Destiny Disrupted

A History of the World through Islamic Eyes

By: Tamim Ansary

Narrated by: Tamim Ansary

Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

This book reveals the parallel "other" narrative of world history to help us make sense of today's world conflicts. Ansary traces the history of the Muslim world from pre-Mohammedan days through 9/11, introducing people, events, empires, legends, and religious disputes, both in terms of what happened and how it was understood and interpreted.

©2009 Tamim Ansary (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Informative and thoroughly engaging....A must read." (Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner)

pretty good

liked this book, an interesting theory of world history, I am reading it in tandem with Diarmaid McCullough's Christianity the first 3000 years, good double feature

Must listen for anyone interested in history.

Great survey of Islamic / middle world history. Great history not centered in a western perspective.

Just what I was looking for

Provided exactly what I was seeking: a respectful understanding of Muslim history and culture. So rich and complex, to better retain what I have learned, I will be happily listening to this book again. I now see how willfully ignorant Western society has been and strongly support broadly increasing school curriculum on the topic. Knowledge opens minds. Mine wants more.

Excellent Alternative Perspective

If you listen to enough history you come to appreciate the different things you'll learn by hearing the same broad stories told from different perspectives. This world history is brilliant and shines a light on the very active and interesting "middle world" throughout history. A worthwhile and engaging listen for anyone, and especially for people passionate about history.

History makes more sense seen from multiple perspectives

One of the more fascinating history overviews I have read because it’s from a perspective I’ve never heard from before. The West and western actions look different from the middle. Highly recomended for any student of history and/or current geopolitical affairs.

well performed.Except when it comes to beni umeyad

it is well performed. comparatively fair except on the history of 3rd Kelif. The author stumbled to tell history as it is. For some reason if the history tell is a Muslim they tend to tell on version of story. with compare to the others this book touch down a little bit the root cause of the problem that huant the Muslims till this day but when it comes to some truth he stumbled.

This is the best

This should be read by everyone in the United States. Born in 1989, I was in 7th grade on 9/11 and lived in Minnesota. Had I known this version of history, I would have had infinitely more compassion and understanding of the events that followed over the last two decades. As the divide of two civilizations still exists, this book is more relevant than ever. Thank you Tamim Ansary!

Helpful to see the story's "other" side

Tamim Ansary placed me well in the mind-frame of today's Muslim, looking back at nearly 1400 years of proud cultural heritage, and wondering what happened to such a promising place in global development. From the onset, this book challenged my preconceptions of a culture struggling against modernity and an ideology that western civilization is the goal toward which "developing" nations should strive. It defined for me what is Islam and what it means to have one's ancestry in this religion, ideology, and culture.

A Must Read for History Lovers

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book summarizes the historical events and helps you to understand the current ones;.

What about Tamim Ansary’s performance did you like?

Listening the book from the author makes you feel like you are being narrated in front of him in a classroom.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I couldnt stop listening and finished the book in very short time.

Outstanding Historical Narrative

I have a feeling that many westerners whom come across this title will not even give it a second thought. It will be their loss. While one could forgive the casual shopper for looking at a book with the dome of a Mosque on the cover and promising "A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes" and assuming that it is an anti-western book of Islamist propaganda.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Maybe there would be less conflict and greater understanding of foreign cultures if all nations wrote their cultural history with such an unbiased assessment of their deeds, crimes, and neglect.

For the record, I was raised in a Catholic house, but converted to Islam four years ago when I met my wife. A woman whom changed my life completely. I have always loved to learn about history, and suddenly having to submit myself to mandates of a culture that I had never understood, and one that is so maligned in popular culture left me with many questions, and no answers at all.

My wife was little help in answering my questions, because she had never had the need to ask them herself. And, for reasons that become clear in this book, many Muslims are largely ignorant of their own cultural significance in world history.

My wife is a Sunni Muslim, and so far I have resisted taking sides in a sectarian divide that I didn't even understand. Thanks to this book, I now know what it is that a Shi'a Muslim believes. However, understanding the differences in a fair and balanced manner, makes it much less likely that I will ever take sides in that conflict.

Tamim Ansary dedicates a large portion of this book to the development of Islamic society through the revelations to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and the subsequent rulers of Islam, both religious scholars, and the leaders of the empires. And it is spellbinding. It becomes clear just how the Islamic world authored its own fragmentation throughout history, and how that fragmentation of society made the Middle World easy for invading armies to exploit.

I won't give spoilers, but I was shocked to discover that my own understanding of the Middle World (Middle East) was wrong, wrong, wrong. Nobody told me to think these things, but I placed the blame for many of the problems in the Middle World squarely at the feet of Christianity beginning with the Crusades, continuing through colonialism, progressing through puppet dictators, the outrage of Zionist occupation, and resulting in jihadist hatred.

What I found in this book was that my beliefs were wrong, if not completely, at least partially, on every single one of those beliefs. Tamim Ansary spreads the blame around equally. If the Muslims acted in a way that brought misfortune upon them, he calls them out for it. At the same time, he does not shy away from talking about the horrors committed by invading forces. And to show that he is not simply making things up, he provides specific sources within the book as well.

I recommend this book to ANYBODY that enjoys history. It won't disappoint.