Islam
by Caesar E. Farah
Barrons Educational Series, 1994
Fifth edition
430 pages
ISBN 0-8120-1853-2

I've been searching for the "perfect" basic text for a course on Islam for nearly ten years. I have not found it yet, but Farah's Islam is what we're using at present.

What is important to me is that students learn a little about life and culture in the Arabian peninsula before the time of the Prophet. And that is one area where Farah scored points. He also has a good introduction to Muhammad, in two chapters called "Muhammad the Prophet" and "Muhammad the Man." Farah follows those chapters with fine introductions to Muslim beliefs (radical monotheism, eschatology, cosmology, predestination versus free will, etc.) and practices (the "five pillars," plus moral and ceremonial obligations). All great for my purposes.

Close to a third of Farah's text deals with Islam in countries outside the region of its birth, and the book is an excellent resource for teachers or students wanting such information. The chapter called "Islamic Resiliance" deals with Islam in Asia (especially southeastern Asia) and the Soviet Union. Islam in Africa, America (including the Black Muslims) and Western Europe are the subject of "Islamic Dynamism." And "Islam in Transition" deals with countries we more frequently consider "Islamic" (Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.) and with how they are struggling with the challenges of the modern world.

One area where Farah's book falls short (for me, that is, according to the what I want for my course) is the birth and development of Shi'ite Islam, which gets very little treatment (a mere two pages are devoted to Shi'ism per se), and I would prefer a little more on Sufism.

And an area of clear deficiency is the indexing system. The reader who knows nothing but the name of the youngest of the Prophet's wives or who knows that Karbala was an important event in the development of Islam would be at a loss to know where to look in the book for any reference to Ayeshah or the battle. I also like to introduce the early caliphs and the challenges they faced. Uthman's name is not indexed, either (partially because little is said about him in the text).

Despite these flaws, Farah's Islam is a good, readable introduction with a number of excellent points that could help secondary school students increase both their knowledge of, and their sensitivity to, this increasingly present way of life. And Farah's text is also to be commended for its quite extensive glossary of Arabic terms that find their way into texts about Islam in Western languages- something that beginning students often find helpful.

review © 2000 by David Streight and RSiSS

David Streight
Oregon Episcopal School
Portland, Oregon

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