Destiny Disrupted: A Look at World History from an Islamic Perspective

Sriram Iyer: Exceptionally well written account of not just the history and origins of Islam but also a very nuanced account of the more recent history that led to the various upheavals in the Middle East.

India on Aug 15, 2023

Las Patatas: ...

Japan on Sep 21, 2022

Mili A: I initially liked this book lots and told almost everyone I knew about it. I would go over and reread much of it because I truly was very interested with finally someone recognising the other side to the story!!!. I (being a practicing Muslim) liked that it wasn't a western secular book on Islamic history, but it wasn't a religious Islamic book on Islamic history - but was somewhere very neutral. Almost too neutral and a tad vague - especially towards the end. Which did end up being my only criticism.

I enjoyed the social aspect and considerations to why certain political situations arose. It wasn't about one bad leader vs another. It was more about ideas of people being incompatible. This also was frustrating at times as it was almost too passive and never pointed the finger squarely at anyone - so nothing was really anyone's fault - from this authors prospective. Where as I can draw my own conclusions of where blame lies, this book leaves that mostly blank.

The author's work was well written, and their style was really nice to read. Like a conversation one would have if the history of Islam was being discussed over dinner.
It made it more human not just dates...

Australia on Dec 08, 2017

Frank Bellizzi: As Americans moved past the initial shock of September 11, 2001, they began to ask a number of searching questions: Who were those people? What motivated them to give their lives for something so terrible? Who supported their senseless violence? And why do they hate us?

We soon learned that those nineteen men who hijacked four airliners and destroyed the lives of thousands were self-proclaimed Muslims. They did not represent any one nation. Their common bond was the culture of radical Islam. Upon learning that, Americans then wanted to know what it was about the terrorists' religion that led them to believe that their actions were justified. Did they represent only the lunatic fringe? Or were their convictions and deeds much closer to the heart of Islam?

President George W. Bush gave his answer when he told Americans, "These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith." But not everyone was so sure. In a 1996 book titled The Clash of Civilizations, Harvard professor Samuel P. Huntington had claimed that the cultures of the Muslim world and of the West were inherently at odds with each other, and that the lines between them...

United States on Apr 20, 2014

Harm Hilvers: The first chapters of this book tell a familiar story, about the origins of the Islam, the development of the religion, the place Muhammed has in the story, the struggle between the first successors of the Prophet, and the civil wars that took place in the first decades AH. These familiar stories are well-known and Ansary tells nothing new about them in this book. Of course, he adds some nice details and appealing story twists, but nothing special. If you want to learn about this fascinating piece of history, you will find that this book has everything want. If you want to read another book telling basically the same story, but with more Shia (over against the Sunni) story lines, read " After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam " by Lesley Hazleton.

The chapters in "Destiny Disrupted" about Europe and the way that Islamic countries were overpowered by the Europeans - economically, socially and politically - are very interesting and belong to the strongest parts of the book. In these chapters Ansary shines in describing how the (policy) choices of the Europeans impacted the Islamic countries, and what the effects were on the people living in those...

United Kingdom on Mar 01, 2014

Elizabeth Taylor: This is not a history book nor is it a novel and yet it reads much like a story, told in the ancient tradition of storytelling, and I could easily imagine our author talking aloud to a group. It's a tale lovingly told, a tale of passions, the tale of world history from a non-Western perspective. Like the storytellers of old, the author engages us, cajoles us, throws in little tit-bits of gossip but most of all informs the un-informed. So, be warned history buffs, although there is an extensive bibliography this is a one man's perspective of certain events he has chosen to include and he makes no excuse for that. The title also makes clear that this is a religious tale, so be prepared for explanations of Islam the religion and Islam the way of life, its tenants and rules, as well the details of what sometimes seemed to me obscure differences of opinion. There are also mystics and universities of learning and through the tales one learns their debut to our Classical world and their gift in return, to western civilization which allowed the Enlightment and Renaissance to flourish. Reading this I felt that the tragedy of the currently popular ''clash of civilizations'' is that sailing...

United Kingdom on Feb 28, 2010

H. Schneider: Ansary, an American from Afghanistan, wrote a short and entertaining history about the Muslim world for a Western audience. This `alternative history' has been highly praised by some of my amazon friends. I am mostly with them, but not completely. The concept (tell history from a different angle) is intriguing, but the implementation is not always entirely convincing to me. What we get is a Western perspective on a Muslim perspective of a history of encounters between the Muslim world and the West. There are some new insights for me, so I still rate the book 5 stars, but for some minor but plentiful irritations, I theoretically deduct half a star.

For the time before Islam arose, Ansary uses the term `middle world' in contrast to the Mediterranean world: while `Western civilization' was build around the sea and was largely based on sea lanes, the future Muslim world started out as a region based on land routes and trade connections. This is the region from Turkey and Egypt eastward to Central and South Asia.
I had not been aware how peripheral the crusades were to the Muslim world's perception. Clash of civilizations? Hardly. Where was that civilization of the Franks?...

United States on Dec 13, 2009