .The Taliban, who came to power in Afghanistan in 1994, are also affected by his ideology. They are determined to return to what they see as the original vision of Islam .Only religious broadcasting is permitted and the Islamic punishments of stoning and mutilation have been reintroduced .The ethnic chauvinism between the Pashtun tribe and the people in the north, and the harsh treatment of minority groups is also opposed to clear Qur'anic requirements. The Taliban's discrimination against women is completely opposed to the practice of the Prophet and the conduct of the first unmah (Muslim community).