Evolution and Future of Islam - No God But God - The Origins

A good review of Islam beliefs. A little one-sided but then that is the purgative of the author. I learned a great deal about the roots of Islam, especially trying to separate the myths from the basics.

Fascinating primer on the founding of Islam and the complex history of people and thought that followed. If you read nothing else, read the final chapter for a take on Islam that you won't find in popular media. A must read.

Excellent book. Really helps one understand in very readable terms how the divisions evident in Islam today have come about. Was a total eye-opener about where different concepts come from and how there is one say all Muslims believe about a whole range of religious issues. HIs concluding chapter is really insightful about the future possibilities and causes of issues. Pages and pages of notes at the back supporting his assertions about historical things he claims. Aslan is remarkably readable for an academic. And he comes at the subject from a very neutral position - telling what happened without seeming to side with any particular outcome or group. It would be great if all Americans understood the things in this book if before they are tempted to lump all Muslims into one basket and think of them as just budding terrorists.

This is a well-written and scholarly book. Every American should read it to understand better the Islamic faith and Mohammed. Americans have inaccurate misunderstandings about Islam because of the splinter group of terrorists. Reading this book will result in people more informed and also to reduce prejudice against anyone of this Islamic faith.

This book is a fantastic look into the history of Islam and how it grew and was influenced by the other religions in Arabia at the time. It really shows you just how religions have similar myths and ideals and, most importantly, how those in power manipulate religion for their own gain.

The important aspect to keep in mind, is that this work, while comprehensively detailed, is still a summary of 1400 years of history, politics, sociology, and religion.

As a base, it will aid the reader in understanding the fundamentals of Islam, but the duty is still on the reader to flesh out their own knowledge.

Another required reading for a course I was taking. It's written by a Muslim man who's goal is to be objective and informative about the history of Islam. You come away with a better understanding of the beliefs of Islam and Mohammad, their prophet, and the objections that they have to Christianity.

Besides providing a terrific and insightful history of Islam, this book provides a great deal of history on the areas affected by the rise of Islam and how politics (especially colonialism) and religion coincided to create the Middle East we see today. Of course the rise of Islam has not been contained to the Middle East, and the brief coverage of areas outside the Middle East were equally enlightening. I found the authors indirect comparison of the challenges facing Islam today with the beginning of the Christian reformation movement at the end of the Dark Ages to be both effective, and somewhat heartening.

While the author has no qualms about stating his belief in Islam, he at no point attempts to proselytize, which in my opinion would have made this book uncomfortable, if not unbearable, to read.

Bottom line, I am not a history buff, and this book definitely falls outside of my normal reading, but I found it an excellent book in many respects. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the Middle East, Islam, or those with an interest in current day political science of the region. The authors style makes it an easy read with the "page turner" feel of a fictional narrative.

This helps those of us from Christian backgrounds to understand how the Muslim faith. Too many here in the west misunderstand and operate on emotions automatically demonizing those of other faiths. The Muslim faith is decent a faith as Christianity, Christianity has had it share of violence against others. I like the book is really is enlightening.

Spot on analyses of what has occurred politically and socially in the Muslim ummah in the past few centuries and how that has shaped the geopolitical arena of the world as we know it today. Im sure there are things that many can argue for or against in this book, but then again that's the point. Welcome to the Islamic reformation. :)

Although I don't agree with every single point of the author, I have to say that this is an excellently written book. The author strives very hard to be objective and give a balanced presentation. As a Muslim myself, I believe that this book should be read with an opened mind by every Muslim and non-Muslim alike.

Many non-Muslim Americans (this reviewer included) will find "No god but God" embarrassingly informative. The book's young author, Reza Aslan, is an Iranian émigré and a scholar of religion who, it seems, wants to address two distinct audiences with his sweeping narrative of Islam's roots and development over the past fourteen centuries.

The first intended audience is non-Muslim Westerners. Aslan is interested in presenting what he believes is the true and glorious history of Islam, especially the life and work of Mohammed, and to a lesser extent the story of Ali Husayn and the rise of Shi'ism. Those skeptical of Islam will undoubtedly find some of Aslan's history to be apologetic. For instance, the author rejects the notion that Islam is a violent religion with bloody borders and instead argues that the hostile acts carried out in Islam's name were merely a product of the time and place (seventh century Arabia), and not the religion itself. Perhaps, but a Christian could just as easily argue that the first century Levant was a pretty rough place, too, and yet there are no stories of Jesus leading men into battle or massacring hundreds of captives for treason as Mohammed undeniably did in the course of his campaigns against the Qurayshi elites in Mecca in the 620s. The above notwithstanding, Aslan does a superb job in telling the story of Mohammed, his life as an indigent orphan in pagan/polytheistic Mecca, his Revelations on Mt. Hira in 610, the slow and steady growth of his movement, his exile to Yathrib (later Medina) in 622, and his social experiment at Medina, which would be the model (and remains the model) for the perfect Islamic society on earth. Some of the details of the foundation of Islam may surprise Westerner readers; some of it certainly surprised me. Aslan is clearly a proud Shi'ite Muslim and he is writing the story he wants Westerners, especially Americans, to know. Anyone unfamiliar with the history of Islam will find these chapters to be fascinating and will likely pique interest in further reading.

The second intended audience - and arguably the more important one - is the global Muslim community, or Ummah. Here, Aslan's message is simple and powerful: Islam has been hijacked for over a millennium by self-serving and corrupt clerics - the Ulama - and the time has come to "take back Islam" in what the author sees as an Islamic Reformation. Aslan argues that the most oppressive and offensive aspects that have come to be associated with Islam - the waging of holy war against non-believers, the misogynist treatment of women, and the general trampling of human rights - have nothing to do with the religion that Mohammed preached nor the perfect society he created at Medina in the 620s. These things were the creation of the Ulama over the centuries and have no basis in the Quran. Rather, the Ulama relied on hadith - that is, unwritten anecdotes of things that Mohammed supposedly said and did - in justifying these opinions and actions. Aslan writes that there are thousands of haditha and most were clearly fabricated at some point to defend the viewpoint of a ruling elite.

The author argues that the Islamic Reformation is already underway and we should expect it to be as terrifying and bloody as the Christian Reformation was in the Thirty Years War of the seventeenth century. Aslan maintains that the current conflict stretching from the Philippines to Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Western Europe is not a war between Islam and the West, but rather a war within Islam itself over the very future of their religion. Aslan concludes that the liberal perspective will ultimately prevail over the conservative domination of the Ulama, but he makes no credible case for why that might be. Indeed, in many ways "No god but God" is a depressing read with little reason to hope that the author's vision of a reformed global Islam will come to pass in the next century and beyond.

One final point is worth noting in some detail. Aslan is hopeful that democracy can flourish in Muslim countries, but he notes that it must be an indigenous form of democracy built on pluralism and the secularization of government (i.e. implying an historical evolution as society gradually frees itself of religious control) rather than secularism (i.e. the eradication of religion from public life). Without directly saying so, he clearly rejects the US-led attempts at forcibly bringing democracy to the Middle East as doomed to failure not because Muslim can't be democratic, but because American democracy can't work in a Muslim country (or in any other country but America, he argues - and as Tocqueville argued).

In sum, "No god but God" is an excellent primer on the history of Islam and will likely stimulate greater interest in the long and tumultuous history of a religion that claims one-fifth of humanity.

This is an accurate history of the origin and development of muslim faith and societies. It is an important source of information in particular for non-muslims in order to understand the complexity of the muslim faith and rituals. It is generally well written, although some parts are a little hard to follow because of many names difficult to remember.

very educating for a seminarian...a must read for any student priest. Reza Aslan is amazing!!! After reading his books you will have a greater articulated understanding of the issues surrounding Christ and the Islamic religion. These are masterpieces of written work and a must for everyone in sememarian school.

An interesting introduction to Islam. Lots of pre-Mohammed details and explanation of the context into which Islam was born.

He has done a fine job and writes beautifully and clearly and provides a wealth of information.

I wish Dr. Aslan would provide some more detail about how he arrives at his descriptions. I understand that the short answer is "years of academic research" but I'd like to understand more about that research as part of his book(s). I just don't have time to get that PhD from UCSB myself and I don't want to read information that has already been digested for me, I want a deeper understanding faster.

That being said, I understand it is impossible to please everyone at once and Dr. Aslan has done a fine job with this book.

This book should be a required reading for all Muslims.

If you are reading the Quran, the sunnah and the hadith and etc but still feel that you don't understand Islam in it's complete sense read this book.

Having a very scientific mind, I give a lot of importance to history and this is the best history books I must say I ever read!

I don't know how else to say it, but if you are a Muslim and you give importance to history read this book and you will surely complete this book as being a better Muslim and a better human being.

The aslan book is clearly written, giving an objective insight into Islam for the lay non-Muslim reader. Book is recommended for anyone wanting a better understanding of Muhammad and somewhat tortuous route the book now called the qu'ran followed as it came into existence.