Stuart Kelly reviewed
In God’s Path: Arab Conquests and The Creation of an Islamic Empire by
Robert Hoyland in
The Scotsman of January 7, 2015.
This kind of book always eschews its embedded nature in contemporary discourse: it’s the facts, man, not a comment on the contemporary cradled in archaism. That is true, but it would be beneficial to everyone if both Muslims and non-Muslims read it, realised their shared history, understood their differences, and appreciated that the stories can always be retold, reinterpreted, revised and reimagined. A Norman knight and a Korean monk can give us insights into Islam; Islamic writing, thinking and behaving can hold up a mirror to the West as well. Read more
I have not read the book.
