Who Speaks For Islam What A Billion Muslims Really Think Deals on Islam

Who Speaks For Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think

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Editorial Reviews

In a post-9/11 world, many Americans conflate the mainstream Muslim majority with the beliefs and actions of an extremist minority. But what do the world’s Muslims think about the West, or about democracy, or about extremism itself? Who Speaks for Islam? spotlights this silenced majority. The book is the product of a mammoth six-year study in which the Gallup Organization conducted tens of thousands of hour-long, face-to-face interviews with residents of more than 35 predominantly Muslim nations — urban and rural, young and old, men and women, educated and illiterate. It asks the questions everyone is curious about: Why is the Muslim world so anti-American? Who are the extremists? Is democracy something Muslims really want? What do Muslim women want? The answers to these and other pertinent, provocative questions are provided not by experts, extremists, or talking heads, but by empirical evidence — the voices of a billion Muslims.

Customer Reviews

Every individual interested in understanding Muslims should read this book.

Reviewed by Nabil Alshurafa, 2010-02-06

I would recommend to every individual interested in understanding Muslims that they pick this book up. It addresses the nuances as well as the misunderstandings regarding Muslims.

After all it's ones' understanding of a subject that tends to define it in the public, so come to know how Muslims understand/see the world and their religion in the modern age.

Both Muslims and non-Muslims should read this book, it discusses who speaks for islam while speaking to all.

Enjoy, I know I did. It just so happened that I was sitting in the back of a plane while I was reading this book. People around me found it intriguing, it sparked a great discussion.

Modern Understanding

Reviewed by James E. French, 2009-12-16

I had seen a video based on this book, but had some trouble following the presentation. Hence I was eager to get hold of the book so that I could reread important portions as often as needed. This study is surely one of the most important to be conducted in moder times and by a highly reputable source. I wish that it could recommended widely for all Americans and more media writers in particular.

Shows what the 'other' really thinks.

Reviewed by Gatsu, 2009-09-26

This book uses polls and interviews to show what the real view of Muslims are and the diversity of views within the Muslim world. A book that needed to be written in a time of great misinformation.

The moderate majority speaks

Reviewed by Matthew Smith, 2009-04-13

Here readers have finally been given the unglamorous truth, and that is that the US and the West are not engaged in a life and death war of civilization with the East. Instead we are faced with a people that we don't understand, and instead of our media and political leaders providing us with accurate descriptions of the Muslim people we are provided caricatures. These caricatures sensationalize this conflict and ensures that viewers will tune in and voters will turn out, but what it hasn't provided us with is an intelligent, adult conversation in which we the consumers are treated as sophisticated human beings capable of complex thoughts beyond sloganeering. This study hasn't really offered anything revelatory other than to suggest that over a billion Muslims are in fact human beings and are not a monolith.

This study confirms what most level headed analysts and experts on the East and Muslims have been saying for years, and that is just like every social, religious or ethnic group a certain percentage is going to be radical and dangerous while the vast majority will then reside somewhere in the middle. This means that, while we still face a significant threat from radical Islam, we face a much more significant threat if we exacerbate this problem by focusing all our efforts on smashing this dangerous minority at the risk of alienating the greater majority. The main thing readers need to take away from this book is that we can win the war of ideas without having to fight real wars on the ground.

One of the most important points of this book was that it really verbalized one of the areas that has been a source of misunderstanding for us in the US, and that is, while Muslims may envy our representative governments, they do not want to emulate our society. In my own research I have come across this sentiment many times. What Muslims wish to accomplish is a hybridization of the East and the West. They wish to incorporate those aspects of Western civilization they admire with their own set of values, so what we have to remember in the West is that liberalization for these people will not look like our evolution, but instead will be something wholly new that represents a completely different culture. Our acceptance of this fact will help us win the war of ideas, and will evince some much needed humility from the West.

I think another telling aspect of this study is that it shows that education and knowledge of Muslims have in fact not seen a significant increase in the US since Sept. 11. The fact that a large portion of the US population remains quite ignorant of the Muslim faith and its adherents means that those people who wish to preach the war of civilizations find a large and receptive audience for that message. The problem with this is that for us to win the larger war of ideas we need to help Muslim moderates any way we can. This goal will be helped if we in the West moderate our tone, and express in categorical terms that we are not at war with Islam. If we can verbalize this and then transfer that to our real actions then we will have gone a long way in taking away the enormous propaganda boon for these very radicals we are fighting.

What this book shows us is that we are not as far off as we might think. It shows that there is a common ground where a dialogue and an exchange of ideas can take place. We now have to decide if we want to attempt to fight the war of ideas, or are we going to continue trying to win this battle militarily. If we choose the physical war a quick glance at the history of the military misadventures of the West in the Muslim world may be in order. With even a cursory glance at the wars the West has fought in these areas the picture does not bode well for our future success if we attempt this route. In the end the strongest weapon in the West's arsenal is our ideals, and it is this battlefield in which our greatest advantage lies. This is not simply a peacenik's naïve suggestion that we need to arm our military with flowers and the world will love us. There are a lot of bad people out there who we will never convert, and these people will have to be dealt with either on the criminal level or the military level. There are people who want to kill us and will not stop until they do, but we cannot defeat these few people by alienating more than a billion people who do not hate us. We have to win both wars, and if we exclude the war of ideas in our battle plan we are destined to lose both wars.

First Time to See an Honest Look at Muslims

Reviewed by omar, 2009-02-02

This book is excellent and gives insight into what Muslims actually think about different subjects. It is important to take this book for what it is - it is not teaching you the religion, or what Muslims *should* think, or even what a few extremists say. But it is saying on the whole, this is how MOST Muslims think. And in that respect, it is very eye opening, and an essential read for anyone hoping to understand who Muslims are.