• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

“The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran is the very best introduction around to what the Koran actually says [and] how political correctness has made it almost impossible to discuss the Koran and other sacred Muslim texts candidly”

Sep 29, 2009 6:06 am By Robert Spencer

The incomparable Kathy Shaidle reviews my new book. “‘The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran’ (review),” by Kathy Shaidle in the Examiner, September 28:

Beginning with its title, The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran, and the cheeky “icons” on the cover, Robert Spencer’s new book is guaranteed to annoy some people even before they read it (which they probably won’t bother doing anyhow.)

If you have read Spencer’s other books about Islam, The Complete Infidel’s Guide… won’t provide you with any new information.

I love Kathy Shaidle, but here I must beg to differ. Since I have written nine books on Islam and jihad, people seem to be assuming that there is nothing more to say, and that I am rehashing material from old books. This is not the case. So let’s get specific, since this has come up before. In this book, and in none of my other books, I discuss how the Koran was compiled; alternate versions of the Koran; alleged miracles of the Koran; how the Koran adapts and alters Biblical stories such as those of Adam, Noah, Moses, Solomon, Mary and Jesus; the Koranic appropriation of Jewish, Christian and even pagan figures; the foundations of Islamic mysticism in the Koran; the ways in which seemingly innocuous passages of the Koran actually convey meanings quite different from what may appear to non-Muslim Westerners; how the Koran’s stories of the Biblical prophets are all told in a way meant to support Muhammad’s prophetic claim; why Muslims regard the Jews as their worst enemies; how and why the New Testament accounts of Christ are altered in the Koran; the Koran’s moral code and what it is conspicuously lacking; and more.

This new book is best considered as a gift for any friends who are misinformed about the Muslim religion. Because of its easy-to-read format, it is also a helpful handbook for anyone who finds themselves caught up in religious and political arguments on a regular basis.

As its title suggests, the book is designed to be an easy read, with its helpful side bars and other “dummies/idiots” layout features. Sometimes, those breezy and irreverent sidebars are more jarring than informative, placed as they are amidst Spencer’s alarming exegesis.

Spencer, who has studied the Koran in depth for many years, offers ready answers for apologists who insist that Islam is a “peaceful religion” that has been “misunderstood” by a “tiny minority of extremists.”

Using actual quotations from the Koran itself, Spencer argues that this is simply not the case. He insists that anti-Semitism and anti-Christian feeling is rife throughout the Muslim holy book, not to mention all the verses advocating domestic violent [sic].

Spencer also compares the New Testament’s famous teachings about loving your enemies with Koranic injunctions to kill them. Overall, the Koran is steeped in troubling stories of slavery, occupation and downright strangeness that will surprise readers expecting it to be a sort of “Arabian Nights” version of the Christian Gospel.

Spencer counters all the familiar protestations: that critics are “taking the Koran out of context” or that one can’t really understand the Koran anyway unless they read it in Arabic (which conveniently places many ignorant Westerners at a disadvantage.)

The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran is the very best introduction around to what the Koran actually says, how political correctness has made it almost impossible to discuss the Koran and other sacred Muslim texts candidly, and how everyone from George Bush to Barack Obama have misinterpreted it – with grave implications for national security and foreign policy.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Complete Infidel_s Guide to the Koran


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • James Lincoln on Erdogan: ‘Turks must defend the rights of Jerusalem, even with their lives’ for ‘the honor of the Islamic nation’
  • Carol on Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, France and UAE conduct joint military exercises amid rising Turkish threat
  • James Lincoln on EU Parliament members call for firing of border agency director for preventing illegal migrants from entering Europe
  • Jayme on Canadian Mental Health Association studies Muslim women’s mental health due to ‘discrimination’ and ‘hate crimes’
  • GreekEmpress on EU Parliament members call for firing of border agency director for preventing illegal migrants from entering Europe

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.