Book Review by Ian Whiteman

Pearls of the Faith by British Victorian journalist and traveller Sir Edwin Arnold.

First published in 1884 Pearls of the Faith was an attempt to present Islam in an appealing and intelligent manner to a world steeped in prejudice and colonial disdain for Islam. When I first saw the text ten years ago it seemed archaic and written in a kind of verse that reminded me of the stories of Rupert Bear, an illustrated childrens' story book awned in verse form which I had up with grown. I didn't really understand Hamza Yusuf's motives in wanting to republish it but after ten years and a now very different world that we live in, it actually makes a lot of sense to re-present it to the public. After careful editing involving many spelling changes and the addition of the essay by Gai Eaton, a foreword by Robert P George, a prominent professor of Law from Princeton who gives a Christian perspective, the book has been given a new lease of life. Hamza's preface unlocks his own motives behind its publication and how he came to find the book in the first place. Part of his preface I have reproduced here.

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