Great World Religions: Islam

By: John L. Esposito, The Great Courses

Narrated by: John L. Esposito

Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

How familiar are you with the world's second-largest and fastest-growing religion? In these 12 lectures, Professor Esposito guides you through the facts and myths surrounding Islam and its more than 1.2 billion adherents. Many in the West know little about the faith and are familiar only with the actions of a minority of radical extremists, but this lecture series will help you better understand Islam's role as both a religion and a way of life, and its deep impact on world affairs both historically and today.

What does the future hold for Islam and the West in the new century? How will it change under the influence of conservatives, reformers, and extremists? Moving from Muhammad to the present, from the 7th to the 21st centuries, you'll explore Muslim beliefs, practices, and history in the context of its significance and impact on Muslim life and society through the ages, as well as world events today. Topics you'll cover include the life and legacy of the prophet Muhammad; the nature and true meaning of jihad; the Muslim beliefs about other faiths such as Judaism and Christianity; Islamic contributions to mathematics, science, and art; the intricate relationship between Islam, modernization, capitalism, and democracy; and much more.

Professor Esposito takes a closer look at the historical development of two great Islamic institutions: Islamic law and Islamic mysticism. And he examines the worldwide "struggle for the soul of Islam" occurring today between conservatives and reformers, mainstream Muslims and extremists.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2003 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2003 The Great Courses

As a Muslim, this is fairly accurate

As a Muslim, I wanted to understand how Islam is being presented to non-Muslims in an academic way. This is fairly accurate on the fundamentals, but there were several points I would have wanted to correct the professor at, especially in the second half of the course.

Introduction with depth and without bias

I was cautious at first, given that a shallow, slanted view trends to sell better than a more nuanced look; especially given the current political climate.

I was quickly, pleasantly surprised by the quality of these lectures. Mr. Esposito provides a wonderful introduction to Islam, customs, and mainstream thought while giving historical and comparative analysis. Mr. Esposito also addresses extremism, it's relation/separation to the mainstream and gives context for verses (taken out of context) commonly used to justify extremism. Mr. Esposito them goes even further to explain how extremists are actually in violation of Islam.

Throughout, Mr. Esposito gives references and points to exact instances to support the material. Thus, he avoids the all too common trap of, "trust me, I have a title. "

I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about Islam, whether they were new to the topic or well versed. Mr. Esposito uses an academic approach, so if you are expecting proscletizing you will be disappointed. But, if you have a genuine curiosity, you will not be disappointed.

Hopelessly outdated, not well delivered

This course is now 20 years old, if I understand it correctly, delivered shortly after 9/11, but before the rise and fall of ISIS, Charlie Hebdo shooting and many other events. Even so, its attempts at whitewashing Islam, by marginalizing the extremists and the backwards stances of the mainstream Islam, are transparent. The lecturer keeps reminding the audience that other religions had their extremists too, but at no point addresses the issue of why is there such a wide support for terror and violence in the muslim community, at this juncture in time. The lecturer claims that for many women the hijab is not a symbol of oppression but rather of freedom, but fails to mention the punishment women face if they don't wear it in public. The lecturer mentiones Muhammad's wife Ayisha, but apparently the fact that she was married to him at the age of ten is not important enough to be mentioned. More importantly, the history of Islam is presented in such a cursory manner, as to be of no use for a beginning learner. And the delivery is rather bad - it seems as if the lecturer is just reading from a book, making random lengthy pauses, which makes following the train of thought an arduous task. I think less random pauses and less finding justifications for the oppressive policies would have left plenty of time for more in-depth exploration of the history of Islam.

Excellent overview

Great opening on the history of Islam. Could have used more robust research into modern reform movements; I.e. Ahmadiyya which was never mentioned.

Should be 40h and not 6h and 8min

I was looking for a book that would cover with reasonable level of details both the history of Islam and the vast complexity of the current Islam world. In retrospect, I see it was foolish to expect someone to squeeze such extensive matters in just 6h. Unfortunately, I think Audible still owe us a title that could fulfill such expectation. But the lecturer did a relatively good use of such short time to introduce the subject. Contrary to some reviewers, I found the presenter did a good job in providing clear explanations and keeping my attention all the time. I just found some issues with excessive repetition of some arguments. I completely got Islam is not a particularly violence prone our misogynous religion. Knowing something of the tradition of tolerance in middle ages Islamic world, I had no difficulties to accept that. I also see how important is for the world to understand it, but I still think too much time was spent on the same subject.

Outstanding!

Esposito demonstrates a vast knowledge of Islam as a religion and a cultural/ political entity. People with a limited understanding of Islam would benefit greatly from his work.

Interesting, insightful and informative.

This course was a great experience. The knowledge of the lecturer was apparent. Great connection to today's misconceptions towards Islam and Muslims.

Very Broad & Repetitive

When I picked up the series, I was hoping to learn more about the Islamic faith: wearing originated, some of the basic belief systems, the history, etc. Instead, I got a guy that repeats the same thing over and over again. I get that some women wear the headgear and some don't, ha ha. I was just hoping for a little more in depth.

A bit of a surprise

I am glad that I listened to these lectures but I expected more about the religion.

Rambling vaguely

He spends a lot of time with vague talk, just rambling on. And, he didn't even analyze the causes of terrorism.