Perhaps not THE prime area of learning in history but, given the current political issues, can't see how becoming well acquainted with their doctrine could prove disadvantageous.

A historical study of Muhammad and Saladin alone warrant 4 stars. . .a true objective study would sweep huge cultural and geographic areas of historical importance. . .great stuff in the hands of the right professor.

With the way our world is today, I wish I had a better education on Islamic issues. A general course in Islamic history and one in 20th century Islam would be very helpful.

If you are into obscurantism and just plain heathen darkness, dive into this subject.

Very interesting field of study...though *extremely* controversial as well. Islamic History, to put it bluntly, is an ideological minefield. Scholars are generally divided into two groups. First, there are the philo-Islamic scholars. These are largely Muslims, or descendents of the mainline American/British Protestants missionaries who worked in the Islamic world in the 19th and 20th Century (and founded the American Universities in Egypt and Lebanon, among other things). These scholars generally take an extremely rosy view of Islamic history, and see modern Jihadist movements as having nothing to do with Islam proper. The second group of scholars are primarily Jewish, Greek, Armenian and Coptic Christian. As minorities or relatives of minority groups that experienced rough treatment (exile, persecution, pogroms, or worse...) at Muslim hands, they tend to take a negative view of Islam and Islamic history. Often shading into Islamophobia, their work portrays Islam as characterized by imperialism, obscurantism and persecution (as indeed, it often was and is; though certainly not everywhere, and not all the time). Both groups have produced great scholars whose work has stood the test of time (e.g. Marshall Hodgson in the first group, Bernard Lewis in the second) but the general rule of Islamic history remains: don't believe everything you read.

Another outstanding area of study due to their time as the more advanced civilization while Europe was camping out for a few hundred years (that's what an instructor of mine called the so-called Dark Ages) and its relevance to our current situations in the middle east.

Recommend an excellent book entitled The Crusades from Arab Eyes. Not propoganda, very balanced.

Believe it or not, early Islamic history is kinda cool. We get our numeric system and the word "algebra" from Arabic culture.