Understanding the truth behind the doctrines and practices of Mohammedanism

                                                                    Actual life in the Turkish harem

             
                                                               
                               Book Summary    

There is a popular adage “Never judge a book by its cover”. I would like to add “Never judge a book by its title”. This was a book not recommended by any friend, but that fell into my lap accidentally. Curious and apprehensive, I had turned the pages of this book unsure of what they would contain.

As opposed to my misconception that this book would contain gory details about how people of Turkish origin mistreat their wives or how the women of Mohammedan household meet a macabre fate lest they try to escape the walls that imprison them and bound them only to appease the sexual appetite of their men, this book explains the essence of tenets of Mohammedanism and its limited relevance to today’s society. While the book outlines the manner in which the Prophet had laid down the principles while explaining the reasons behind them, it also helps understand how the ideologies of “veil & shawl” or that of “polygamy” has only led to moral debasement of the people belonging to this faith.

The author of this book explains how the influence of the Western world coupled with the unwavering determination of Turkish women to express themselves and use their intellect for purposes other than child bearing will one day compel and inspire the staunch Mohammedans to look upon their women as equals and grant them equal rights from which they and their ancestors have remained deprived for the past so many centuries.                                                                                  
                                                                           
                                                                             Book Review

If you are looking to buy a book that criticizes the tenets of a religion different from yours, then this book is definitely not for you. This book is an impartial take on what Mohammedanism is, the potential reasons behind its rigorous, old-fashioned and incomprehensible principles that its followers so vigorously support and protect. In addition, staunch ideologists and theologians have shown averseness to mending the religious precepts in accordance with changing times, thus, resulting in these being largely criticized and discarded by its followers and others.

The author is objective in his approach. He neither demeans nor applauds the doctrines of Mohammedanism; instead he explains all he learned from his first-hand experiences pursuant to interviews with Turkish women and highly respected theologians, thus, allowing the readers to form opinions of their own.

                                                                  Book Recommendation

I am going to recommend this to those who read sans any preconceived notion of the contents of any book or harbor misconceptions regarding the same. This book explains why some of the principles of Mohammedanism, referred to as the modern day Islam, now considered redundant and useless, had their base in the barbaric life which the Arabic people lived in ancient times. The need to put their lives in order and protect the dignity of the fair gender inspired a compilation of principles under a common belief called Mohammedanism as we know today.