Review. Angel Millar. The Crescent and the Compass: Islam, Freemasonry, Esotericism and Revolution in the Modern Age

Nicely designed by wonderful publishing house Numen Books (http://numenbooks.com/spirit/book-catalogue/middle-eastern-traditions/crescent-compass), the book shows us how some things can be interconnected in a way that you could never think about. Ayatollah Khomeini and Islamic mysticism; Sufism and Shi'ism; the influence of the ideas of René Guénon, a former Catholic and Freemason, and convert to Sufism; and Charles, the Prince of Wales, Traditionalism and Islamic spirituality, various Muslim revolutionaries and Freemasonry, a fraternal movement that was influential in the spiritual and occult avant-garde of Western Europe and America, revolutionaries and anti-colonialists, such as Sayyid Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, poet and occultist Aleister Crowley; Noble Drew Ali, founder of the faith of Moorish Science in the USA; Abdullah Quilliam, Shaykh-ul-Islam of the British Isles; and, as anti-Freemasonry, in the contemporary Takfiri, Islamist movement. These are the main themes of the book. Exploring one of the least documented yet one of the most important historical chapters of the modern era, the picture that emerges will challenge the way reader looks at the Middle East and Islam, and their relationship to the West.

216 pages are full of interesting information and author puts it together as a real master. It could have been an eclectic book but it is not. So, here we find Mulla Sadra who revived ‘ïrfan in Iran, also we can read about new “Templar” orders and Anders Breivik, analysis of modern politics and its connection to religion as in Wahhabis’ case.

That’s the strongest side of the book: in short, it encompasses a lot and leaves not only 293 footnotes, but also space for many thoughts. I do not want to spoil You reading this book, because it’s a must for those who search answers to quite difficult questions. It's absolutely the best book i've read about Freemasonry.