The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims is a collection of 63 essays edited by Robert Spencer. It deals with the history of non-Muslim populations during and after the conquest of their lands by Muslims.[1][2]
V. Human Rights and Human Wrongs at the United Nations
VI. The Myth in contemporary academic and public discourse
Reviews and reception
A November 2004 review of the book in Publishers Weekly said the book's theme "merits exploration", but that the book does not explain why Islam is "inherently intolerant".[6] An August 2005 review of the book in Asia Times opined that:
... The Myth of Islamic Tolerance warrants our attention. Any study of contemporary Islam would be incomplete without it. Collectively, the essays expose an unsettling fact: that Islam's famed tolerance of non-Muslims has over the centuries fallen well short of an embrace ... However, the book is full of flagrant distortions and glaring omissions.[2]
The book was reviewed in the September 2005 issue of The Middle East Journal.[7] A review in the June 2006 issue of First Things said that the book "might be described as an extended bill of indictment against Islam and a debunking of the still commonly heard claim that Islam has been and is tolerant of minorities."[8]
Writing in National Review in March 2007, Dinesh D'Souza described The Myth of Islamic Tolerance as being attractive to those who would like to criticize Muslims at large for 9/11.[9] He suggested that the book uses a strategy of selective quotations from the Koran, which he calls "history for dummies".[9]
Dr. Akbar Ahmed, professor of Islamic studies at American University, described the book as an example of one of the most humane religions in the world being misrepresented as a violent one.[10] In his book Beyond the Veneer, Ioannis Gatsiounis says that the book "struggles to find an enlightened balance", as it sometimes overlooks complexities while at the same time avoiding a trend in many circles of viewing the issue it addresses solely as a non-religious one.[11]
