Rating: 
Summary: Non-Arabic Muslims Viewed from a Novelist's Eye
Review: This is a book in need of a map. I had to augment with another book I'm reading, "Way of the Prophet," by Anthony Shadid to see the lay of the land that Naipaul covers. What I found is that the closer Naipaul's interviewed subjects march towards his home country of India, the more fascinating, impelling, and impassioned the stories become.The concept behind the book is for Naipaul a follow-up to his previous non-fiction work, "Among the Believers" that was written in 1981. Naipaul covers a myriad of personalities from all walks of life in the non-Arab countries of Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, and Malaysia to see the effect a foreign religion where all the holy sites are located far away in Saudi Arabia has had on the indigenous culture. By covering so many different people's stories what we are left with is an impression of each country and the lives lived there, not so much the ins and outs of Islam. Like an impressionistic painting individual brush strokes can be viewed close-up and solitary and then one has to stand back to get a broad, though fuzzy, complete view. So it is with Naipaul's book, the individual stories read like a fiction-writers short stories and up-close the language is beautiful and the story is engaging. But as you back up you are left with an impression of Islam in each of these non-Arabic countries, but not a crystal clear rendition of how Islam has shaped the outlook of the people as a whole. Naipaul's treatise is not doled out heavy-handed. He observes and occasionally between the lines tells you how he thinks, how he feels. He views Islam as more of a conquering force taking away local religion and tradition, complicating things instead of making them better. Perhaps his strongest thoughts come out on Pakistan, a land carved out of India based on a poet's dream of having a land of their own for the Muslim's of India. You realize what a grave impact this has had on the psyche of Indians and Pakistanis alike. As a Western reader, this book was enlightening. I went into it looking for a deeper understanding of the way Islam impacts an individual's thought processes, the way Islam might paint the Western World, the way Islam might spur an individual to action based on their beliefs. What I got out of it was a better understanding of the lives of individuals in the four countries previously mentioned. Your motivations for picking up this book, may have to be adjusted, like mine were. It was worthwhile and well-written, and as a Westerner left me with an impression of countries that I had a great deal of ignorance of. Thanks V.S.
Rating: 
Summary: For those who believe Islam is a "peaceful" religion
Review: This is brillient work by Naipaul. It really shows how Saudi society which now everyone knows is full of hypocracy and filth (read book written by Carmen Bin Laden) is trying to impose it's lowly culture on other people using money. Anyone who believes that Islam was spread by peaceful means is living in a dream world. You just have to visit their "holy" lands to see how sick these people are.
It's a wakeup time for the west.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed but colorful
Review: V.S. Naipaul's personality portraits in Beyond Belief are not overtly discriminatory as some reviewers have claimed, but a subtle hubris and xenophobia does creep into the text. When I first began reading Beyond Belief I couldn't help but wonder if Naipaul's Indian/British heritage would factor into his assessments and character profiles. To be sure it does, but I believe Naipaul's literary talents and gift as an observer somewhat compensate for his flare-ups of bias. That said, the faults of Beyond Belief are numerous, glaring and worth mentioning:
Perhaps the strongest argument against Beyond Belief is that Naipaul refuses to frame events in a reasonable context. The byproduct of any sharp cultural change is the (often temporary) clouding and confusing of traditions and identity. Certainly this phenomenon occurred with the Christian conversion of Europe, the industrial revolution in the West, and indeed it is even happening today as Western pop-culture seeps into Indonesia and the Middle East. The cultural shifts were (and are) so numerous and so intricate in the countries Naipaul visited, it is simply naive to point to the adoption of Islam as the single entity that now triggers how these people view themselves and interpret their native culture and history. As cultures evolve (or de-evolve as Naipaul might argue), the syncretism or blending of old and new, past with present, is what defines and shapes cultures, it's what keeps them from stagnating. Islam has proven itself adept at absorbing indigenous worldviews and marrying them with its own set of ideals. No small feat and certainly the West has proven that another Semitic religion, Christianity, was easily blended with earlier traditions such as Roman Stoicism and Greek philosophy, to no ill effect.
One does get the impression that Naipaul did a disservice to those that he interviewed in Beyond Belief. Certainly the hospitality and overwhelming openness that many of the subjects extended to Naipaul would seem to argue against his persistent notion of Islam as a hyper-secular "closed off" religion. The fact that so many Muslims opened up to Naipaul, a foreigner of Hindu/Indian origin, speaks volumes about the generosity and willingness to share of many Muslims.
Criticism aside, Naipaul is an excellent writer. His observations are colorful and detailed. He didn't approach his subject matter as an anthropologist, which works to his benefit in most cases, even if a more scientific end-analysis would have benefited him.
Summation: I give this book 3 stars, all of which are awarded based on Naipaul's flair for writing and observation. I would suggest readers approach this book with a healthy skepticism and allow themselves to form their own Weltanschauung while soaking up Naipaul's beautifully written travel notes.
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