No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, by Reza Aslan, is a great summary of Islam through the ages, with a focus on how Islam is defined and has been redefined over time.#

The main thrust of this book is that Islam in this day is going through a reformation, like Europe under went. And like the situation in Europe, there is a great deal of violence, and in particular, the Western world is an innocent bystander in the fight. Below I highlight some of the interesting things I learned.#

I found the whole story of the Ka'bah before Islam to be amazing. I can't do it much justice. The Wikipedia page does not explain it much either, however it may be a good starting point. This book is worth it just for the section of pre-Islamic Arabia.#

On Muhammad's miracle:#

As "the supreme Arab event," to quote Kenneth Cragg, the Quran is regarded by most Muslims as Muhammad's sole miracle. Like the prophets who came before him, Muhammad was repeatedly urged to prove his divine mission through miraculous acts. But whenever he was challenged in this way, he insisted that he was nothing more than a messenger, and his message was the only miracle he had to offer. And unlike the miracles of other prophets, which are confined to a particular age, Muhammad's miracle of the Quran would, in the words of the twelfth-century mystic Nadjm ad-Din Razi Daya (1177-1256), "remain until the end of the world." [p. 157]

To me, there is an obvious parallel with Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, although I think the Quran is much more beautiful. And Joseph is credited with other miracles.

Of Sufism:#

That said, Sufis consider all orthodoxy, all traditional teachings, the law, theology, and the Five Pillars inadequate for attaining true knowledge of God. Even the Quran, which Sufis respect as the direct speech of God, lacks the capacity to shed light upon God's essence. As one Sufi master has argued, why spend time reading a love letter (by which he means the Quran) in the presence of the Beloved who wrote it? [p. 201, emphasis added.]