Beware: I read a lot.
Note: None of the summaries (apart from "Memoirs of Aga Khan" and the very first part of "The Stranger") are written by me. I nicked them from Amazon. I haven't finished reading these books so how could I summarize them?
American Crescent: A Muslim Cleric on the Power of His Faith, the Struggle Against Prejudice, and the Future of Islam and America by
Sayed Hassan Qazwini.
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American Crescent vividly describes Qazwini’s efforts to show Americans how those who destroyed the World Trade Center had hijacked Islam as well, and that most Muslims were appalled by their actions. Yet he also takes the Bush administration to task for championing the prejudicial Patriot Act (after Muslims supported George W. Bush in the 2000 election) and deplores its conduct in the Iraq War.
Throughout American Crescent, Qazwini offers a revelatory look at the tenets and history of Islam, defending it as a faith of peace and diversity, and challenging stereotypes and misconceptions promulgated by the media. Iran, he points out, has a higher percentage of women in its parliament than the United States does in both houses of Congress. “If you want to learn about Islam,” he writes, “turn off the TV.”
At once a fascinating personal story and a heartfelt plea to integrate Islamic teachings into the tolerant traditions of America, this book is an important contribution to our understanding of all those who live among us, at a time when it matters most.
Cover-up: How the Church Silenced Jesus's True Heirs by
Lawrence Goudge.
The Christian church hides a multitude of secrets; it is, after all, a mysterious religion. For instance, what if Jesus did not start Christianity? What if Paul, who knew Jesus only through visions, created it? In Cover-Up, author and lay minister Lawrence Goudge disputes the Christian theology that has dominated the world for millennia.
Goudge, who has spent more than twenty-four years researching the suppressed history of Jesus's Jewish followers, demonstrates how the church has corrupted Jesus's message. Cover-Up takes an innovative and investigative approach to Christianity, St. Paul's credibility, and ways in which theological truths have been concealed for two thousand years. Goudge's analysis debunks the myths and provides alternative theories.
As hatred and heresy haunt Christianity's shadows, this study addresses the intolerant nature of the Christian church and sets out to right the wrongs by bringing the truth about the Nazarenes into the light of day. Goudge's message presents hope for a just world.
The Memoirs of Aga Khan: World Enough and Time by
Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III.
The dude's memoirs. Duh.
The Stranger by
Albert Camus.
I first read this in my high school Philosophy class. Very interesting.
A young Algerian, Meursault, afflicted with a sort of aimless inertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhat inexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, his crime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he has committed as it is his deficient character. The trial's proceedings are absurd, a parsing of incidental trivialities--that Meursault, for instance, seemed unmoved by his own mother's death and then attended a comic movie the evening after her funeral are two ostensibly damning facts--so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous and inevitable.
Throne of Gold: The Lives of the Aga Khans by
Anne Edwards.
A biography of the wealthy Aga Khan clan, leaders of the Ismaili sect of Muslims found throughout East Africa, Pakistan, and India, traces the dynasty up to Aly Khan, the playboy husband of Rita Hayworth, into the present day.
The Aga Khans have reigned as one of the 20th century's most extravagant lineages. The family--descendeds from Mohammed--owns homes and horse stables all over the world, and sits as the spiritual head of a sect of 15 million Muslims. Anne Edwards tells the Aga Khans story by focusing on three generations--the current Aga Khan, his father and his grandfather. These are men who lives are those of fairy tales. They live in lavish surroundings, are notorious in their pursuit of women and throw outrageous parties. Ripe material for a biography, and Edwards delivers it well.
The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad by
Lesley Hazleton.
Muhammad’s was a life of almost unparalleled historical importance; yet for all the iconic power of his name, the intensely dramatic story of the prophet of Islam is not well known. In The First Muslim, Lesley Hazleton brings him vibrantly to life. Drawing on early eyewitness sources and on history, politics, religion, and psychology, she renders him as a man in full, in all his complexity and vitality.
Hazleton’s account follows the arc of Muhammad’s rise from powerlessness to power, from anonymity to renown, from insignificance to lasting significance. How did a child shunted to the margins end up revolutionizing his world? How did a merchant come to challenge the established order with a new vision of social justice? How did the pariah hounded out of Mecca turn exile into a new and victorious beginning? How did the outsider become the ultimate insider?
Impeccably researched and thrillingly readable, Hazleton’s narrative creates vivid insight into a man navigating between idealism and pragmatism, faith and politics, nonviolence and violence, rejection and acclaim. The First Muslim illuminates not only an immensely significant figure but his lastingly relevant legacy.
As you can see, my interests are very diverse.
Almost all religious history fascinates me.
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March 22, 2015, 12:58:44 PM