This book has some new information and collates a lot of information from previous authors on the perils of radical Islam. She takes the position that, shorn of previous military glory and overall accomplishments they have retreated to their desert roots. She calls it "foundamentalism," a play on "fundamentalism." The reason I give it three rather than four stars is she places too much hope and emphasis on "ijtihad," which she defines as a previous era of Islamic openness.

Still the book is well work reading. ( )

A thought-provoking read that has made me keen to learn more. I found the six chapters of this book excellent. As an atheist who knows little about Islam, I found much to learn from the book, and much that I wanted to learn. I suspect it may be an unintended consequence of this book that I feel I can understand, better than I could before, some actions taken in the name of Islam. I can also see where the author is coming from on her call for reform; the concept of, and the author's questioning of, 'foundamentalism' is very relevant, and needs to be considered by, at the very least, every Western Muslim.
Where the books loses points, for me, is that the author fails to acknowledge that some of the problems she highlights in relation to Islam, could equally apply to Catholicism or other religions; nor does she recognise that the roots of any religion lie in the desire to control, and will always reflect the traditions and mores of the area and time in which it originated. ( )

Islamic and a Lesbian, how much trouble do you want? But Manji tries to honestly confront the difficulties her religion must cope with in the present global culture. well worth reading. ( )

This was a very good book. It is written as an open letter to Muslims by Irshad Manji, a devout liberal Muslim who happens to be a lesbian. I really liked the style and her tongue-in-cheek humour and sarcasm. The book was call for Islamic reform and posed more questions than it answered, but all the questions were extremely thought provoking. It was interesting to read this so soon after finished The Palestine-Israel Conflict by Gregory Harms. Without getting too political, I tend to sympathize with the Palestinian cause and the Harms book only bolstered my position. Manji's book actually challenged me on that and shed a more sympathetic light on the Israeli side of the equation. I highly recommend this book to anyone, it was very readable and accessible. The only caveat is that it has no footnotes or endnotes, she puts everything like that on her web-site. ( )

This book is full of facts and real-life truths. In this open letter, a call for reform of Islam, Manji makes a compelling case for worshiping strategically rather than tactically. Some reviewers have said she doesn't present other sides; I say she didn't promise to do that. The book's title is not ISLAM TODAY, it's THE TROUBLE WITH ISLAM TODAY. And she puts her finger right on it.

Among many other astoundingly insightful points, she says that one of the biggest hurdles for Muslims is the tendency to apply the Qur’an as though the practitioners still lived centuries ago, in a desert civilization, following behavior and rules that made sense then but might no longer apply, given the knowledge and social infrastructure to which we have access today.

Manji is a journalist who has traveled broadly in the Islamic world, and in making her point she speaks openly and honestly about her experiences with the practices common to fundamentalist versions of Islam, including what it’s like to conform fully with the traditional dress and demeanor of a strict Muslim woman. The waste, as she sees it, of fully half of Islam’s humanity as the rights—and brains—of women are dismissed, screams for the reform she seeks.

Manji is a devout Muslim. She is a lesbian. And she lives behind bullet-proof glass. ( )