Nothing to Do with Islam?: Investigating the West's Most Dangerous Blind Spot

By: Peter Townsend

Narrated by: Chris Johnson

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the most depressing realities of modern life is the regularity with which deadly attacks are carried out in the name of Islam. Almost as depressing are the invariable reassurances by Western political leaders and media elites that these acts of violence have “nothing to do with Islam”.

As part of these reassurances, we will also regularly hear the terms Radical Islam, Islamism, Militant Islam, "so-called" Islamic State (ISIS) and Jihadist bandied about as if people who act violently on behalf of Islam are somehow perverting the pristine teachings of the Muslim religion. Yet, niggling doubts remain. Why, if Islam is indeed a “religion of peace”, do these attacks keep coming? Why are the vast majority of acts of terror in our world today carried out by people steeped in the teachings of the Qur’an?

With his new book, Nothing to Do with Islam?: Investigating the West’s Most Dangerous Blind Spot, Peter Townsend (author of the highly acclaimed Questioning Islam: Tough Questions and Honest Answers about the Muslim Religion) examines the evidence as far as the possible link between Islam and violence is concerned. He does this by carefully analyzing the foundational texts of Islam (most notably the Qur’an and traditions), as well as the canonical set of stock responses whenever such a link is asserted.

The question whether Islam promotes violence could very well be one of the most important questions ever faced by Western civilization. It deserves more attention and analysis than a few glib sound bites. Nothing to Do with Islam? provides you with the opportunity to examine this question from all angles and come to your own conclusions.

©2016 Peter Townsend (P)2019 Peter Townsend

interesting book - horrid narration

The book is quite interesting, though presenting a somewhat radical view of islam-West relations. It is not entirely without merit, though, as it is at least thought provoking and very well researched with plenty of sources.

Narration is ... well, awful. The narrator's tone of voice indicates that he is reading a children's fairy tale, he makes excessively long pauses, and he places emphasis apparently at random. I found that speeding up replay to 120 % shortened the pauses enough to make listening bearable. I will, however, avoid books by this narrator in the future.

Filtered, Sourced, Interesting and Accurate Islam

Get and share this book!  I wish I had it 15 years ago, it would have saved me so much time and expense. Islamic source books can be found digitally for free online but I like to do research with actual books. "Nothing To Do With Islam?: Investigating the West's Most Dangerous Blind Spot" is accurate, well written, exceeded my expectations and will be added physically to my book shelf in addition to the Audible version.
 
As an educator I appreciate that he begins by telling the reader/listener what he is going to do and then in chapter after chapter he follows through with his promise. The only criticism I have is that several of the Arabic source names were mispronounced by the narrator, not so badly that they were unrecognizable, but not correct. 

There are many questions that must be asked about Islam at it's core and this book is perfect to help everyone see what has been under our noses for 1400 years. Mr. Townsend clearly proves it has everything to do with Islam.

The final section with positive and actionable steps is a God send. He suggests action we can take now that will make a difference in our situation, and more importantly help others in the process. Even if you are a seasoned researcher the ideas contained herein make the decision to purchase "Nothing to do with Islam?:..." a no-brainer.

Highly recommended!

Understanding Islam From A Western Perspective

“Nothing To Do With Islam” arms you with detailed information about the Quran’s teachings from Mecca to Medina. It’s very helpful to a Western mind, explaining the ‘what’ and ‘why’ about how devout Muslims, who take the Quran's teachings literally, find it difficult to integrate into western society. It helps one understand why some are called to commit terrorist attacks against the west, including all non-believers. Since much of our life nowadays is spent online, esp. on social media, the author explains the many misnomers about Islam that are pushed and posted online. He breaks down how certain Islamic phrases and teachings are used out of context or used to push a certain narrative about Islamic beliefs. The Audible version is quite easy to listen to, flows well, and the narrator speaks clearly with precise pronunciation. The Audible book allowed me to complete the book quickly, but now I want to purchase the physical book for my library as a reference. I personally recommend this book, it does not ‘bash’ Islam or Muslims, it details the Quran’s teachings, and helps the Western mind understand Islam.

A very important book

The topic of this book may not draw you to it like science fiction or romance. Make no mistake - this is not science fiction and the ill advised romance between politicians and Islam holds deadly consequences for our culture. Read and listen to the message of this book. Open your eyes to the treachery that is playing out in the cause of Political Correctness.

A targeted review of Islam

This book was given to me, and I listened to the whole thing.
I am very appreciative of the subject matter and the suggestions that they provide towards the end of the book.
Not sure what else we can do to fight this.

It is a good book full of resources from the horses mouth. One would be wise to research the truths in this book.

If you are not familiar with Islam, you would appreciate this.

Great exploration of violence in Islam

I received this audiobook for free from the author and am not required to write a positive review. However, as someone who is invested in learning about religions (even currently getting another degree in it), I was thoroughly impressed by Townsend’s approach. There will surely be critics who claim this is just another example of Islamophobia by people who don’t even start or finish the book, which just demonstrates the lack of understanding on this topic–which is well documented. Townsend uses primary Islamic sources to argue that violence is inherent to Islam and the example of Muhammad. This does not mean we should harbor ill will toward our Muslim neighbors. Instead, we should love them enough to declare the truth about the so-called religion of peace.

Just the facts, ma'am

Peter Townsend strips away the meaningless platitudes being spewed by almost every Western politician who speaks on this topic. With facts, figures, reason and logic he exposes the absurdity of the arguments that Islam is not to blame for the terrorists who claim to be killing in the name of it.
Everyone knows that there are countless moderate Muslims who want nothing more than to live peaceably with their neighbors but as Brigitte Gabriel has so devastatingly pointed out, they are irrelevant.
If we don't confront this literally existential danger we are actively taking part in our own demise.
I stand 100% with moderate Muslims but until they can feel safe to speak out without being targeted themselves they have no power to change the tide of hatred.

Interesting book

Overall, the book was interesting, and I learned many new facts. One of the things I have dealt with in my public high school teaching career is facing accommodations. I Muslim students. This never happened before 2005. We had to drop our swimming unit because several female students did not want to wear any kind of bathing attire. It got to the point where it was not fair to let them out of the unit, but make everybody else take it. Another problem was Ramadan. Kids were bringing me notes to get out of physical activity during Ramadan. I lived in France for six months after I retired in 2014. Their population is approximately 12% Muslim. They do have strict laws about secularization. But I saw a dying culture before me. This is starting to happen in some places in the United States. I hello.