Western media has consistently focused on the extremes of Islam, overlooking a quiet yet pervasive moderate religious movement that is currently transforming the nation of Egypt. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, No God But God opens up previously inaccessible segments of Egyptian society to illustrate the deep penetration of "Popular Islamic" influence. Geneive Abdo provides a firsthand account of this movement, allowing its leaders, street preachers, scholars, doctors, lawyers, men and women of all social classes to speak for themselves. Challenging Western stereotypes, she finds that this growing number of Islamists do not seek the violent overthrow of the government or a return to a medieval age. Instead, they believe their religious values are compatible with the demands of the modern world. They are working within and beyond the secular framework of the nation to gradually create a new society based on Islamic principles.
Both fascinating and unsettling, Abdo's findings identify a grassroots model for transforming a secular nation-state to an Islamic social order that will likely inspire other Muslim nations.
Western observers and regime apologists tend to oversimplify social or political activism when it exhibits an Islamic coloration, casting it as monodimensional, uncompromising, and reactionary. No God But God debunks these one-dimensional depictions of Egyptian Muslims by offering an incisive, fresh, and richly drawn canvas. Yet, Abdo's book is not simply a riposte, but a congenial, informed, and often affectionate account of Muslims seeking to redefine themselves, their politics, and their society. If her subjects are groping for meaning, and recreating themselves in the process, the same may not be said of the government. Abdo's material is devastating, not least the image of an inept, uncreative, but often brutal government with a limited repertoire of tactics.
