The Imam of Time

If you only read one nonfiction book about Islam, let it be It’s All About Muhammad by F.W. Burleigh, which describes how a maniacal brigand founded a deadly religion. For fiction on the topic, a great choice would be Burleigh’s latest book, The Imam of Time.

Burleigh puts his knowledge of Islamic history to excellent use, setting the story both in modern Iran and in 7th century Arabia. The hero is a devout Muslim who wants to know true Islam; he gets to know it a little too well, as he is exposed to Muhammad’s fakery and extreme brutality, culminating with the genocidal massacre of the Qurayza Jews.

The theocratic regime currently repressing Iran perpetuates Muhammad’s coercion-based corruption of religion. As it works feverishly to acquire nuclear weapons, it awaits the arrival of the Mahdi, which will signal the approach of Armageddon. In The Imam of Time, we see how the ayatollahs would react if the Mahdi were to arrive, only to preach peace rather than Islamic supremacy.

Islam is a wicked ideology, as anyone familiar with either its history or its modern applications can tell you. But Burleigh tells us something more. How is it possible that many good people are Muslims? The obvious answer is that they are forced or brainwashed, but there is more to it. The power of Islam derives from its ability to subvert something sublime — God longing — and put it in the service of wicked ends. The solution is to divorce God longing from Islam’s coercive means of expressing it.

Read more about The Imam of Time on the author’s website, or cut to the chase and buy it here.