Reviews and Reception
A November 2004 review of the book in Publishers Weekly said that the book's theme – an effort to debunk the notion that Muslims are tolerant of non-Muslims: "merits exploration", but that the book does not explain why Islam is "inherently intolerant". An August 2005 review of the book in Asia Times opined that:
... The Myth of Islamic Tolerance warrants our attention. Any study of contemporary Islam would be incomplete without it. Collectively, the essays expose an unsettling fact: that Islam's famed tolerance of non-Muslims has over the centuries fallen well short of an embrace.... However, the book is full of flagrant distortions and glaring omissions.
In September 2005 book review in The Middle East Journal reviewed the book, and a June 2006 book review in First Things said that the book "might be described as an extended bill of indictment against Islam and a debunking of the still commonly heard claim that Islam has been and is tolerant of minorities."
Writing in National Review in March 2007, Dinesh D'Souza described The Myth of Islamic Tolerance as being attractive to those who would like to criticize Muslims at large for 9/11. He suggested that the book uses a strategy of selective quotations from the Koran, which he calls "history for dummies".
Dr. Akbar Ahmed, professor of Islamic studies at American University, described the book as an example of one of the most humane religions in the world being misrepresented as a violent one. In his book Beyond the Veneer, Ioannis Gatsiounis says that the book "fails to find an enlightened balance", as it sometimes overlooks complexities while at the same time avoiding a trend in many circles of viewing the issue it addresses solely as a non-religious one.
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