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Sign up todayDestiny Disrupted
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Learn moreWith storytelling brio and evenhanded sympathy to all sides of the story, Ansary clarifies how the Muslim world views the history of the world and what they therefore make of our own version of events.
Until about 1800, the West and the Islamic realm were like two adjacent, parallel universes, each assuming itself to be the center of the world while ignoring the other. As Europeans colonized the globe, the two world histories intersected, and the Western narrative drove the other one under. The West hardly noticed, but the Islamic world found the encounter profoundly disrupting.
By revealing that parallel “other” narrative to the chapter we are living today, this book will help us to make sense of today’s world conflicts. Ansary traces the history of the Muslim world from pre-Mohammedan days through 9/11, introducing the people, events, and key turning points, not only in terms of what happened but also in terms of how those events were understood and interpreted.
Tamim Ansary is the award-winning author of Destiny Disrupted and West of Kabul, East of New York. He has been a major contributing writer to several secondary-school history textbooks offering an Islamic perspective.
Tamim Ansary is the award-winning author of Destiny Disrupted and West of Kabul, East of New York. He has been a major contributing writer to several secondary-school history textbooks offering an Islamic perspective.
Reviews
“Ansary has written an informative and thoroughly engaging look at the past, present, and future of Islam. With his seamless and charming prose, he challenges conventional wisdom and appeals for a fuller understanding of how Islam and the world at large have shaped each other. And that makes this book, in this uneasy, contentious post-9/11 world, a must read.”
“Since the history of the Islamic peoples has been generally ignored or glossed over quickly by Western nations, Ansary, a Muslim American, rectifies this lack. Beginning with the life of Mohammed and the quarrel over his rightful successor, the author lays out a fascinating panoply of Islamic religious ideals, culture, doctrinal variations, and struggles for power over the following centuries, often in conjunction with familiar events taking place in the West. The rise of European civilizations, formerly considered by Muslims as practically barbaric, and their subsequent domination of much of the world is treated at length as the “destiny disrupted.” The tone of the book is reasonably fair and firm but not hostile. The author is an excellent narrator, with a clear and pleasant voice. Since Islam is a major force in today’s world, studying its history and way of life should be a priority for Americans.”
“This is the audiobook about Islam you’ve been waiting for. Ansary’s presentation of Islamic history, ideas, and values, explained from an American point of view, makes clear material that can seem opaque in a lengthy textbook or lecture series. Ansary’s strong, warm voice adds enormously to his powerful discourse. His matter-of-fact tone prevents the listener from being overwhelmed by his apparently effortless authority regarding the early Khalifa, Mongol dynasties, Liebnitz, and 9/11. His slight Afghan accent makes his presentation more personal.”
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