My favorite is “Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey” A true masterpiece, if there is ever one. Muslims who hate Sir Naipaul for his supposed “Islamophobia” have probably never read his books. The muslim subjects in “Beyond Belief” and “Among the Believers” are often treated with understanding and affection by the author - even as he condemns Islam.
VS Naipaul blames Islam for muslim society’s ills and not muslims. To paraphrase one of his lines from his travelogues, “there was life in muslim societies before Islam.” A profound statement to those of us who have spent considerable time in Islamic/muslim majority communities.
Case in point: Persia.