Simple, personal and full of facts -- an up-close perspective of the Islamic world view

books:


	• Faith at War: A Journey on the Frontlines of Islam, from Baghdad to Timbuktu Yaroslav Trofimov Picador, 2006 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Have fun while reading about the world of Islam

I love this book so much that I already bought another to send to a friend. I will probably do it again if another friend did not buy it already on my advise. Mr. Trofinov succeed in making laugh while teaching me stuff about the world of Islam while others succeed only in making me cringe, fear, making my blood boil. The Journal is lucky to have him as a reporter.

Simple, personal and full of facts -- an up-close perspective of the Islamic world view

I have always fantasized about being a world traveling journalist living a life of adventure and bringing my unique point of view to my readers. Alas, that is not to be. However, I certainly have a deep appreciation for up-close and personal viewpoints of world events. That's why I absolutely loved this book and devoured the entire thing in one big orgy of uninterrupted reading.

Subtitled "A Journey on the Frontlines of Islam, from Bagdad to Timbuktu", Yaroslav Trofimov, an Italian citizen, is a Wall Street Journal reporter whose knowledge of languages, including Arabic, gave him access to people and places often denied to Westerners. He wrote this book between 2001 and 2005 and his writing style is simple, personal and full of facts, history and perspective. As I turned the pages, I was right there with him as he traveled around the Islamic world talking to clerics, ordinary Muslims and heads of state about their views on the current "War On Terror" that has brought attention to their perspective and, especially in the case of Iraq, has turned their lives upside down. He visited Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Mali and Bosnia. That's quite a lot of places for one small book. They are all different, of course, but all share the Islamic world view, which, to my western eyes is a fresh perspective which gave me the chills as I slowly grasped the mounting significance of the present-day conflicts in all of these regions.

The clashes have been going on for thousands of years, but modern technology has accelerated the process and there is a culture class on a grand scale happening all over the world. The author devotes four full chapters to Iraq, and, to his credit, acknowledges the difficult job of American and British military personnel whose presence in the region has created a whole new set of problems for the Iraqi people who once viewed them as liberators. Those days are gone forever though. I knew all this before I read the book, of course, but it's one thing to read newspaper accounts and watch a small sound byte on CNN or Fox News. It's another thing entirely to feel I was in the shoes of this reporter, eating the food, dodging the gunfire and talking to individuals. My own sensitivities have also been stirred deeply and I know I will never quite view the Muslim world the same again.

The book is short, a mere 303 pages, but the author's skill managed to enlighten me about so much. Bosnia is very different from Timbuktu or Yemen, and sometimes it seemed as if these peoples have little in common. But the Islamic point of view is always there and very different from the Western world view. I applaud the author for clarifying this for me. Highly recommended.

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A crisis in belief and identity

Popular contemporary Islamic culture gets an airing in Yaroslav Trofimov's FAITH AT WAR, and the the non-islamic world is subject to a rude awakening 312 pages later. The author is very much a part of and participant in his inquiries into the attitudes that fuel resentment against the West and the US, whether in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan or Bosnia.

I was astonished to learn of the paranoia and proclivity to believe the wildest conspiracy theories throughout Islamic societies. Indeed, and as a validation of Trofimov, a personal friend of mine recently visited Iran with his Iranian wife. On a mountain climb above Tehran with his Iranian-American daughters, he encountered two AK-47 wielding guardians of the Islamic revolution who were keen to ply my friend with all manner of anti-semitic conspiracy theories, including the long-discredited Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the "Israeli plot" to blow up the World Trade Center. Similar notions abound in Trofimov's accounts of his travels to "the frontlines of Islam" in the wake of the September 11 Al Qaeda attacks in the US.

FAITH AT WAR is a model of engaging journalism, with its riveting insights and Trofimov's determination - even at great risk to the writer's life - to get Islamic spokesmen to speak with him, revealing their livid concerns and lurid fixations. The paperback edition comes with an updated afterword and there is a helpful glossary of terms as well. The book is a fine primer/introduction to the contradictions inherent in the contemporary global Islamic resurgence largely fueled by the fanatical, retrogressive Saudi Arabian brand of Wahabist Islam. Highly recommended.

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A good look at Islam

This is a good book filled with personal experiences of a talented journalist who has travelled extensively in the arab world. It contains haunting images of people and suffering and explores the ironies and contradictions of the Arab world. One is presented with an image of a hypocritical Saudi Arabia, which uses Islam to keep its people down, and comparisons with a more secular Mali, which has found a way to reconcile modernity and religious values.

The book is unflinching in its critique of the American invasion of Iraq and the unintended consequence of the occupation. It is harrowing in its depiction of the vehemence of anti-Americanism from the wealthy suburbs of Cairo to the slums of Yemen. It create different looks at the seeming monolithic Hezbollah, unified by both public service and violent opposition to Israel.

The one drawback is that the book is totally framed by the perspective of the author. To say it is an uncomprimising look at the contradictions of Modern Islam and the failure of US foreign policy is to overlook the subjectivity of the writing. Choosing to focus on mismanagement or soldiers gloating over Arab deaths, the author ignores the nobility of others who struggle to make a positive impact. Some things in the book are taken at face value, when more thorough inspection should be required. For instance, at some point the book claims American forces shot and killed an Iraqi man for discharging his gun, thinking his house was being burglarized. How did the author arrive at this conclusion ? Ask the dead man ? The conclusion to be drawn is that Trofimov took representations of others at face value, but when Trofimov experience pro-US sentiment, he assumes it to be the result of toadying rather than genuine sentiment.

In the end, you have a well written book, containing fascinating yet selective experiences of the author. I recommend it as a fascinating journalistic travel journal, but like any journal one shaded by the authors subjective opinions.

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Faith at War Review

This is one of my favorite books--fascinating and informative. I've sent copies to several family members.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

A Washington Post Book World Rave for 2005 In the aftermath of 9/11, Yaroslav Trofimov spent three years crisscrossing the Islamic world to create this unprecedented report. Mingling with ordinary Muslims, prominent clerics, and heads of state alike, he paints a ground-level picture of Islamic life as it is being changed by the Western war on terror. A sensitive, provocative portrait of a critical period in Muslim history, Faith at War introduces surprising ties between the Islamic world and our own.

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