In discussions of Islam one calls to mind the life we have as Christians or as secularists in a society created largely by Christians. We not only have the blessings of Jesus but we have individual freedom and equality before the law. Things are different for those who follow Islamic law, sharìa. Lacking in freedom and equality they are bounded by a totalitarianism that reaches into their family and community and into their economic and political life. The law even causes setbacks in the growth of capital of ordinary Muslims-but not of governments, and this imbalance sets the scene for tyranny. Furthermore, theology blocks Muslims from analyzing why. After a good life a Muslim male looks forward to eternal life attended by 70 female beings and also by his own wife (restored to her youth). The Muslim quakes in fear of his God of indomitable will who should never submit to man's ideas of justice but follow his own whims. Good Christians look forward to eternal life in the glorious presence of God, that presence being their reward beyond imagining and beyond words. They are awed, yet warmed and encouraged by the constancy of God, a God of the Word, of reason, justice and unfathomable love.  Jesus gave His final commission to a few specific disciples about preaching the Gospel around the world, and He confirmed the separation of church and state. The followers of Muhammad, on the other hand, interpreted his commission as being for all Muslims to convert people around the world. This they are expected to do by taking hold of governments and enacting laws, sharìa laws, favorable to Muslims and unfavorable to others. This has been followed by caliphs, successors to Muhammad, and also by tribal leaders and tribesmen whose erratic raids left a path of destruction and cruelty, the reenactments of which we are witnessing in parts of Islam today. Christians and other minorities decline dramatically wherever tribes follow an extreme expression of shari'a. While this book contains some original insights, it is a compilation of the wisdom of many scholars and reporters, for I am not an academician. I am an at-home mom married to a teacher, and the sources I use are available to anyone. I do not know of another book on Islam and its law that weaves together nearly all aspects of human endeavor and thus offers a composite guide about Islam for Muslims, Christians, Jews and others. Emma Paul Smithson