reading up on Islam

Hell-bent on keeping us informed, New York Times Book Review editor Sam Tanenhaus, gave over an entire issue to books devoted to Islam. Odd behavior for a guy who’s been slimed as a “noted neocon” (and thus a hater), dontcha think?

Get cracking, dear readers. There will be a test.

The Islam Issue
‘The Suicide of Reason’
By LEE HARRIS
Reviewed by AYAAN HIRSI ALI
Arguing that the West’s “fanaticism of reason” is no match for the fanaticism of radical Islam.

Essay
Reading the Koran
By TARIQ RAMADAN
The Book of all Muslims, Tariq Ramadan writes, can be understood on many levels.
‘The Adventures of Amir Hamza’

By GHALIB LAKHNAVI AND ABDULLAH BILGRAMI
Reviewed by WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
The “Iliad” and “Odyssey” of medieval Persia is presented in a hefty new English translation.

First Chapter ‘Arguing the Just War in Islam’
By JOHN KELSAY
Reviewed by IRSHAD MANJI
A professor of religion traces the thinking behind Islamic holy war.
‘American Crescent’

By HASSAN QAZWINI
Reviewed by RASHID KHALIDI
From his mosque in Michigan, a cleric argues that Muslims can be integrated into national life.

First Chapter ‘Jihad and Jew-Hatred’
By MATTHIAS KÜNTZEL
Reviewed by JEFFREY GOLDBERG
A German scholar argues that Muslim anti-Semitism can be traced to a project of the Nazi Party.

First Chapter Essay
The Clash
By FOUAD AJAMI
I doubted Samuel Huntington when he predicted a struggle between Islam and the West. My mistake.
‘God’s Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570 to 1215′

By DAVID LEVERING LEWIS
Reviewed by ERIC ORMSBY
David Levering Lewis’s history of Arab rule in Spain focuses on its ethic of mutuality.
‘Peace Be Upon You’

By ZACHARY KARABELL
Reviewed by JASON GOODWIN
Muslim rulers, Zachary Karabell says, did not force conversion upon their subjects.
‘Napoleon’s Egypt’

By JUAN COLE
Reviewed by TOM REISS
A historian takes a new look at Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt.

Essay
Beyond the Burka
By LORRAINE ADAMS
Muslim women’s voices are being heard as never before. But which ones?
‘Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy’

By PETER GOTTSCHALK AND GABRIEL GREENBERG
Reviewed by SHIBLEY TELHAMI
A look at American media since 9/11 makes the case that Muslims have been unjustly demonized.

First Chapter Caught in the Ayatollah’s Web
Reviewed by SARAH WILDMAN
Memoirs by Marina Nemat and Zarah Ghahramani, two women who survived political prison in Iran 20 years apart.