#Culture

Book Review: Lost Islamic History

Published

July 30, 2014

“Can you tell me a good book to read on Islamic history?” This is a question that I get asked time and time again. I can’t remember ever being able to give a straight-forward answer. “Well, it depends on exactly what period of Islamic history you are interested in…” I would begin to say and almost immediately watch their attention levels disintegrate.

Well, I think I might just have an answer now. “Lost Islamic History: Reclaiming Muslim civilisation from the past” has just been published by Hurst. The author, Firas Alkhateeb knows a thing or two about making history accessible to the masses as he is the man behind the popular Lost Islamic History project with thousands of fans on Facebook and Twitter. An example of his work is below:

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The book itself is very well written with many important areas and eras of Islamic history covered in chronological order. The chapter on the “Intellectual Golden Age” is particularly well written breaking up a tendency by others to simply focus on military expansionism and regression. The author also includes a chapter entitled “The Edge” where he tackles the history of parts of the Muslim world that are often neglected in most historical accounts. Another positive about this book is that it avoids the usual bias found from similar works by orientalists.

For fans of Lost Islamic History online, the book is quite different in style and tone to what they are used to. This is not a bad thing at all, but it is something to be aware of for those expecting more of the same.

Islamic history is probably one of the most neglected fields in Islamic education. It has been for centuries for reasons that are beyond the scope of this book review. Therefore, any attempt to redress this imbalance should be celebrated and taken advantage of. Maybe Islamic history is just a little less lost now.

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Related Topics:book review history islamic history

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16 Comments

Habib

July 30, 2014 at 8:02 AM

Jazakallah khair for this

But perhaps you can give more info….a link to where the book can be purchased perhaps

The authors website maybe?

make it easy for your readers to get the information

because in todays distracting world, many would just jump to another article and this amazing book would be lost to them

If the book is available on amazon, post the link to it and use an affiliate link to earn money either for you or for muslim matters

look at sites like huffington post for good examples of how to operate….

Jazakallah khair again

More book reviews would be great

Reply
- Sara
  
  July 30, 2014 at 8:04 AM
  
  The book is available on amazon.com
  
  You can purchase it from the link below if you want
  
  http://amzn.to/1k7412J
  
  Reply
- Hyde
  
  July 30, 2014 at 8:44 AM
  
  They have a blog, with more info on the book.
  http://lostislamichistory.com/
  
  Reply
- WAJiD
  
  July 30, 2014 at 3:37 PM
  
  Wa iyakum Habib.
  
  Very good point about having a link to where ppl could find the book. Apologies for forgetting that. And thank you Sara for posting it up in your comment below.
  
  WAJiD
  
  Reply
iffat sharif

July 30, 2014 at 6:10 PM

This book I awesome !!! Every Muslim should read this….I personally didn’t know a lot of things about Muslim history but this website was an eye opener !! Subhan Allah ….may Allah put lots of barakah in this project

Reply
s

July 30, 2014 at 7:04 PM

I would love to buy the book! If you are interested in muslims history in terms of wars and the arab empires, i found books by j.b glubb very informative. He is an orientalist, but i see that he tries to be as objective as he can as a british writer as he can. Check it out in amazon

Reply
moe

July 30, 2014 at 7:51 PM

amazing book that encompasses everything about Islam and history recommend everyone yo read it

Reply
mgh

July 31, 2014 at 12:20 AM

InshAllah some will be donated to the local libraries for those of us who cannot afford to purchase it

Reply
Umm Muhammad

July 31, 2014 at 7:54 AM

Recently I read Destiny Disrupted which was also an amazing book. The best part was how beautifully it was written. I will be sure to get a copy of this book now, jazakumullahu khairan!

Reply
- Hyde
  
  July 31, 2014 at 7:09 PM
  
  I was about to add that as well. Jazikullaha.
  
  Reply
Khan

July 31, 2014 at 7:41 PM

An iman boosting history book, I didn’t even know that can exist.

Reply
moideen mampadan

August 1, 2014 at 10:37 AM

I cud not get this book so I shall put in some ingredients to the muslim ummah to ponder with:
1. whether there is a topic in the book about the Khalifa rule of Usman, umer, Ali and their brutal killing by the enemies of Islam and the killing of the sons of Hazrat Ali? If u are faithful in that chapter you would know that our Ummah was highjacked by those who killed the beloved companions and grand sons of our beloved Messenger (pubh). Since then the infidels and enemies of Islam were the rulers of the muslim world! study deeply You will come to know why we are in such a pathetic condition now when Allah categorically says that who ever follow his book shall be of a superior society (ummah)

Reply
Yousef

August 3, 2014 at 10:10 PM

Assalaamu Alaikom,

Jazak Allah Khair for the review. I have one question. What I want is a book of truth. I don’t want a book that talks only about the “peace” side of Islam, while leaving out the “evil” parts of Islam. Of course, I put those in quotes because I’m not saying there are absolute peace / evil times. I want the whole story and it really bugs me when I find out ‘this’ part of the story was missing because it makes it sound like Islam is bad. I want the truth, and the whole truth.

If it came from Allah and his Messenger, I accept it. Please inform me if this book ‘cherry-picks’ each part of the major events it covers.

Reply
Firoz85

August 4, 2014 at 3:51 AM

How does this book compare to Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists by Michael Morgan. I’ve read that and it was very well written. Any one here whose read both ?

Reply
hassan

March 31, 2015 at 12:58 PM

i cant get its copy where i live . can somebody plz share his/her ebook wth me

Reply
IH

April 6, 2019 at 5:52 AM

This book describes those fundamentals and also helps you understand the various ways in which following these rules would make your life much better than it was before. It shows you the peace that can be attained by following Islam properly.

Reply