Important expose, but hard work

It's vital that English speakers are fully aware of the Koran's teaching on jihad, Jews, wife beating, etc. There's no point sanitising the Koran - Muslims don't care what you wish it said. For that reason, Spencer offers a useful work.

Unfortunately, it's just not a very engaging audiobook. It's not badly read, as such. However, the detailed references would have been far better relegated to an accompanying pdf, as they really break up the flow.

80pc of the work is a rather detailed analysis of Koranic texts, without much contextual explanation. Without more discussion of the wider Islamic faith and its diverse sects and traditions, it's hard to understand the implications of the verses discussed. Many Muslims contextualise their faith in the modern world, and don't take the black-and-white fundamentalist interpretations offered here. Understanding how and why that occurs is a lost opportunity, for this legalistic book. A more generalist approach would have been much more useful, and more interesting for readers with a limited knowledge of Islam.

The final parts are more engaging. Here, the author sums up his personal policy solutions to the problems posed by Islam in the West. You may or may not agree with these, but at least it's listenable. However, the solutions presented are binary and simplistic, lacking deeper discussion of current trends and possible policy responses. Will Europe be placed under sharia law, with natives paying jizya? This book neither answers the question, nor explains realistically what might be done to prevent this.

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2 people found this helpful

Essential reading for non-Muslims and Muslims too.

Here you will find a lot of facts about the Quraan and Hadiths from someone who has studied the topic carefully. Even many nominal Muslims will not know some of the things in there which this audiobook demonstrates, but it clearly shows how the current wave of terrorists take their authority from these texts while those who say that what they do is not representative of Islam have a hard time proving so textually or use abrogated texts.

We need to know what we are really up against, especially our politicians whose cocktail of executive power in matters of immigration and funding combined with almost total ignorance of what the Quraan actually says are causing a real threat to the people paying their salaries, and their heirs for generations.

Drop your inverted prejudice and have the courage to find out the hard facts. I know it is not comfortable. Especially if Islam is your identity. But your duty to yourself is to address these things with an open mind.

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4 people found this helpful

Beat your wives gently.

What made the experience of listening to The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran the most enjoyable?

Interesting book well narrated.

What other book might you compare The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran to, and why?

The Complete Infidel's Guide to ISIS, by the same author. Reading both books is a good idea, as they compliment each other very well.

Have you listened to any of Lloyd James’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Don't think so no. He did an alright job.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This book never gets boring.

Any additional comments?

Obama and Tony Blair should read this.

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5 people found this helpful

Islamic arrogance and intolerance

A fair and obvious highlighting of the violent ideology of islam. Most people have obviously not read this demonology.

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Misconceptions about Islam dispelled.

We live in interesting times. It is essential to inform ourselves about the ideas that motivate those who wage war in the name of Islam. What ever your political views or your faith, I think you will gain a valuable insight from reading this book. A Muslim reader would particularly benefit from exploring the ideas put forward by the author.

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2 people found this helpful

insightful listen! the Barbarian at the gates

was curious to know what the message was and I have now been informed. Order vs chaos.

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good insight into this religion

as Islam grows, not by conversation, but child birth and having more than 1 wife, a book like this is much appreciated.

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Thorough coverage of the koran

Spencers trot through the Koran is highly informative although focused on Medina Muslim concepts. A worthwhile read for anyone interested in the theological underpinning of Jihad and misogyny

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5 people found this helpful

WOW! Profoundly sobering.

Not difficult to listen to and deeply informative; explains an awful lot.
Biased and balanced, to emphasise the points being made. And that's all I have to say about that, just in case.

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Well researched but no overall cohesion

This book has been we researched but it seems to jump around a lot. It doesn't give you a sense of the Quran as well as Bill Warner's books do. For instance text wise the Quran only makes up 14% of the overall body of Islamic texts. The rest is mostly the Hadiths and Sira. This book does not even mention that. watch Bill Warner's free videos on YouTube to get a better sense of the Quran.

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8 people found this helpful