The soft use of language

Chris says read Giles Kepel’s new book, Beyond Terrorism and Martyrdom. I took his advice and am now using it in a course. While his review is not as useful as I would hope, I like Chris’ analysis and I really like Kepel’s thinking. If you have not, you should also read his book on Jihad. Chris also talks about The 99, a new comic book series about Muslims – Martijn has more. I have blogged about Muslims and comics before.and thinki it’s a great art form for Muslims to express themselves. Again it’s interesting that such an American medium…

‘Alif the Unseen,’ by G. Willow Wilson – NYTimes.com. In her 2010 memoir, “The Butterfly Mosque,” G. Willow Wilson told the story of her conversion to Islam, charting her transformation from child of atheist parents to Boston University-­educated undergraduate to faithful Muslim with an Egyptian husband and an apartment in Cairo. Wilson wrote of the contrast between East and West, and of feeling compelled to keep her religious beliefs secret. “In the West,” she observed, “anything that must be hidden is suspect; availability and honesty are interlinked. This clashes irreconcilably with Islam, . . . where the things that are…

Unfortunately, the monography Islamic History as Global History by Richard Eaton seems to be out of print. However, if you can get a used copy, I highly recommend it a good, short (46 pages) introduction to Islamic civilizations as part of global historical processes. While not a true introduction to Islam, it is not meant for a specialized reading audience either. Two passages that leapt out at me are below. Thanks to miamvi for the introduction.