The House of Islam: A Global History

by Ed Husain

Overview

“Ed Husain has become one of the most vital Muslim voices in the world. The House of Islam could very well be his magnum opus.” -Reza Aslan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Zealot

“This should be compulsory reading.” -Peter Frankopan, author of the international bestseller The Silk Roads

Today, Islam is to many in the West an alien force, with Muslims held in suspicion. Failure to grasp the inner workings of religion and geopolitics has haunted American foreign policy for decades and has been decisive in the new administration's controversial orders. The intricacies and shadings must be understood by the West not only to build a stronger, more harmonious relationship between the two cultures, but also for greater accuracy in predictions as to how current crises, such as the growth of ISIS, will develop and from where the next might emerge.

The House of Islam addresses key questions and points of disconnection. What are the roots of the conflict between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims that is engulfing Pakistan and the Middle East? Does the Koran encourage the killing of infidels? The book thoughtfully explores the events and issues that have come from and contributed to the broadening gulf between Islam and the West, from the United States' overthrow of Iran's first democratically elected leader to the emergence of ISIS, from the declaration of a fatwa on Salman Rushdie to the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo.

Authoritative and engaging, Ed Husain leads us clearly and carefully through the nuances of Islam and its people, taking us back to basics to contend that the Muslim world need not be a stranger to the West, nor our enemy, but our peaceable allies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632866417
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	06/19/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Ed Husain was an Islamist radical in his teens and early twenties. After rejecting extremism, he traveled widely in the Middle East and worked for the British Council in Syria and Saudi Arabia. He is an adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York; cofounder of Britain's first Muslim counterextremism think tank, the Quilliam Foundation; and a former senior adviser at the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.
Ed Husain is a British writer and political advisor who has worked with leaders and governments across the world. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC and has held senior fellowships at think tanks in London and New York, including at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Ed is the author of The Islamist (2007) and The House of Islam: A Global History (2008). His writing has been shortlisted for the George Orwell Prize. A regular contributor to the Spectator magazine, he has appeared on the BBC and CNN and has written for the Telegraph, The Times, the New York Times, the Guardian and other publications.

@Ed_Husain

Table of Contents

Introduction: Inside the House 1

Part 1 A Millennium of Power 15

1 What is Islam? 17

2 Origins of the Quran 25

3 Who is a Muslim Today? 31

4 The Sunni-Shi'a Schism 43

5 What is the Sharia? 61

6 Who is a Sufi? 77

Part 2 The Rise of Anger 101

7 A Hundred Years of Humiliation 103

8 Who is an Islamist? 117

9 Who is a Salafi? Or a Wahhabi? 133

10 Who is a Jihadi? 141

11 Who is a Kharijite, or Takfiri? 155

Part 3 The Rise of the West and the Loss of Muslim Confidence 165

12 Dignity 167

13 The Jews 179

14 Education 193

15 Women 207

16 Sex 219

Part 4 Islam's global staying power 233

17 God is Alive 235

18 Rights of the Sacred 245

19 The Family Table 253

20 The Next Life 259

Conclusion: The Way Forward 267

Appendix: Middle Eastern Thinkers' Calls for a Regional Union 285

Notes 295

Acknowledgements 305

Index 309

Editorial Reviews

05/14/2018
In this lucid work, Husain, scholar of religion and adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, gives an overview of the history, theology, and social mores of Islam. Covering an impressive amount of detail in a short span, he efficiently lays out the historical context of modern Islamic sects before providing a trenchant analysis of contemporary issues. The majority of the book covers much of the same material as other basic introductions to Islam: a biography of the prophet Mohammed, an explanation of the divide between Sunni and Shi’a, an overview of the status of women, a synopsis of Islamic education systems, and a discussion of perspectives on Judaism. Husain’s unique contribution is coverage of the internal diversity of Islam (both historically and around the world today) that is often obscured from Western eyes. In outlining Sufism and other schools of interpretation, Husain contrasts the pluralism practiced in Muslim societies of the past with the stance of modern fundamentalists, masterfully explaining how this transition toward isolationism occurred over time. By explaining the contours of global Islam, Husain ends up making a strong case against Koranic textual literalism that readers of all backgrounds will appreciate. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"A welcome introduction to a faith too little understood by those outside of it." - Kirkus

"Lucid . . . Impressive . . . [Husain] efficiently lays out the historical context of modern Islamic sects before providing a trenchant analysis of contemporary issues." - Publishers Weekly

"Powerful and impassioned . . . This is strong stuff. And it is a compelling thesis from a British Muslim writer whose relationship with Islam has evolved dramatically over time." - The Sunday Times

"A plea for the renewal of classical, traditional Islam against its extreme and politicised versions . . . For anyone interested in the future of Islam." - The Times

"Over the last decade or so, Ed Husain has become one of the most vital Muslim voices in the world. His work illuminates, frustrates, challenges, and upends our preconceived ideas about the practice and politics of Islam. The House of Islam could very well be his magnum opus." - Reza Aslan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of ZEALOT

"Not just timely but important too. In The House of Islam, Ed Husain does not just set out the fundamentals of Islam as a religion but explains how and why understanding it properly matters. This should be compulsory reading." - Peter Frankopan, author of international bestseller THE SILK ROADS

"A long awaited and desperately needed book from one of our foremost thinkers at the nexus of civil society and theology. Leading world political and religious figures have long benefitted from Ed Husain's wise counsel and compelling perspective. With the publication of The House of Islam, readers now have the same opportunity to learn from, and be challenged by, the incisive and thought-provoking arguments presented throughout this invaluable work." - Professor Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University, author of INSIDE TERRORISM

"Persuasive and stimulating." - Martin Amis on THE ISLAMIST

"This captivating and terrifyingly honest book is . . . a wake-up call." - Praise for THE ISLAMIST, The Guardian

From the Publisher

2018-05-01
An adherent's view of Islam, a religion too easily hijacked for ill political purposes.London-based Husain (The Islamist: Why I Became an Islamic Fundamentalist, What I Saw Inside, and Why I Left, 2009, etc.), a former member of radical Islam who co-founded Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank in Britain, has lived and studied in Muslim communities in Syria and Saudi Arabia, where he was stunned to meet young people who "actually celebrated the misfortunes of the West." This book is a response of sorts. The author writes, sometimes insistently, on what Islam is: a religion that recognizes one God and one prophet—along with holy people common to the Judeo-Christian Bible—while prescribing and proscribing many kinds of behaviors in daily life. All but one book of the Quran, he writes, begin with the formula "In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful," which, he holds, "is intended to reflect in the behavior of the believer." Shias and Sunnis, he adds, disagree on many things but hold one Quran to be sacred. Husain offers a careful explication of Sharia justice, which, he holds, "is far more complex and constructive than mere binary prohibitions and permissions"; followed in good faith, it is a systematizing program for ethical behavior. Against those who would take the Quran and Sharia to legitimate violence against non-Muslim people, Husain claims that they have no doctrinal justification. He rails against the kind of fundamentalism that allowed Saudi schoolgirls to burn to death in a fire because they were not wearing headscarves and robes, an act, he holds, that means that the first tenet of Sharia, "preservation of life," had been violated. The author argues that mainstream Islam must isolate and denounce its enemies from within if it is to successfully resist outside accusations that it is inherently a religion of violence and terrorism.A welcome introduction to a faith too little understood by those outside of it.

Kirkus Reviews