ISLAM IN CONTEXT
Past, Present and Future
By Peter Riddell & Peter Cotterell. Baker Academic. 231 pages
ISBN 0 8010 2627 X
This excellent book, written in a popular and engaging style, helps promote a proper understanding of Islam, especially for the average church member bewildered by its complexity.
With British Muslims eagerly seeking converts, it is a 'must-read'. Muslims often employ liberal biblical criticism when debating with Christians, but this rebounds on them. The critical-revisionist school of Crone, Cook and Wansborough note the lack of 'hard evidence for the existence of the Qur'an' before the end of the seventh century. Muslims base their historical claims for the Qur'an on the hadith, Muhammad's narrations, but many were fabricated, and this aids the average Christian interacting with his Muslim neighbour.
