Search

This book sheds light on the shared roots of Islamic and Western cultures and on the richness of their inextricably intertwined histories, refuting once and for all the misguided notion of a “clash of civilizations” between the Muslim world and Europe. The book brings to life the complex and tumultuous relations between Genoans and Tunisians, Alexandrians and the people of Constantinople, Catalans and Maghrebis—the myriad groups and individuals whose stories reflect the common cultural, intellectual, and religious heritage of Europe and Islam. Since the seventh century, when the armies of Constantinople and Medina fought for control of Syria and Palestine, there has been ongoing contact between the Muslim world and the West. This sweeping history vividly recounts the wars and the crusades, the alliances and diplomacy, commerce and the slave trade, technology transfers, and the intellectual and artistic exchanges. Here readers are given an unparalleled introduction to key periods and events, including the Muslim conquests, the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, the commercial revolution of the medieval Mediterranean, the intellectual and cultural achievements of Muslim Spain, the crusades and Spanish reconquest, the rise of the Ottomans and their conquest of a third of Europe, European colonization and decolonization, and the challenges and promise of this entwined legacy today. As provocative as it is groundbreaking, this book describes this shared history in all its richness and diversity, revealing how ongoing encounters between Europe and Islam have profoundly shaped both.

The following is an edited version of the proceedings of a symposium sponsored by the Middle East Policy Council on May 26, 1994, in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. Former Senator George McGovern, President of the Council, introduced the panel; Thomas R. Mattair, the Councils Director of Research and Policy Analysis, was the organizer and moderator; Michael Collins Dunn, Senior Analyst of The International Estimate, Inc., and editor of its biweekly newsletter, The Estimate, was the discussant.

Jihad (exertion or struggle) is sometimes referred to as the Sixth Pillar of Islam. The importance of jihad is rooted in the Quran’s command to struggle (the literal meaning of the word jihad) in the path of God and in the example of the Prophet Muhammad and his early Companions.

Like Jews and Christians, Muslims are monotheists. They believe in one God: the creator, sustainer, ruler, and judge of the universe. Muslims believe in prophets, not just the Prophet Muhammad but the prophets of the Hebrew Bible, including Abraham and Moses, and of the New Testament, Jesus and John the Baptist. They also believe in angels, heaven, hell, and the Day of Judgment. Islam acknowledges that God’s revelation was received in the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Quran: “We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Torah that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel in which is guidance and light, and confirmation of the Torah that had come before him, a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God” (Quran 5:46). Thus Muslims view Jews and Christians as “People of the Book,” a community of believers who received revelations, through prophets, in the form of scriptures or revealed books from God.

Many, though not all, Muslim societies practice some gender segregation—the separation of men and women—to various degrees, in public spaces such as mosques, universities, and the marketplace. Thus in many mosques men and women have separate areas for prayer or are separated by a screen or curtain. Unmarried men do not mix with unmarried women outside of very specific contexts, such as family gatherings or a meeting between two potential spouses that occurs in the presence of a chaperone. Seclusion, which differs from the public segregation of the sexes, is the practice of keeping women within the home so that they have no contact with public space.

Islam, like Christianity, is a global religion with a universal mission, calling all of humankind to worship the one true God. Historically, Muslims have believed that God sent this revelation one final time to Muhammad and the Muslim community. The community has an obligation to spread the faith: “We have sent you only to proclaim good news and to warn all mankind” (Quran 34:28).

Muslim Americans are Americans who came here from sixty-eight different countries as well as indigenous African Americans and converts from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. They are one of the most diverse communities in the world, racially, economically, and politically. Although estimates of the Muslim American population vary widely, it is safe to say that there are at least five to seven million, making Islam the third largest religion (after Christianity and Judaism) in America. Many believe that in the first half of the twenty-first century Islam will become the second-largest religion in America.

Islam is the second-largest religion in the world (after Christianity) and will soon be the second-largest religion in America.

Islam means submission to the will of God. Therefore Muslims put primary emphasis on obeying God as prescribed in Islamic law. Islam’s worldview is a vision of individual and communal moral responsibility; Muslims must strive or struggle (jihad) in the path (shariah) of God in order to implement God’s will on earth, expand and defend the Muslim community, and establish a just society. The purpose of Islamic law is to provide the guidelines and requirements for two types of interactions: those between human beings and God, or worship, and those between human beings, or social transactions. Both have private and public dimensions, and both give Islam a prominent public role in Muslim community life.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, there has been an overwhelming demand for information about Islam, and recent events - the war in Iraq, terrorist attacks both failed and successful, debates throughout Europe over Islamic dress, and many others - have raised new questions in the minds of policymakers and the general public. This newly updated edition of What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam is the best single source for clearly presented, objective information about these new developments, and for answers to questions about the origin and traditions of Islam. Editor of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islam and The Oxford History of Islam, and author of The Future of Islambits and many other acclaimed works, John L. Esposito is one of America's leading authorities on Islam. This brief and readable book remains the first place to look for up-to-date information on the faith, customs, and political beliefs of the more than one billion people who call themselves Muslims.

Introduction Section 1: Iraq 1. Religion, Sect, Ethnicity and Tribe: The Uncertainties of Identity Politics in the New Society Faleh Abdul-Jabbar 2. Lessons from Iraq Laith Kubba 3. Kurdistan: Democracy and Future of Iraq Salah Aziz 4. Forging a Third Way: Sistani's Marjaiyya between Quietism and Wilayat al-Faqih Abbas Kadhim Section 2: 5. Humble Democracy? On the Need for New Thinking about an Aging Ideal John Keane 6. Islamic Democracy: A Valid Concept of an Oxymoron? Ali Paya 7. Promoting Democracy Bhikhu Parekh 8. The Democratic Freedom Deficit in the Middle East Beverley Milton-Edwards Section 3: The Future of the Muslim World 9. World of Islam, Historical Perspectives and Modern Political Discources Seyyed Mohammad Khatami 10. The Saga of Islam and Democracy in the Middle East John Esposito 11. Islam's Future Imperfect: Fighting over Camels at the End of History Abdelwahab El-Affendi 12. Triumph through Destabilization: The Future of Politcal Islam Mohammad Samiei 13. Reason and revelation in Islamic Political Ethics Abdulaziz Sachedina

Foreword, J.L.Esposito Aftershocks P.Yancey PART I: ISLAM AND 9/11 An Altered Terrain: Engaging Islam in the Post-9/11 Public Sphere A.Afsaruddin A Struggle for the Soul of a Faith: Spiritual Islam versus Political Islam M.Zuhdi Jasser & S.Shahid How Does the U.S. Government Look at Islam since 9/11? L.Danan & A.E.Hunt PART II: OTHER RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES Prodigal Nation: September 11 and the American Jeremiad A.Murphy Geopolitical Theology J.Milbank September 11 and the Jewish Vocabulary of Tragedy Rabbi J.Moline Dialogue and Disagreement after 9/11 J.Spiegel & R.Pflum Truth and Falsehood in Religion and Politics J.B.Cobb, Jr. SECTION III: 9/11 AND PHILOSOPHY AND EFFECTS Reconciliatory Praxis: The Face of Justice after 9/11 A.M.Isasi-Diaz Known Unknowns: How Current Philosophy Addresses Fear of the Post-9/11 World L.Harte Power, Terror, and the Good for Humans J.Secada On Moral Alchemy: A Critical Examination of Post-9/11 U.S. Military Policy T.Brewer The Day the World Changed? Reflections on 9/11 and U.S. National Security Strategy M.L.Cook SECTION IV: THE JUST WAR THEORY AFTER 9/11 Just War in the Shadow of 9/11 J.B.Elshtain Understanding Terrorism and the Limits of Just War Theory M.McKenna The Just War Tradition Faces the Remnants of War M.Douglas Catholic Just War Theory: The Conversation since 9/11 L.Johnston Pacifism and Just War Theory after 9/11 A.Fiala To Debate or Not to Debate: Philosophy and Torture after 9/11 P.Kaurin

This chapter focuses on the issues faced by Muslims in the United States. The American Muslim experience, like that of Christians and Jews before them, reflects struggles of faith and identity (integration versus assimilation), political participation, institution building, and acculturation. American Muslims have faced the challenge of constructing an American identity that incorporates faith and values within America's melting pot or, more recently, its multicultural society.

Conflict and dialogue are frequently seen as the alternatives in relations between Islam and the West. In the months following the destruction of the World Trade Center by terrorists on it September 2001, conflict visions received much attention. The words of Muslims like Usama bin Ladin, who proclaim the necessity of violent conflict with the West, gained high visibility and were regularly repeated in the global mass media. Those Muslim voices advocating violent jihad were frequently matched by continuing Western pronouncements of a “clash of civilizations.”

For more than two decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been a dominant concern of policymakers in the Muslim world and the West. Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1978–79 was clearly one of the major turning points of twentieth century history. It shattered the myths of modernization and development theory, which presupposed the Westernization and secularization of society, and signaled the resurgence of Islam in Muslim politics and society. Much of the 1980s was dominated by the image of the Ayatollah Khomeini and the threat of Iran’s export of its revolution. Indeed, Iran pursued twin goals: institutionalization of the revolution at home and its export abroad. Shortly after the revolution, the militant clergy moved quickly to consolidate their power. Early lay reformers and leaders such as President Abolhasan Bani Sadr and Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan were forced from office as Iran emerged clearly as a clerically dominated state. The clergy assumed key positions in political, judicial, and educational institutions, and dominated the Islamic Republican Party and the media. Any and all significant opposition, clerical and lay, were silenced.

From Khomeini to Khatami: Introduction J.L.Esposito The Paradoxes of Politics in Post-Revolutionary Iran M.Boroujerdi Reform and Resistance in the Islamic Republic of Iran M.M.Milani On the Reconfiguration of the Public Sphere and the Changing Political Landscape of Revolutionary Iran F.Farhi The Politics of the 'Women's Question' in the Islamic Republic, 1979-1999 H.Esfandiari Iran's Economy: Twenty Years after the Islamic Revolution B.Khajepour The Governance of the Jurist in Iran A.Sachedina Iran's Foreign Policy Towards Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus M.Mesbahi The Iranian Revolution and International Politics: Some European Perspectives F.Halliday Reflecting on Iran's Foreign Policy R.K.Ramazani