Moslems Their Beliefs, Practices, and Politics

There is little understanding today in the "West" relative to the reality of Islam. And this excellent little book is an effective corrective. It consists of a number of essays by Gabriel Oussani relative to the historical, political, and theological background of Islam, followed by Hilaire Belloc's magnificent essay on the same subject. Oussani deals fairly, we judge, with the basic principles, policies, and history of Islam. But Belloc's final essay is the star of this show. Here, Belloc puts the rise of Islam in its proper historical context. And he explains its explosive original popularity as a corrective to what was then an extraordinarily unjust system of slavery and usury. Further, Belloc describes the stunning continuing vitality of Islam. And it is this vitality, we judge, that now makes Islam the target of the neoconservative war machine. Read this important little book. And be well informed and hugely entertained in the process. God bless.