The House of Islam : a global history by Ed Husain

A fascinating and revelatory exploration of the intricacies of Islam and the inner psyche of the Muslim world from the bestselling author of The Islamist

'Islam began as a stranger,' said the Prophet Mohammed, 'and one day, it will again return to being a stranger.'

The gulf between Islam and the West is widening. A faith rich with strong values and traditions, observed by nearly two billion people across the world, is seen by the West as something to be feared rather than understood. Sensational headlines and hard-line policies spark enmity, while ignoring the feelings, narratives and perceptions that preoccupy Muslims today. 

Wise and authoritative, The House of Islam seeks to provide entry to the minds and hearts of Muslims the world over. It introduces us to the fairness, kindness and mercy of Mohammed; the aims of sharia law, through commentary on scripture, to provide an ethical basis to life; the beauty of Islamic art and the permeation of the divine in public spaces; and the tension between mysticism and literalism that still threatens the House of Islam. 

The decline of the Muslim world and the current crises of leadership mean that a glorious past, full of intellectual nobility and purpose, is now exploited by extremists and channelled into acts of terror. How can Muslims confront the issues that are destroying Islam from within, and what can the West do to help work towards that end?

Ed Husain expertly and compassionately guides us through the nuances of Islam and its people, contending that the Muslim world need not be a stranger to the West, nor its enemy, but a peaceable ally.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ed Husain is the author of The Islamist, a memoir of his time inside radical Islamism. Having rejected extremism, he now advises governments and political leaders on Islam. He is a senior fellow at Civitas, Institute for the Study of Civil Society in London and a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre in Washington DC. He was a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York for five years and co-founded Quilliam, the world's first counter-extremism think-tank in Britain. He has written for the New York Times, the Telegraph, the Financial Times and appeared on CNN, BBC, and others. He lives in London.

@Ed_Husain

In defence of a progressive Muslim woman ... thank you Julia Baird

Yassmin Abdel-Magied left Australia after being hounded in the media and on social media for her comments on Australia Day. Photo: SBS

The article extracted below is by Julia Baird - well-known ABC broadcaster and feminist.

Blog Editor's note: The caption above in bold accompanied the photo of Ms Abdel-Magied. The Editor queries if this is correct and reference should be to Anzac Day, a rather sacred day on the Australian calendar.  Read more about the controversy here. In addition, you will find her TED talk on the head scarf at the same link.  Also please note, that the politicians mentioned in this article are on the conservative side of national politics in Australia.  Reference to Manus and Nauru relates to two islands outside Australia, the first is in Papua New Guinea and the second is an independent nation.  To many Australians - perhaps not a majority - Ms Abdel-Magied's statement would be seen as fair comment. Manus and Nauru are places outside Australia where Australia houses undocumented refugees.  Australia has a harsh "turn back the boats" policy.  Find out more here.

Twenty years ago, Les Murray wrote a poem about women getting roasted, one by one, on the greasy spit of Australian public life. It began:

"In Australia, a lone woman
is being crucified by the Press
at any given moment."
Cast out, he wrote,
"… she goes down, overwhelmed
in the feasting grins of pressmen
and Press women …"
Then, "After the feeding frenzy
Sometimes a ruefully balanced last lick
Precedes the next selection."

Not much has changed – though thanks to social media, the abuse is broader, more intense and intrusive, more sustained. Not so much a firing squad with timed attacks as constant assault by drone and sniper, air, land and sea.

In 1997, when Murray wrote his poem, it was Lindy Chamberlain, grieving mother who would not cry on cue. 

Please read the whole article here

Yet another Blog Editor's Note:

Why should there have been such an uproar

over Yasmin's statements?

Many Australians query the semi-religious sentiments

surrounding Anzac Day.

In 1958, Alan Seymour wrote a play, The One Day of the Year.

The play queried the manner of the celebration 

with intergenerational conflict and memory as its background.

The play was a huge success and is an Australian classic.

For consideration:

Why shouldn't people from other nations and cultural backgrounds

critique our traditions?

And will we not own up to our military misdeeds -

which, as in any conflict, do occur?