Book Review: Quraishi, M. (2005). Muslims and Crime: A Comparative Study. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate. Pp. 160

• Author: Mir Zohair Husain,Syed-Mohsin Naquvi
• Published date: 01 December 2007
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567707310575
• Date: 01 December 2007
• Subject Matter: Articles

section and the beginning page number so readers may decide which section or publication to read

first, depending on circumstances. Each section begins with a succinct introduction of the author(s),

and each publication concludes with a listing of the original source and references.

Graduate students who are unfamiliar with this area of study have to begin somewhere, and this

reader is an excellent place to start regardless of your academic background. The potential gained

by reading the entire collection is unlimited, so at a minimum a person should obtain a flexible

understanding of Western policing. However, to reiterate what the editor has written, “there is no

consensus as to what constitutes the core of policing studies.” Not every Western policing expert

would agree that authors represented in this edited volume shaped policing as an academic discipline

and/or as a profession. The knowledge base that is contained in this reader is a record of an agent of

the state and policing as practiced, managed, and/or tolerated by those living in English speaking

industrialized nations.

Students interested in a career as a practitioner or as an academic will discover many peer-reviewed

journal articles that will cite these authors. Moreover, conducting a literature review is a formative

process, so this reader is especially useful for graduate students who may or may not have a practitioner

background and lack prior academic coursework. This reader is particularly helpful to academics

and graduate students with a background in Eastern policing. Renowned scholars are cited in each

publication, which makes it a lot easier for those inside or outside of the discipline to make connections

linking Western policing to their research. Knowing where to look for relevant research is a learned

skill, and the literature is voluminous.

The last comment regarding this publication is perhaps unorthodox. Full-time police officers that

are part-time students might be encouraged to ask their supervisor or the chief to consider purchasing

a copy of Policing: Key Readings for departmental use. Active police officers that intend to seek a

degree in criminal justice but are unable to do so would benefit professionally. August Vollmer

would surely approve. Likewise, supervisors of Citizen Police Academies could recommend this

reader to volunteers who act as the eyes and ears of the police in their communities. Perhaps those

that would act on such a suggestion will have a more objective understanding of policing after reading

Professor Newburn’s recent contribution to the literature.

John M. Marks, Jr.

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas

Quraishi, M. (2005). Muslims and Crime: A Comparative Study. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.

Pp. 160.

DOI: 10.1177/1057567707310575

Muzammil Quraishi’s Muslims and Crime: A Comparative Study is a most welcome publication.

There is a paucity of scholarly literature on Muslim criminal behavior, the salience of which has

greatly heightened because of the involvement of Arab Muslim extremists in the September 11,

2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. Interest was further piqued by the involvement of British

Muslim extremists of South Asian descent in the July 7, 2005, terrorist attacks in London. The need

for scholarly inquiry into the motivations behind Muslim criminal behavior further highlighted by

the riots in France by second-generation Arab French citizens in 2005 as well as the many suicide

bombings carried out by Muslim extremists all over the world since 2000.

Quraishi does a commendable job of enlightening the reader about how current events in South

Asia were shaped by British colonialism. His methodology, which links various theories with his

354 International Criminal Justice Review