Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law

It's OK. The strongest parts of the book are where Darwish writes of her own experiences living in Egypt under their version of Sharia. The weakest are her general proclimations against Islam. Like so many criticisms, there are vivid counter-examples of the majority of Muslims who don't blow themselves up, start holy wars or persecute others. However, Darwish makes the point that it doesn't have to be the majority of a population that commit terrorist acts - it only takes a minority, or even one. That being said, the book does give a grim, unpleasant view of life under Sharia and the reasons why the interactions between Islam and the rest of the world could be one-sided, unforgiving and ultimately destructive. She doesn't make the case that it is this way, and since she references the haddiths and sunnah rather than the Koran it is ultimately an unresolvable argument over whether she is describing the "real" Islam or not. Definitely a frightening, interesting, one-sided text to start from, but does not present an iron-clad, unarguable case.

Darwish does not differentiate between the many forms of Islam. Instead, she lumps all Muslims into one group and brands them as the supports of the most conservative interpretations of Sharia law. This is a fallacy. The Muslim world is hugely varied linguistically, politically and culturally. There are numerous schools of Sharia interpretation, and many nuanced interpretations of the Qur'an and Hadeeth exist that advocate strongly for both men and women's human rights. Darwish appears to be ignorant of this reality. She does not recognize the grass-roots women's rights/status movements that are growing even within groups and nations she would assume as "Islamist" and "oppressive." Numerous Arab states have ratified CEDAW and are taking steps to implement it. Even some Islamist groups are slowly incorporating greater voices for women. See: Naim, Abd Allah Ahmad. "Human Rights in the Arab World: A Regional Perspective." Human Rights Quarterly 23 (2001) 701-732. Her attention to the vast historiography and literature on the place of women in Islam and Sharia is non-existant. She mentions only a few very traditionalist thinkers to support her "Sharia and Islam are inherently oppressive" view. Reform and change that have been occurring over the past fifty years is completly ignored. See: Shah, Niaz. A. "Women's Human Rights in the Koran: An Interpretive Approach." Human Rights Quarterly 28.4 (2006) 868-903. The book's purpose clear purpose was to illicit fear of Islam in the West. The book unfolded like a jittery conspiracy theory. Darwish's grasp of Islam is clearly tainted by her own negative experiences. As a Christian woman, reading this book saddened me. The passion in the book was not to encourage reform or dialogue about human rights in Islam. It was written for the purpose of inspiring fear, mistrust, and conflict- things that our world could do with a lot less of.

A fascinating detail of how the Koran & Hadith are interpreted. It has cleared my understanding of the violent hatred comming from Islam. This book is writen by an "insider", with in depth and understanding. A lot of backed up relevant data. If you really want to understand Islam`s why, where, how etc... I recommend this eye opener book.