Islam Explained

The author has written a book for older children and young adults which attempts, by use of a question-and-answer format, to explain Islam in fairly simple language; it was written in French in response to the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, and has been gracefully translated by Franklin Philip. Tahar ben Jelloun is a French writer of Moroccan origin whose earlier book, 'Racism Explained,' used the same approach. It purports to be a dialogue between his young daughter, who asks questions, and himself, who supplies answers. The book traces the history of Islam, starting with a brief outline of Muhammad's life and the tenets of the religion, then focuses a good deal on the Golden Age of Islam - about 900 years ago - before he comments frankly on the 'decline' of Islam as a unified culture in the ensuing centuries. He implies that the current situation, with fanatical and violent people 'claiming to be' adherents of Islam, is due to the long slide of Islamic culture (as opposed to the Islamic religion itself) into 'decadence.' He goes further to decry the current atmosphere of terrorism and violence as a corruption of the idealistic principles of Islam and denounces it forcefully. I read the book primarily because I knew very little about Islam and earlier attempts to read more scholarly books on the subject couldn't hold my interest. I do think it might be helpful as a source of information for young people or adults like myself who have no background in the religion. It is by no means the last word on the subject, but might lead readers to further study.Scott Morrison