Hachette India

A Brief Guide to Islam

Paul Grieve

Exploring the beliefs history and politics of the ordinary people of Muslim countries Grieve cuts through the complexities as he examines all aspects of Islam. He also addresses the big issues: can Islam support true democracy? Is true democracy what the West really wants for Muslim countries or are we merely seeking a cover of legitimacy for a policy of 'might is right'?

Paul Grieve is an unbeliever - he is not a born-again Muslim a proselytizer or a frustrated desert romantic. His aim is to inform. The result is an accessible but never simplistic guide that challenges
stereotypical views from women and banking to war and Malcolm X.

Complete with advice for visitors to Muslim countries and with carefully chosen primary sources maps and illustrations this is the ideal summary for the reader looking for an unbiased overview of the religious and political world issues that have become part of our everyday lives.

Paul Grieve

While writing his critically successful novel Upon a Wheel on Fire set against the organs of WWII Paul Grieve became interested in the same events in the eastern Mediterranean and particularly in the end of the Ottoman Empire and origins of the State of Israel. In order to understand the resulting conflicts in the present Grieve decided to study Islam. After two years at the MosquÃ©e de Paris he spent a further three years in the Middle East studying Islamic history jurisprudence politics and Arabic with experts at Cairo University and the American University. The result is this book and a second novel. Grieve now lives in London.