How to Understand Islam looks at Muslim religious experience as it rises out of practices required by the law or followed out of devotion; it examines Muslim belief, religious observance and ethics alongside everyday piety and Islamic mystical literature. It also outlines the history of Islam from its first appearance and expansion, particularly its penetration of Africa, and shows how division arose within Islam and what they signify. Further chapters consider Christianity as Islam sees it, the tension between Islam and the modern Western view of the world, relations between Christians and Muslims, and the missionary activity of Islam.