Olivier Roy and Akbar Ahmed are both well-known and well-respected scholars in the field of Islamic studies. These new fields of inquiry have explored the relationship between Islam and the political evolution of Muslim societies, between Muslim societies and the West, and in more recent years, the challenges posed by Muslim immigrants to Western societies, especially in Europe. And, of course, the subject of Islam and globalization. Olivier Roy, in particular, has popularized the theme of a globalized Islam transcending the traditional ethnic and cultural boundaries, and linking disparate groups in the Islamic world proper and the Muslim Diasporas. Akbar Ahmed, a former Pakistani senior diplomat, has since leaving his diplomatic post been a spokesman for progressive Islam in the West. Moreover, he has been an active promoter of the themes of respect for cultural and religious pluralism, tolerance, and dialogue among Muslims and non-Muslim groups, societies, and states. Consequently, any new work by either of these authors fills those interested in these important themes with great anticipation; this reviewer is no exception. Regretfully, however, neither of the books lives up to either this expectation or the usually high standards of the authors.

Olivier Roy's book Secularism Confronts Islam is, in fact, a long essay stretched to make a very slim volume. Length, however, is not the main problem of the book. Rather, the author claims that he has discovered hitherto unknown truths about the nature of French secularism, or laicite, as opposed to those of other European countries and the United States, and its impact on the reaction of French society to its Muslim citizens. Yet many volumes written in the last decade dealing with varied reactions of European societies to their Muslim immigrants and their methods of dealing with them and their institutions have pointed out to such differences (see, e.g., the chapters in Islam: Europe's Second Religion, ed. Shireen T. Hunter [Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002]). Similarly, Roy suggests that he has discovered the fact that, in practice, temporal and spiritual realms were more separate in the Muslim world than in certain periods of Christian European history. Yet this, too, is a subject that has been treated much earlier in the past, by such scholars as Nazih Ayubi and Ernest Gellner has said that of all religions Islam is most compatible with secularism. His final conclusion — that in the encounter of Islam and secularism, Islam is not the problem, but rather religion per se — is also not new. In the late 19th century, for example, Seyyed Jamal Eddin Al Afghani responded to Ernest Ronan's attack on Islam — as being irrational and against scientific and philosophical ways of thinking — by arguing that Islam was no worse than any other religion when it came to relation to rationalism and philosophy (see Elie Kedouri, Afghani and Abduh: An Essay on Religious Unbelief and Political Activism in Modern Islam [London: Frank Cass, 1966]).

Akbar Ahmed's Journey Through Islam is more of a travelogue and a journalistic account of the travels of the group that accompanied the author. The book lacks a tight conceptual and analytical framework capable of making sense of the disparate themes covered in the book, ranging from the political evolution of Pakistan to Muslim views of America. It provides no new insights either on the dynamics that are animating Muslim societies, or on those factors affecting Muslim and western relations. Certain points made in the book (e.g., that the promotion by Western media of figures who have few academic credentials in Islamic studies and even less credibility with Muslim audiences, such as Irshad Menji and Hirsi Ali, adversely affects Muslim views' of the West, and thus harms Western interests in the Muslim world) are true and useful reminders. But they are hardly new discoveries. Furthermore, the book's text has very little connection to the crisis of globalization. Other themes discussed in the book, be it the Turkish secularists' sensitivity to the issue of hijab (Islamic Veil), the manipulation of Islam for political purposes by Muslim governments, and the consequences of certain western policies for Muslim societies and Muslim — Western relations, are also not new. They have been dealt with in much deeper fashion over the past three decades in other works (for instance, much has been written lately on the impact of United States policies in Afghanistan on the rise of the Taliban, including by the Australian scholar William Malley, or the consequences of United States support for Saddam Hussein because of concern over Iran's revolutionary Islam). In short, both books fall short of the high standards that both authors have established in their other works. They can be a good introduction for those who want to learn about Islam, politics, Muslim Diasporas, and Muslim-West relations. But they hold less value for those even moderately well acquainted with the themes discussed in the books.