This is an excellent guide to Islam coauthored by Daniel Ali, a convert from Islam, and Robert Spencer, an authority who has written two previous books on the subject. It has a foreword by Father Mitch Pacwa, and is set out in question and answer format. The questions range through all the basic sorts of queries that anyone interested in finding out more about Islam might want to ask, and the authors do not pull any punches.

The basic tenets of Islam are dealt with, and its rapid growth is essayed. The authors explain why Islam is very much a threat to Western civilisation, essentially because it is not just a religion, but also a whole way of life, one which has little time for Western ideas about civil and human rights. They explain, too, that although Muslims believe in one God, “Allah,” in practice, this involves a very different approach to the Deity than that found in the West. Unlike the Christian God of love, Allah demands only obedience and not a relationship with mankind.

The Muslim holy book is the Koran, which ideally they should only read in Arabic: it promotes a fatalistic concept of destiny, that is, the idea that everything has been preordained by Allah. In practice, this leads to an attitude which promotes societal stagnation. What is the point of making any effort to improve the world if everything is already as Allah wills it? As the authors point out, “There are over 40 Koranic passengers that deny free will.” (p. 97) Thus Islam is strongly deterministic.

Islam’s great attraction is its simplicity in comparison with the moral ideals and practices of Christianity. The five pillars of Islam, the central beliefs are: a confession of faith; prayer; fasting; pilgrimage to Mecca, and almsgiving. The main tenets of Islam clearly parallel Jewish and Christian beliefs, including judgement, heaven and hell. The Muslim idea of heaven is that it will be a fleshly paradise of unlimited sexual pleasures. But strangely enough, they hold that the second coming of Christ will be a sign of the general judgement—an example of the influence of Christian ideas on Mohammed, the founder of Islam. Indeed, as the authors say, he believed, “that his revelations were in some kind of continuity with Judaism and Christianity.” (p. 41)

The great paradox of the Koran is that although Jesus and Mary are only mentioned a few times in it, they seem to occupy positions which are out of all proportion to the way they are regarded by Muslims today. For example, the Koran accepts the miraculous nature of the virgin birth of Christ and Muslims accept him as a prophet, but they do not believe he is the son of God nor do they accept that he died on the cross. Mary, too, is held in very high regard by Muslims; they see her as pure and sinless. In fact, from a Christian perspective, these references to Jesus and Mary can be seen as “seeds” which will hopefully germinate in the future, as the implications of particular texts in the Koran are fully realized by Muslims.

Inside Islam clearly brings out the violent nature of Islam, and how it seems to be based largely on fear rather than love. As the authors put it, “Islam has spread by the word and by the sword,” and there is a definite emphasis on jihad, or “holy war” in the Koran. Indeed, Islam has been spread by violent means from its inception. This idea of jihad, if taken to its logical and bloody conclusion implies that it is the duty of Muslims to try and convert the whole world to their faith—by the sword if necessary.

The book has a good outline of the history of this aggression, which only subsided when the West started to outstrip the Islamic world in terms of military technology. The authors are careful to explain that the motives of the Crusaders were very different from those of the Islamic conquerors, in that they were essentially movements, “to take back the lands overrun by Muslim invaders and, by extension, to free those Christians living under Islamic oppression.” (p. 119)

Inside Islam also deals with the differences between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims, and looks at the Islamic tradition, the Hadith. It points, too, to some of the less felicitous teachings of Islam, such as its negative view of people with dark skins, and its acceptance of slavery, as well as the numerous contradictions and historical errors in the Koran, including the belief that Alexander the Great was the Muslim. Similarly, some of the lax morality enshrined in Islamic teaching, such as that on easy divorce is evaluated—all a Muslim man needs to do to obtain this is to say to his wife, “I divorce you.” Thus we are given clear indications of the great differences between Christianity and Islam. In addition, Muslim teaching on polygamy—Muslims can have up to four wives, the Sharia law, and the subservient role of women, are all highlighted very effectively.

The book concludes with sections on, “Sharing the Gospel the Muslims,” and on some of the contradictory teachings enshrined in Islamic theology. It also has Pope Paul VI’s declaration on the relationship of the Church to non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate, as well as an appendix and a short, but useful, index.

Surely it is significant that Our Lady chose to make her most important appearances of modern times at Fatima in Portugal, a place named after Mohammed's daughter. She promised that eventually her Immaculate Heart would triumph and a period piece would be given to the world. This triumph seems to point to a great worldwide movement of conversion to the Catholic Church, and being realistic this must include Muslims if the idea of a peaceful world is to mean anything. So there is hope for the future amidst the current round of fear, terror and bloodshed.

Overall, this is an excellent book, full of useful information about Islam. It makes it very clear that Islam is a serious threat to the West and to Christianity, and that converting Muslims to Catholicism is a very difficult and dangerous business. It is to be hoped, though, that the above mentioned Christian “seeds” in the Koran will ultimately blossom.

© 2003, Donal Anthony Foley, All Rights Reserved

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