The book I chose to do a book review on is Islamic Politics by Andrew C. Kimmens. Choosing a book to do a review on was quite difficult do to the fact that I am still tweaking the very essence of what my paper is going to be about. This book set out to shed light on issues in the Islamic political system that were misunderstood by Westerners.
This book was compiled after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. In it is a compilation of articles from books that have made informed analyses about Islamic politics. It timelines from secularism to radicalism to the future of Islamic politics. It even breaks down what exactly is an Islamic state and points out that though one might consider itself an Islamic state, there were only few Islamic ideologies used.
What I liked most about the book was that it gave different examples with different countries. He used examples about Iran, Algeria, and Egypt. Though the book did not readily focus on women in these Islamic countries it did bring it up on a case by case basis.
I say that this reference book is a must read because it presented a series of facts with very little to no biases. I think the hard thing about books like this is presenting evidence in a way that doesn't seem lopsided. In this book, there is a presentation of articles that give a very straightforward analyses. He concluded that in order to better understand one has to stop attacking the religion in itself, as it can make matters worse between the "modern world" and the "Islamic world".
I am actually writing on Afghanistan that has a large sunni population. In Afghanistan, we saw radicalism at its most severe in oppressing human rights, especially the rights of women. However, in my research, I found that there is much possibility of the protection of women's rights in a Islamic state. I think it would be essential for you to include the protection of human rights and women that can exist and do exist in an islamic state.
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