The Shade of SwordsThe Shade of Swords
The Shade of Swords is the first cohesive history of Jihad, written by one of India's leading journalists and writers. In this paperback edition, updated to show how and why Saddam Hussein repositioned himself as a Jihadi against America, M.J. Akbar explains the struggle between Islam and Christianity. Placing recent events in a historical context, he tackles the tricky question of what now for Jihad following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.
With British and American troops in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and once again in Iraq, the potential for Jihadi recruitment is ever increasing. Explaining how Jihad thrives on complex and shifting notions of persecution, victory and sacrifice, and illustrating how Muslims themselves have historically tried both to direct and control the phenomenon of Jihad, Akbar shows how Jihad pervades the mind and soul of Islam, revealing its strength and significance.
To know the future, one needs to understand the past. M.J. Akbar's The Shade of Swords holds the key.
A prominent Indian journalist pens the first comprehensive history of jihad, from the Prophet Muhammad to the present lethal revival of the concept, revealing how jihad infused the first Muslims and survives to this day all over the Islamic world, impacting everything from Indian-Pakistan relations to the Iraqi situation. Reprint.
From Muhammed to the Ottoman empires and the modern struggle for Palestine, Akbar's story explains how Jihad thrives on complex and shifting notions of persecution, victory and sacrifice and the Muslim control over this phenomenon.
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