In a post-9/11 world, many Americans conflate the mainstream Muslim majority with the beliefs and actions of an extremist minority. But what do the world’s Muslims think about the West, or about democracy, or about extremism itself? Who Speaks for Islam? spotlights this silenced majority. The book is the product of a mammoth six-year study in which the Gallup Organization conducted tens of thousands of hour-long, face-to-face interviews with residents of more than 35 predominantly Muslim nations — urban and rural, young and old, men and women, educated and illiterate. It asks the questions everyone is curious about: Why is the Muslim world so anti-American? Who are the extremists? Is democracy something Muslims really want? What do Muslim women want? The answers to these and other pertinent, provocative questions are provided not by experts, extremists, or talking heads, but by empirical evidence — the voices of a billion Muslims.
Really interesting book, especially the "who are the extremists?" and "what do Muslim women want?" sections. Pick it up if you get the chance... or, if you're lazy, wait for the movie.
"A 21-year old Kenyan university student in Turkey said:
"Islam has come across and conquered great obstacles proving again and again that we were told the truth when they said that the religion is Islam. It has provided the basis of every great human achievement, the solution to every unsolvable human problem. But at some point, we lost all that. A good thing is like gold; if you never put it into a fire and heat it, it never gets the luster that makes it gold. Such is Islam, a good thing so it has to go through fire if it is to discover its essence."
Who Speaks for Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think
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