Islam is often portrayed, especially in Western media, as an alien, violent, hostile, and monolithic religion, whose adherents are intent upon battling nonbelievers throughout the world. Shattering the Myth demonstrates that these conceptions more accurately reflect the bias of Western reporters than they do the realities of contemporary Islam. Westerners are barraged by images of violence that usually originate from armed confrontations in one small corner of the world. Islam, Bruce Lawrence argues, is a complex international religious system that cannot be reduced to stereotypes. As Lawrence demonstrates, Islam is a religion shaped as much by its own postulates and ethical demands as by the specific circumstances of Muslim people in the modern world.

Introduction : Islam across time and cultures -- pt. 1. European colonialism and its sequels. The three phases of modern-day Islam -- Islamic revivalism : anti-colonial revolt -- Islamic reform : secular nationalism -- Islamic fundamentalism : religious nationalism -- pt. 2. Muslim women and Islamic fundamentalism. The double bind revisited -- The Shah Bano case -- Conclusion : Convergent signposts : Jihad and corporate culture.