"The Truth about Muhammad", Robert Spencer, Regnery

I think the author of this book was trying to be accurate and clear in the the message that he was delivering. It is also clear he was not seeking to be popular. Or at least not popular in Islamic countries.

It would be fair to say that Robert Spencer does not hold Islam in high esteem.

The book is aimed at Europeans. At Europeans who had previously little knowledge of the Prophet of Islam. Or little knowledge other than they had heard from the mouths of Western Politicians. This book does not always make comfortable reading. But then that was the point of its writing.

The author uses solely Islamic sources for his book and seeks to provide the reader with knowledge about:

• who Muhammad was
• what Muhammad believed in, and
• what instruction he left for his followers

The author has sought to provide reference for all the quotes and points that he makes. It is always possible to follow these references to find the original source material.

There are a large number of translations of the Quran and the Hadiths available online to be downloaded and read. There are few reasons to be ignorant of the tenets of Islam. The information to inform yourself is out there if you are interested. The authors' contention is that you should be. But if you do not want to be, do not complain if you find you do not like the result. Which in the author's mind is a West comprised of Islamic states "enjoying" Shariah Law.

I was expecting a much more sensational book. The front cover of this paperback edition has a quote

"May Allah rip out his spine from his back and split his brains in two, and then put them both back, and then do it over and over again."
- "Praise" for the author on revivingislam.com

I can only surmise that this "praise" was not written after reading this book.

If you agree with all the arguments made by this author, you could say he has justified the internal position or world view of those Islamist groups which have taken to terrorizing "the West". Their prophet did tell them to do just what they are now doing.

The question that the author does not really answer is: what can be done about it?

Although he proposes a number of policy initiatives that western governments should undertake they do not seem to be of the sort that will have any success.