Since the jihadist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, numerous non-Muslims, including many of our political leaders, have tried to tell Americans what Islam "is." Unfortunately, many, if not most of these non-Muslims appeared to have relatively little knowledge about Islam. Consequently, efforts to understand Islam commonly start out by referring to it as "the Religion of Peace," and the terms "moderate" and "radical" have come to dominate our conversations about Islam. For that reason, Dr. Stephen M. Kirby has written this book to allow the Koran, "the Prophet" Muhammad, and authoritative Islamic scholars to explain what Islam "is." These sources were not worried about political correctness, and the result is a well documented, critically accurate presentation of Islam that counters many beliefs widely-held among non-Muslims. The reader will gain a new perspective on the term "radical." Kirby also examines studies that have looked at some of the attitudes among Muslim-Americans; these studies raise disturbing questions for American society. Dr. Kirby is the author of "Islam and Barack Hussein Obama: A Handbook on Islam." He holds a Ph.D. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. He is retired from over three decades in law enforcement, much of that time spent investigating white collar crimes and public corruption. Combining the investigative thoroughness of a detective with the research skills of a scholar, Kirby has written an authoritative, thought-provoking book that will change the way readers understand Islam.

Is there any sound historical evidence that the prophet of Islam actually existed, or is the entire story of Muhammad fable or fiction? It is a question that few have thought—or dared—to ask. Virtually everyone, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, takes for granted that the prophet of Islam lived as a prophet, as well as a political and military leader, in seventh-century Arabia. But this widely accepted story begins to crumble on close examination. In his blockbuster New York Times bestseller The Truth about Muhammad, historian and Islam expert Robert Spencer revealed the often shocking contents of Islamic teachings about Muhammad. Now, in this newly revised and expanded version of Did Muhammad Exist?, he lays bare those teachings’ surprisingly shaky historical foundations. This updated and enlarged version of this acclaimed book examines even more striking and compelling evidence that the story of Muhammad, who for so long was assumed to have lived in the “full light of history,” could be more myth and legend than historical fact. Spencer meticulously examines historical records and archaeological findings, pioneering new scholarship to reconstruct what we can know about Muhammad, the Qur’an, and the early days of Islam. The evidence he presents challenges the most fundamental assumptions about Islam’s origins.

Exploring the increasing impact of the Internet on Muslims around the world, this book sheds new light on the nature of contemporary Islamic discourse, identity, and community. The Internet has profoundly shaped how both Muslims and non-Muslims perceive Islam and how Islamic societies and networks are evolving and shifting in the twenty-first century, says Gary Bunt. While Islamic society has deep historical patterns of global exchange, the Internet has transformed how many Muslims practice the duties and rituals of Islam. A place of religious instruction may exist solely in the virtual world, for example, or a community may gather only online. Drawing on more than a decade of online research, Bunt shows how social-networking sites, blogs, and other "cyber-Islamic environments" have exposed Muslims to new influences outside the traditional spheres of Islamic knowledge and authority. Furthermore, the Internet has dramatically influenced forms of Islamic activism and radicalization, including jihad-oriented campaigns by networks such as al-Qaeda. By surveying the broad spectrum of approaches used to present dimensions of Islamic social, spiritual, and political life on the Internet, iMuslims encourages diverse understandings of online Islam and of Islam generally.

Did Muhammad use the sword to spread Islam across the Arabian Peninsula? In the Koran, Allah commands that there are to be no forced conversions to Islam. But the Koran also states that Muhammad spoke for Allah and must be obeyed. And over the centuries authoritative Muslim scholars have repeatedly written about a large number of incidents in which Muhammad offered non-Muslims, including entire Arab tribes, the stark choice of converting to Islam or being killed. Did Muhammad really make permissible what he knew Allah had made impermissible? In his fourth book about Islam Dr. Kirby investigates this question. He relies extensively on the translated writings of early authoritative Muslim scholars to take a historical approach to the examination of Muhammad and the early years of Islam. His conclusions may be surprising and troubling, but they are essential to understanding Islam. Dr. Kirby is the author of Letting Islam Be Islam: Separating Truth From Myth, a book that was reviewed in an Arabic language online publication of the Beirut Islamic University, Beirut, Lebanon. The reviewer noted that Letting Islam Be Islam "...provides a very deep understanding of the Koran and the Sunnah" and "is an excellent resource to guide you in understanding the enormous plethora of information about Islam" (Islamic Literature, Issue No. 73, 2013). This review was translated from the Arabic by Dr. Mark Christian, a native Arabic speaker.

Muhammad: a frank look at his influential (and violent) life and teachings In The Truth about Muhammad, New York Times bestselling author and Islam expert Robert Spencer offers an honest and telling portrait of the founder of Islam-perhaps the first such portrait in half a century-unbounded by fear and political correctness, unflinching, and willing to face the hard facts about Muhammad's life that continue to affect our world today. From Muhammad's first "revelation" from Allah (which filled him with terror that he was demonpossessed) to his deathbed (from which he called down curses upon Jews and Christians), it's all here-told with extensive documentation from the sources that Muslims themselves consider most reliable about Muhammad. Spencer details Muhammad's development from a preacher of hellfire and damnation into a political and military leader who expanded his rule by force of arms, promising his warriors luridly physical delights in Paradise if they were killed in his cause. He explains how the Qur'an's teaching on warfare against unbelievers developed-with constant war to establish the hegemony of Islamic law as the last stage. Spencer also gives the truth about Muhammad's convenient "revelations" justifying his own licentiousness; his joy in the brutal murders of his enemies; and above all, his clear marching orders to his followers to convert non-Muslims to Islam-or force them to live as inferiors under Islamic rule. In The Truth about Muhammad, you'll learn - The truth about Muhammad's multiple marriages (including one to a nine-year-old) - How Muhammad set legal standards that make it virtually impossible to prove rape in Islamic countries - How Muhammad's example justifies jihad and terrorism - The real "Satanic verses" incident (not the Salman Rushdie version) that remains a scandal to Muslims - How Muhammad's faulty knowledge of Judaism and Christianity has influenced Islamic theology--and colored Muslim relations with Jews and Christians to this day. Recognizing the true nature of Islam, Spencer argues, is essential for judging the prospects for largescale Islamic reform, the effective prosecution of the War on Terror, the democracy project in Afghanistan and Iraq, and immigration and border control to protect the United States from terrorism. All of which makes it crucial for every citizen (and policymaker) who loves freedom to read and ponder The Truth about Muhammad

Forty women under the age of 40, born and raised in the United States, dismantle stereotypes of what it means to be a Muslim woman in America.

A renowned scholar of Islamic studies interviews ex-Muslims, who feel it is their duty to speak up against their former faith to tell the truth about the fastest growing religion in the world.

Continuing her journey from a deeply religious Islamic upbringing to a post at Harvard, the brilliant, charismatic and controversial New York Times and Globe and Mail #1 bestselling author of Infidel and Nomad makes a powerful plea for a Muslim Reformation as the only way to end the horrors of terrorism, sectarian warfare and the repression of women and minorities. Today, she argues, the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims can be divided into a minority of extremists, a majority of observant but peaceable Muslims and a few dissidents who risk their lives by questioning their own religion. But there is only one Islam and, as Hirsi Ali shows, there is no denying that some of its key teachings—not least the duty to wage holy war—are incompatible with the values of a free society. For centuries it has seemed as if Islam is immune to change. But Hirsi Ali has come to believe that a Muslim Reformation—a revision of Islamic doctrine aimed at reconciling the religion with modernity—is now at hand, and may even have begun. The Arab Spring may now seem like a political failure. But its challenge to traditional authority revealed a new readiness—not least by Muslim women—to think freely and to speak out. Courageously challenging the jihadists, she identifies five key amendments to Islamic doctrine that Muslims have to make to bring their religion out of the seventh century and into the twenty-first. And she calls on the Western world to end its appeasement of the Islamists. “Islam is not a religion of peace,” she writes. It is the Muslim reformers who need our backing, not the opponents of free speech. Interweaving her own experiences, historical analogies and powerful examples from contemporary Muslim societies and cultures, Heretic is not a call to arms, but a passionate plea for peaceful change and a new era of global toleration. In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo murders, with jihadists killing thousands from Nigeria to Syria to Pakistan, this book offers an answer to what is fast becoming the world’s number one problem.

Why not just Allah? Why Muhammad's Allah? This unique book explains that Allah is not a god (deity) and that this god-concept we have all come to embrace, as a result of misleading information and conditioning, is not the Allah expounded by Muhammad (saw). Everyone, from the most learned to the most ignorant, has a concept of God. A God that we love, get angry with, judge and even accuse, at times, for doing wrong by us! We imagine this God, who sits on a star in the heavens or dwells somewhere in space, to be like a benevolent paternal figure or a majestic sultan! Those with broader views (!) are well aware, of course, that such a God cannot exist and claim they do not believe in a God, proudly declaring themselves as atheists. Whereas, neither the aforementioned believers who postulate a God with their hearsay knowledge and conditionings, nor the atheists who deny and reject the idea of a God, have any awareness of Allah as explained by Muhammad (saw)! So what is the reality of Allah revealed by Muhammad (saw)? Muhammad (saw), who articulated the Quran to us, taught us there is no God, that there is only Allah; that there is a System present within life, by which those who fail to comply, are led to suffer the consequences of their own actions. If we live with the awareness of the existence of an afterlife, our primary concern should be to know Allah and the life awaiting us after death, so that we may prepare accordingly. Taking this into consideration, let us now try to understand the One denoted by the name Allah disclosed by Muhammad (saw).

As the faith tradition of 1.6 billion people globally, Islam is the second-largest--and fastest-growing--of all the world's religions. Still, many in the West harbor misconceptions about its people, practices, and beliefs. Through rich and thorough exploration, Natana DeLong-Bas's Islam: A Living Faith challenges ignorance with facts and false impressions with stories of lived faith. Weaving personal narratives with major historical and contemporary events and developments, DeLong-Bas skillfully and sensitively conveys the teachings, people, and practices of the Islamic faith. This introduction includes sections on the Five Pillars, the Qur'an, and the legacy of Muhammad, as well as on the origin of sectarian identities, the purpose of Shariah and Islamic law, the mystical tradition of Sufism, and Muslim-Christian relations. Stocked with terms, definitions, and recommendations for additional resources, Islam: A Living Faith is perfect for use in the classroom.