Unfolding Islam

This book introduces and explains the essential religious concepts of Islam to non-Muslim readers and shows how Islam nd evolved over the course of time. Set against the social background of western Arabia, the narrative centers on the Qur'an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad. The differences which arose between Sunni Muslims and Shi'ites, Sufis and literalists, reformists and fundamentalists, are also explained. Though the book is written with the non-specialist in mind, specialists will find new contributions to such topics as the first writing down of the Qur'an, holy war and Islamic demography.