Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples
BeyondBelief.jpg
First edition
Author V. S. Naipaul
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre Non Fiction
Publisher Random House
Publication date
1998
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 408 pp (first edition, hardback)

Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples is a non-fiction book by V. S. Naipaul published by Vintage Books in 1998. It was written as a sequel to Naipaul's Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey (1979).

Naipaul draws a distinction between Arab countries and the countries of "converted peoples" where the adoption of Islam involves to some extent the adoption of Arabic culture. The book describes his five-month journey in 1995 revisiting four Muslim countries: Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia.[1]

Naipaul takes the view that "The British period--two hundred years in some places, less than a hundred years in others--was a time of Hindu regeneration."[2]

Beyond Belief has been criticized notably by Eqbal Ahmad, who regarded its view of Islam as erroneous. Ahmed Rashid, a personal friend of Eqbal's, appears in the book as the character "Shabaz".[3]

Reviews -

‘Sceptical, enquiring, sharply observant and unfailingly stylish’ Guardian

‘Peerless . . . the human encounters are described minutely, superbly, picking up inconsistencies in people’s tales, catching the uncertainties and the nuances . . . there is a candour to his writing, a constant precision at its heart’ Sunday Times

References


<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>