1 out of 4 stars
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In The Acclaimed Writings of Truth by Adam Paul Ishmael, the author sets out to explain the “clear and truthful writings in the Qur’ān and Bible” regarding various subjects and then “to explain these subjects in appropriate detail” while relying heavily on the writings from both the Qur’ān and Bible, but as a “neutral” observer. He laments that both Christians and Muslims have misused their respective spiritual texts to commit atrocities upon one another, and it is this historical misuse of scripture that has inspired him to write this book.
The first half of the book is spent giving a general overview of the birth of Muhammad and Islam, the setting up of the Muslim judicial system, their battles, the various caliphs (Islamic Stewards) and their rule, and the conquest of Jerusalem. Ishmael also spent time discussing the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the injustices done in the name of God on both sides, sometimes with graphic relish, but all set around the framework of the Muslim Dynasties.
The second half of the book gives an overview of the crucial overlapping texts from two viewpoints. He is using two fictitious people, the first is Omar, a Muslim, and the second is Paul, a Christian to give his explanations. They discuss what the author views as the basics of both faiths, crucial biblical characters (Adam, Abraham, and Moses), as well as comparative views on Satan, Jesus, appropriate associations, the Covenants, and finally, the Resurrection.
I found some of the history interesting. I am reasonably well versed in both Christian and Muslim history, and yet there were a few things that I learned. However, the work as a whole is so very poorly cited that I would be extremely hesitant to trust the historical information given without doing my own fact checking study. Additionally, of the few citations that were used many were not properly formatted.
Beyond the citation and formatting issues the book seemed to have been written by a non-native speaker and so suffered from many, many errors of the kind you would expect. Homonym problems like “all be it” for “albeit” and “tow” instead of “toll” abounded, but also run on sentences, incomplete sentences, use of the wrong tenses and the like. A strong editor could have rectified all of these errors.
My problems with the book do not end there. While the author pretends that he is a neutral observer, he is anything but. His real agenda seems to be to “prove” that Jesus is not divine, as is the Orthodox view of Christianity, and that he never claimed to be. On this quest Ishmael quotes directly from an English translation of the Qur’ān, but only gives a general, and slanted, paraphrase of most passages of the Bible. He also used some of the standard arguments of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which he considers the “true” and “persecuted” Christians.
I did appreciate several of the author’s observations. For instance, his observation that Christians who call for the slaughter of others are not acting as Jesus would have done is an accurate and truthful statement. He also does make some attempts to occasionally call out Muslims for similar poor behavior, but it still ends up sounding mostly like “Well, we were wrong, but they were more wrong.” It is unfortunate. He had an opportunity to write something that highlighted the similarities of both religions, where they have both gone wrong, and how they can both move forward in ways that are more legitimate and honoring of what the “One God” desires. That could have been a good book.
I give this book 1 out of 4 stars. If the author had honestly stated his real agenda as a polemic against Orthodox Christianity and had adequate citations I would likely have given it a 2, even if all the grammatical errors still remained, as it would still have some historical and cross-cultural or ecumenical value. But it was, instead, a poorly edited work of religious propaganda, and as such I cannot recommend it to anyone.
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The Acclaimed Writings of Truth
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) agree with them. I just want to know ahead of time that is what I am reading. Thanks for reading 
