Book God is One: The Way of Islam
Helps Christians Understand Islam

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February 7, 2002, NEW YORK CITY – North American Christians wanting to know what their Muslim neighbors really believe will find clear answers in God is One: The Way of Islam, now available from the National Council of Churches’ Friendship Press.

This post-September 11 second edition of the Friendship Press bestseller responds to the surge of interest in Islam that has resulted, ironically, from acts of terror carried out in the name of Islam. 

In 175 pages, God is One meets an important need in today’s book market for accurate information both about the essentials of Muslim belief and practice and the extraordinary diversity that characterizes the faith claimed by nearly one-fifth of the world’s citizens – all neighbors in today’s “global village.”

God is One calls on Christians to confront their prejudices and inform themselves about Islam.  It aims to foster understanding of Islam – including both commonalities and differences between Christianity and Islam.  It offers help as Christians and Muslims seek to relate to each other and to confront together the realities of international events.

The book responds candidly to such questions as: Who was Muhammad and what inspired him? What is the Qur’an and what does it say? What do Muslims believe about Christ? How can Christians and Muslims talk today? What about the "radical" Islamic movements that permeate our news?

Dr. R. Marston Speight’s original text won acclaim from both Christians and Muslims for its accurate portrayal of Islam and helpful introduction to Christian-Muslim relations. Chapters explore: “Why Is It Important to Know About Islam?,” “The Foundation of Islam,” “Islamic Patterns of Life,” “Great Themes of Islamic Life, “When Christians and Muslims Meet” and “Our Common Situation as Muslims and Christians.”

Dr. Speight, a committed Christian and former missionary, spent 23 years living among Muslims in northern Africa.  A United Methodist and Texas native (now retired and living in Connecticut), he wrote God is One while he was director of the NCC’s Office of Christian-Muslim Relations (1979-1992).

That office – located at Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Conn., from 1976-1991 and now New York-based – produced the second edition in partnership with the seminary’s Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations.

The second edition adds nearly 50 pages of new material, including a six-session study guide and an extensive new resource section listing books, videos and other resources for further study of Islam. Its substantial "Afterword" places the material within the context of more recent developments in the Islamic world and provides up-to-date statistical information.

The new “Afterword” owes its origins to an on-line course entitled ‘Understanding Islam’ – offered October 15-November 2, 2001, through Beliefnet.com and promoted by ABC News—and to the responses of students of that course.

It includes sections on “Geography and the Number of Muslims,” “Muslims in North America,” “Islamic Dress,” “Islamic Law,” “Islamic Economics,” “Islamic Mysticism,” “Abraham, Prophecy and Religious Leadership,” “The Concepts of ‘Jihad’ and ‘Fatwa,’” “Islam and Modernization,” “The Taliban Movement,” “The Muslim World’s Relations with the United States” and “Response to Muslim Voices.”

God is One: The Way of Islam is illustrated throughout with Islam's contributions to science, art, medicine, architecture and literature as well as its significance as a world religion.

Orders for the second edition (175 pages, paperback, $9.95 not including shipping; ISBN: 0-377-00196-1A) may be placed by phoning Friendship Press at 1-800-889-5733 or 513-948-8733.  Or, you may order by mail from the Friendship Press Distribution Office, P.O. Box 37844, Cincinnati, OH 45222, or send an e-mail to Rbray@gbgm-umc.org.

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