EncompassedRunner: Both Braswell and Saal write from Christian perspectives having experience with missions to Muslims, and both books are admirable for their straight-forward, nonabrasive, informative tone, but Saal's is more narrative in style than Braswell's (which has lists throughout), and slightly more analytical. Braswell's to me is more conducive to information retention however. Both are excellent for Christians interested in evangelism for Muslims or just increasing their own personal understanding.… (meer)

EncompassedRunner: These two books are not at all the same, Braswell's being a Christian focus on the theology of Islam and Weiss' book being a secular focus on the historical development of Islam. However, the type of person who want to quickly get up to speed on the theological fundamentals might also find it helpful to, for the sake of context, complement that with a crash historical overview, thus my recommendation of the Weiss book, which I believe is out-of-print, but very much worth tracking down a used copy.… (meer)