Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples
 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | V. S. Naipaul |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | 1998 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 408 pp (first edition, hardback) |
Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples is a non-fiction book by V. S. Naipaul published by Vintage Books in 1998. It was written as a sequel to Naipaul's Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey (1979).
Summary
Naipaul draws a distinction between Arab countries and the countries of "converted peoples" where the adoption of Islam involves to some extent the adoption of Arabic culture. The book describes his five-month journey in 1995 revisiting four Muslim countries: Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia.[1]
Naipaul takes the view that "The British period--two hundred years in some places, less than a hundred years in others--was a time of Hindu regeneration."[2]
Reception
Beyond Belief has been criticized notably by Eqbal Ahmad, who regarded its view of Islam as erroneous. Ahmed Rashid, a personal friend of Eqbal's, appears in the book as the character "Shabaz".[3]
The book was called, "Sceptical, enquiring, sharply observant and unfailingly stylish", by The Guardian, while The Sunday Times wrote that it was, "Peerless . . . the human encounters are described minutely, superbly, picking up inconsistencies in people’s tales, catching the uncertainties and the nuances . . . there is a candour to his writing, a constant precision at its heart."