I found The House of Islam a fascinating insight into Islam, the approach is simple - to look at a religion from inside instead of outside as spectator.

This felt overlong to me, perhaps because I cant absorb huge amounts of new info like I used to be able to! Having said that, this was well-organised, full of intriguing legends and easy-to-digest history. If you want to be better-informed about the fastest-growing faith in the world, this is interesting stuff. My only criticism is that it isn’t impartial; there’s a clear viewpoint and that made me wonder how reliable it is? Not that it promised objectivity, to be fair, but I ended up feeling I should try other perspectives too!

I was very interested in reading this book as I spent 15 years living in Saudi Arabia and saw how religion influenced all aspects of life there. A very informative and easy to read book which I thoroughly recommend.

A fascinating and easy to read book that does an excellent job of filling in the many gaps I had in my knowledge of Islam and what makes its believers tick. Whilst I was well aware of the diversity of approach of Muslims in general, this book provides the missing details. What it did not provide for me was sufficient detail on the life of Muhammad and why he was chosen. To my mind, an essential part of the foundations that the House of Islam is built upon.

All three peoples of the Book share a belief in an omnipotent being whose words have been debated by the Learned, the Wise and the not so wise for many Centuries, providing dogma for all believers that frequently excludes the beliefs of others, even those whose share their origin - Jew, Muslim, Christian.

This book succinctly shows the divisions within Islam and that belief is still ambiguous.

This is a very accessible, engaging and well-researched book. This book strikes a good balance between information - not too simple and not too complex.

I requested this copy as I was keen to learn more about the history of Islam. Being a Muslim, I have heard and read about the various aspects but I learned quite a lot more than I expected from Ed Husain's book. Like Ed Husain, I'm also from India but raised in the Western world, in London.

There were things that I was quite surprised to find out about other Muslims and the past. I even got goosebumps at some points. I also agreed with the majority of what Ed has said about the terrorists not really being Muslims, as what they have done and are doing is against Islam.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for providing me with an advanced copy.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review an ARC of this publication.

As an individual who is not of this faith, I was intrigued to find out more about it and gain an understanding of the real meaning and beliefs of this religion.

This publication was skilfully written and a fine balance between the origins of it, explaining the main principles and how certain sections have taken recent action in the name of their religion. The introduction suggested to place any pre-conceptions aside and that's exactly what I did.

As a result I have come away with a far greater understanding of the principles of this religion and feel better placed to understand a lot of the issues and conflicts in our 21st century world.

House of Islam: A Global History by Ed Husain is a history and explanation of Islam by an educated Western Moslem. Husain is a writer, adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and a former senior advisor at the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. He is the author of The Islamist, a book about political Islamism and an account of his five years as an Islamist activist. Husain cofounded, with Maajid Nawaz, the counter-extremism organization the Quilliam Foundation.

In the West, there seems to be a single definition of Islam that is portrayed in the media and in the minds of many. This seems to include ISIS, the Taliban, and sharia law. However, Christianity is a peaceful religion that promotes charity, treating all people well, and the Golden Rule. Jesus' message was one of love and inclusion. We seem to hold polarizing views. No reasonable person would say that the Westboro Baptist Church and its message represents mainstream Christianity. The same can be said of the Aryan groups' version Christianity. Today we in the West oppose slavery when it was part of the Christian past. I have not read of modern Jews practicing Deuteronomy 21:20-21. There are parts, and laws, of the Bible that are no longer parts society. Just because something is in the Bible does not mean it is practiced.

Husain is a first generation British Moslem. What makes this book so important is it is written by a Western-raised and educated Moslem. He joined the Islamic Society of Britain. Studied Arabic in Syria, and worked for the British Council in Saudi Arabia. His first name is actually Mohamed but students started calling him Ed. What Husain presents in this book is a history of Islam that explains the religion by a practitioner who is also an educated and successful Westerner. He speaks to an audience that he is part of.

House of Islam covers the history of the religion from Muhammad through the Sunni Shia schism and into modern times. Also discussed is Sufism which brought forth some of the regions best poets one that most have heard of or read -- Rumi. This is followed by sections on Ottoman Turkey and Islamists.

Relations with the Jews is covered n great detail. In Indonesia, a non-Arab Moslem country, 47% of the population had a low opinion of Jews. An interesting poll considering Indonesia does not have the history and interactions that Arab countries did and still do. Education is another interesting subject:

‘Knowledge and wisdom are the lost properties of the believer,’ taught Imam Ali, ‘so seek them even if they be with infidels.’

Today many see education as memorizing large tracts of the Koran in Arabic but without understanding the language. Memorizing is more important than understanding. Perhaps pre-Vatican II Catholics share the similar experience. As with other subjects, Hussain separates canon from cultural tradition in explaining laws, women, and sex in Moslem countries. Traditions play a large role in the culture. There is nothing in the Koran that states women must wear black in public but in countries like Saudi Arabia, there is little, if any, variation.

House of Islam presents an even view and explanation of Islam and its history.  Hussain separates the words of the prophet from tradition and sayings that are attributed to Muhammad.  He presents a sensible and easy to follow description of the religion that would benefit many in the West.

Very interesting read, especially in the times we are in with all the problems islam brinmgs to the world today. Everyone should read this book

I knew comparatively little about Islam, like many Westerners I suspect. This book managed to be relatively unbiased whilst still being both accessible to a non-Muslim audience without shying away from practices non-Muslims might find troubling. I wouldn’t say I was anything approaching an expert on this difficult and convoluted subject with all its ramifications and variations, but I feel having read this book, that I am now slightly better informed. Very readable non fiction presented in an informative and interesting way.

Wow, I have read this book with complete fascination. I have learnt a huge amount and I believe it’s very valuable information needs to be seen by as many people as possible. The author is the authority to listen to on the truth of the Muslim world - it’s history from its formation, it’s teachings and it’s humiliation caused by the rise of the west. He describes who and what the Muslim world is and is made up of - in other words - he shows us the beauty of the religion and how it is portrayed and abused. I must read for everyone concerned for our future.

"The House of Islam is on fire - and the arsonist still lives there."
This book is very even-handed in its discussion of the beauty of the Islamic faith and at the same time, does not shy away from the beliefs and practices that Westerners might find difficult. It also doesn't just go through what we might consider "problems" - the end of the book also discusses solutions to issues regarding extremism and the bringing together of Islamic factions without further violent interference.
This is not the definitive guide to Islam - nor does it purport to be. At only 336 pages it can't possibly go into depth on all aspects of the Quran or daily life of a Muslim, but what it does do is touch upon things about which most Westerners have questions. Particularly engrossing chapters were on the Shi'a/Sunni schism (something about which I knew very little - with only Wiki as a guide), Sharia and the role of Women.
I had also, shamefully, never given thought to the fact that all Muslims will follow the teachings of the Quran in Arabic, whether or not Arabic is their mother tongue, whereas in the Christian world, followers are able to hear and read their religion in their everyday language.
This book caused a lot of debate in our house and made me ask questions of myself and views of others, which is surely its purpose.
I took one star off here because I would have liked more footnotes to support some of the statements made. For example, in my electronic copy, the following interesting statement is made in the section on Education: "An Arab individual reads on average a quarter of a page a year, compared with the eleven books read by an American or seven by a British person." I would love to know where this data came from, without doing independent research for the source.
As a fiction fan, this is a rare non-fiction book for me to have selected and it was based purely on the subject matter that I decided to give it a go and I'm glad I did.
Thank you to NetGalley, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and Ed Husain for this ARC, provided for the purposes of an honest review.