Suppose I want to know more about Islam and Islamic culture, what would be a good book to start? Does anyone know a book that's accessible without much prior knowledge - but doesn't simplify complicated matters -, and talks about both the theological foundations as well as cultural & historical developments from a relatively unbiased point of view?
I guess there's not really anything that fully satisfies all criteria, but do you guys know anything at least close to this?
@Fred @Bianconero_Aus @Zé Tahir @Mohad @king Ale
I would go for the fundamental texts of Sunni Islam. These include the earliest surviving version of the prophet's biography Sirat Ibn Hesham, Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim (these are the two main books of hadiths/sayings of the prophet and hold the highest authority in Sunni Islam after the Quran) and the Quran itself. I would recommend starting with the biography first (make sure its the ibn hesham version because later versions select parts from that and ignore pieces that they don't like) and then the Quran (the biography will give you the context in which verses where said) and then finally the hadiths. These are not easy reads and do not include later historical developments after the prophet but they allow you to form your opinion independently of anyone's narrative. You get first hand access to the evidence in a way before a particular author puts it in story form.
If you want something more accessible that incorprates later history and developments there are 2 good overviews, Marshall Hodgson's "The Venture of Islam" and Ira Lapidus' "A History of Islamic Societies".
The latter is one volume and was updated in 2014 with the latest insights and research so it seems better. A friend of mine doing his Phd at Harvard in Islamic studies recommended them (especially the latter). I have it in epub format.
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