I had bought this under the impression Dr. Jabbour was an authoritative voice on Islam, and the title of the product seemed to indicate it would be a good intro to Islam. I was incorrect on both counts. The speaker is an Arab Christian missionary (it clearly states this on the back cover), so the perspective of the CD is from a Christian attempting to convert a Muslim. Numerous snippets mention how as a practicing Christian, one should approach/embrace a Muslim, show him the "light" of Jesus, and so on.

Overall, it is clear Dr. Jabbour is a well-learned and compassionate man. He has some good insights, as a man who has lived most of his life amongst Muslims. He's pretty good when he answers a few questions, such as "Why do they (Muslims) hate us (Americans)?" and so on. He is knowledgeable about bad decisions in US foreign policy. However, his lack of scholarship really comes apparent when it comes to Islam as a doctrine, or way of life. For instance, in understanding Islam, you would think to start off w/ something basic, like the 5 Pillars. He doesn't even mention these. Neither he mentions anything of the Qur'an (the holy book), nor the Prophet Muhammed.

Dr. Jabbour also clearly does not know several basic precepts of Islam, or the Islamic way of life. E.g. he mentions how "fundamentalists" go to mosques, and they all pray together, and as one body bow down and perform their prayers. This is actually 1 of the pillars of Islam that *every* worshipping Muslim performs! The speaker confounds standard, orthodox practices and beliefs of Muslims with "fundamentalism." He tries to make a distinction between "fundamentalism" and "fanatacism," but does a poor job. He says fanatics are evil (which is acceptable), but then brush-strokes most other practicing Muslims as "fundamentalists", who are on a slippery road to fanaticism.

He gets in a bit of a bind when a questioner brings up "Christian fundamentalism," and he seems to be quite hestitant to brand Christian fundamentalists in the same league with Muslim fundamentalists, maybe due to his Christian belief structure. At the end of the lecture, I felt he told a good story, but was littered unfortunately with textbook errors in judgment.

A better title for this would be "Christian Missionary's Guide to Approaching and Inviting Muslims to Your Faith," or something of this ilk.