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"In this book, Mr. Alwi demonstrates the power of one individual's commitment to building bridges between two cultures. His e-mail exchanges with his students show how woefully ignorant young Americans are of Islam, and how much their negative impressions can change through exposure to sympathetic, accessible Muslim intellectuals like Mr. Alwi. Their lack of knowledge suggests that American government should spend at least as much time educating its own population about Islam as it does in public relations efforts directed at Muslim communities abroad. -- Sidney Jones, Director of the Southeast Asia Project, International Crisis Group To date, the Western world seems to identity Islam with terrorism, radicalism, and in general, acting inhumanly. This is due to their limited understanding of Islam, a situation felt strongly by Dr. Alwi in his interactions with American students. I believe this book can provide accurate insights into the Islamic Religion & Spirituality as Rahmatan lil Aalamien. -- Dr. H.C. HMA Sahal Mahfudz, President of the Indonesian Ulama Council This book was written by Dr. Alwi Shihab through unwavering faith, profound knowledge, charity and extensive experience, both inside and outside of the Islamic community. He is convinced that true harmony amongst religious believers must be built, first and foremost, on the recognition understanding, and respect for the teachings, traditions, and values of other Religion & Spiritualitys. His testimony of the beneficial role of Islam to the world needs to be heard and shared. -- Kardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, SJ Many critical conflicts are triggered by misperceptions and a lack of communication. This pattern repeats itself in the case of the religiously narrow-minded. Yet, the call for the sanctity of Religion & Spirituality, advocates that we oppose that narrow-mindedness as we explore the majesty of God through His creations. Therefore, I warmly welcome Dr. Alwi Shihab's book as an example of how, through dialogue, we can become more mature, even when it concerns our deepest beliefs, in a mutual effort to make positive contributions and coexist peacefully. -- Jakob Oetama, Executive Chairman, Kompas-Gramedia"
Hailed in The New York Times Book Review as "the doyen of Middle Eastern studies," Bernard Lewis has been for half a century one of the West's foremost scholars of Islamic history and culture, the author of over two dozen books, most notably The Arabs in History, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, The Political Language of Islam, and The Muslim Discovery of Europe. Eminent French historian Robert Mantran has written of Lewis's work: "How could one resist being attracted to the books of an author who opens for you the doors of an unknown or misunderstood universe, who leads you within to its innermost domains: religion, ways of thinking, conceptions of power, culture--an author who upsets notions too often fixed, fallacious, or partisan." In Islam and the West, Bernard Lewis brings together in one volume eleven essays that indeed open doors to the innermost domains of Islam. Lewis ranges far and wide in these essays. He includes long pieces, such as his capsule history of the interaction--in war and peace, in commerce and culture--between Europe and its Islamic neighbors, and shorter ones, such as his deft study of the Arabic word watan and what its linguistic history reveals about the introduction of the idea of patriotism from the West. Lewis offers a revealing look at Edward Gibbon's portrait of Muhammad in Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (unlike previous writers, Gibbon saw the rise of Islam not as something separate and isolated, nor as a regrettable aberration from the onward march of the church, but simply as a part of human history); he offers a devastating critique of Edward Said's controversial book, Orientalism; and he gives an account of the impediments to translating from classic Arabic to other languages (the old dictionaries, for one, are packed with scribal errors, misreadings, false analogies, and etymological deductions that pay little attention to the evolution of the language). And he concludes with an astute commentary on the Islamic world today, examining revivalism, fundamentalism, the role of the Shi'a, and the larger question of religious co-existence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews. A matchless guide to the background of Middle East conflicts today, Islam and the West presents the seasoned reflections of an eminent authority on one of the most intriguing and little understood regions in the world.
This comparative history of political thought examines what the Western and Islamic approaches to politics had in common and where they diverged. It throws light on why the West and Islam each developed their own particular kind of approach to government, politics, and the state, and on why these approaches are so different.
This book opens a new path of examining Islamic thought in and of Europe. It explores the contribution of European Islam to the formation of an innovative Islamic theology that is deeply ethicist and modern, and clarifies how this constructed European Islamic theology can contribute to debates on secular-liberal democracies of Western Europe.
This book analyzes the development of Islam and Muslim communities in the West, including influences from abroad, relations with the state and society, and internal community dynamics. The project examines the emergence of Islam in the West in relation to the place of Muslim communities as part of the social fabric of Western societies. It provides an overview of the major issues and debates that have arisen over the last three to four decades surrounding the presence of new Muslim communities residing in Western liberal democracies. As such, the volume is an ideal text for courses focusing on Islam and Muslim communities in the West.
Jocelyne Cesari examines the idea that Islam might threaten the core values of the West through testimonies from Muslims in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the US. Her book is an unprecedented exploration of Muslim religious and political life based on several years of field work in Europe and in the United States.
For more than a millennium, Islam has been a vital part of Western civilization. Today, however, it is sometimes assumed that Islam is a foreign element inside the West, and even that Islam and the West are doomed to be in perpetual conflict. The need for accurate, reliable scholarship on this topic has never been more urgent. The Bloomsbury Reader on Islam in the West brings together some of the most important, up-to-date scholarly writings published on this subject. The Reader explores not only the presence of Muslim religious practitioners in Europe and the Americas but also the impact of Islamic ideas and Muslims on Western politics, societies, and cultures. It is ideal for use in the university classroom, with an extensive introduction by Edward E. Curtis IV and a timeline of key events in the history of Islam in the West. A brief introduction to the author and the topic is provided at the start of each excerpt. Part 1, on the history of Islam in the West, probes the role of Muslims and the significance of Islam in medieval, early modern, and modern settings such as Islamic Spain, colonial-era Latin America, sixteenth-century France, nineteenth-century Crimea, interwar Albania, the post-World War II United States, and late twentieth-century Germany. Part 2 focuses on the contemporary West, examining debates over Muslim citizenship, the war on terrorism, anti-Muslim prejudice, and Islam and gender, while also providing readers with a concrete sense of how Muslims practise and live out Islamic ideals in their private and public lives.
Analyzes Muslim countries' contemporary problems, particularly violence, authoritarianism, and underdevelopment, comparing their historical levels of development with Western Europe.