In both given articles, Lewis and Nicolaas argue about the enhancement of the Muslim fundamentalism with different perspectives; however, I believe that Lewis’ views may be quiet misleading to the actual perception. Bernard Lewis indicates that Muslim fundamentalism is conceived through the Muslim community’s oppression and dissatisfaction with the West’s political involvement as well as Islam being a source of aggression. In defiance of his opinion, the word ‘Islam’ comes from the word peace as well as the will of submission to God. The notion of aggression and violence that Bernard conceptualizes to be the headline of Islam does not have any supportive evidence within the rules of the Islamic religion, it no more than opposes Islam’s conviction. …show more content…
What he calls ‘The Clash of Civilization’ is a term that describes the Muslim community as a whole and their unattended support of the West’s freedom of speech. Therefore, he claims that through this approach, their hatred towards the West grew, which also partly blames the West for the expansion of the Muslim fundamentalism. His justification implies that the Muslims were skeptical and resentful of the West’s freedom, in spite of this, the Muslims were only conservative and defensive of their own religious traditions. They were concerned about the West’s freedom influencing them and their younger generations. They saw change within their citizenry to be disadvantageous to their own intellectual awareness and …show more content…
“We were witnessing nothing less than a war of Islamic fundamentalism against both secularism and modernism” (Zee 2013, 4), Lewis states that Islam is an oppressed religion and the lack of secularism caused many of the wars and conflicts with the West. This however is misleading because as he generalizes the whole religion, each religion has its own pleasing as well as its atrocious adherents. As he continues to generalize the Islamic religion as a whole and state that it is indeed oppressed, he seems to lack the information about how each individual may respond differently to other cultural traditions despite any religious aspects. Islam may be viewed to be an oppressed religion, but in fact, it supports freedom and one’s voice to be spoken and heard. For example, as Islam advises women to cover up with a hijab, it certainly does not mean that women have no rights and that they should be placed at home. In fact, Islam supports and praises women in many ways, the hijab is an approach to cover her up with no intentions of making a Muslim woman any less than a Western woman or any
The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror is a book written by Bernard Lewis that ‘in particular charts the key events of the twentieth century leading up to the violent confrontations of today.’(Lewis) Lewis clearly and entirely pointed out key events explaining the choices to be made by the people of the Islamic faith. They must determine whether their religion takes its place alongside other religions in a global community, or whether it will revert back into conflict with non-Muslim nations.
Thomas W. Lippman gives an introduction to the Muslim world in the book Understanding Islam. He has traveled throughout the Islamic world as Washington Post bureau chief for the Middle East, and as a correspondent in Indochina. This gave him, in his own words, "sharp insight into the complexities of that turbulent region." However, the purpose of the book is not to produce a critical or controversial interpretation of Islamic scripture. It is instead to give the American layman an broad understanding of a religion that is highly misunderstood by many Americans. In this way he dispels many myths about "Muslim militants," and the otherwise untrue perception of Islamic violence. In this way the American reader will become more knowledgeable about an otherwise unfamiliar topic. However, the most significant element of Lippman’s book is that it presents Islam in a simple way that makes the reader feels his awareness rise after each chapter. This encourages him to continue learning about the world’s youngest major religion. Understanding Islam dispels many misconceptions about the Muslim world, and presents the subject in a way that urges his reader to further his understanding of Islam through continued study.
Lewis, B. (September 1990) The Roots of Muslim Rage: Why So Many Muslims Deeply Resent The West, and why Their Bitterness Will Not Be Easily Mollified. The Atlantic v.266, pp.47(11).
In the years since the early 90’s, Huntington’s premise have not been proven wrong. Along the years, various conflict occurred around the world in which can be identified as the examples of the clash of civilizations. Certainly, other factors such as politics, economics and military also contribute in many conflicts, yet the most catastrophic and chaotic ones are inevitably occurred in the dispute between civilizations. Between Orthodoxy and Islam there was wars in Bosnia, Kosovo and the Caucuses, between Islam and Africa there is Boko Haram, between Islam and the Hindu civilization happened a perpetual terrorism, between Orthodoxy and the West occurred wars in Croatia and Slovenia and the current crisis in Ukraine, and of course, between the West and Islam, there was the phenomenon of Charlie Hebdo, not to mention about the widely-known 9/11 tragedy. The clashes
Ayoob, M. (2007) The Many Faces of Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Muslim
Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.
The first is a rejection of the Clash thesis as fabricated myth for perpetuating Western dominance and justifying its aggrandizing policies. The other is of the Clash being inevitable due to the essentially and radically different ethos of Islam that makes it impossible to reconcile with the West. Sajjad (2013) thus added that Muslims needed to prepare for the approaching Clash. In his article, Sajjad (2013) interestingly shared some analysis from the non-Western world point of view on the flaw of Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations as
The religion of Islam has obtained the reputation of violence and misogyny in recent decades due to radical sects in the international spotlight. Although violence has been limited to radical groups, many people outside of the religion view Islam’s law, Shari’ah law, to define the status of women below men. However, from the original holy text, the Qur’an, and the Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah, a framework of equality and mutual respect across sexes is evident. Although the Qur’an is the unadulterated Word of God, it is interpreted by Muslims in many different ways. It has been through these patriarchal interpretations of the five schools of Islamic law that the status of women has been impinged upon (Barlas, 2002). The Qur’an itself contains versus which demonstrate the equality of men and women, but also seemingly contradicts itself by undermining the status of women. These contradictory phrases have recently been interpreted by female scholars differently than the original schools to support the equality of sex. Muhammad’s life also displays his affection and respect for his wives as opposed to a lifestyle of misogyny. In the end, the status of women in Islam has been largely degraded by human interpretation of the text to create a power dynamic between a husband and his wife, or wives. Although a woman’s status has been lowered in the eyes of many Muslims, recent civil rights movements and women activists are challenging these emboldened concepts to achieve social and political leadership.
Robinson, B.A. (2002, October 14). Islam: Is it a religion of violence or of peace.
“We were witnessing nothing less than a war of Islamic fundamentalism against both secularism and modernism” , Lewis states that Islam is an oppressed religion and the lack of secularism caused many of the wars and conflicts with the West. This however is misleading because as he generalizes the whole religion, each religion has its own pleasing as well as its atrocious adherents. As he continues to generalize the Islamic religion as a whole and state that it is indeed oppressed, he seems to lack the information about how each individual may respond differently to other cultural traditions despite any religious aspects. Islam may be viewed to be an oppressed religion, but in fact, it supports freedom and one’s voice to be spoken and heard. For example, as Islam advises women to cover up with a hijab, it certainly does not mean that women have no rights and that they should be placed at home. Oppression defines power taken away from someone, while the hijab is an element of privatizing the woman, both which have no linkage whatsoever. In fact, Islam supports and praises women in many ways, the hijab is an approach to cover her up with no intentions of making a Muslim woman any less than a Western woman or any
There is a strong belief that Islam and politics are directly tied. They are tied in the sense that the building blocks of the religion dictate how they ought to behave in the political environment. Through this mandatory follow up behavior that the religion delineates, many have come to believe that its teachings are a form of terrorism. Mandaville argues that what has challenged the Islamic link between politics and religion was the emergence of secularism, which went against the belief that politics and religion could go together. Islam has been a religion that has been accused of supporting terrorist activities in the world. Different assumptions have been brought up to understand better the linkages between what really lies behind the Islam religion and politics. Peter Mandaville argues that Islam is dynamic and that it has changed over time; situated within time and politics.
Lila Abu-Lughod’s article titled, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” takes a closer look at the problematic ethnocentric approach many have when trying to gain an understanding of another culture that may be foreign to that individual. In this analytical paper, Lughod looks at women in Islam, specifically the treatment of women and how it might be utilized as a justification for invading into a country and liberating its people. The country Lughod refers to in her article is Afghanistan, and Lughod points out the misunderstanding from the people to the Bush administration like First Lady Laura Bush who believed that intervention was necessary to free women from the captivity of their own homes. It is important to consider the role that different lenses play into all of this, especially when one’s lenses are being shaped by the media. Depictions of covered women secluded from society leave a permanent image in the minds of many, who would then later support the idea of liberation. This paper will discuss that the practice of using propaganda when referring to the lifestyle in the Middle East is not exclusive to the U.S; rather it has been utilized throughout history. Additionally, we will take a closer look on the importance of symbols, such as veils in this case; help to further emphasize the cause to liberate. Finally, we will analyze Lughod’s plea towards cultural relativism and away from liberal imperialism.
While people in the west think that women in Islam are oppressed, they do not know that Islam liberated women from oppression. There are many people who have opinions about the religion of Islam, but mostly about the women who follow it. Westerners have this idea that women in Islam are disrespected, mistreated and oppressed. In actuality, these allegations are incorrect. Women in Islam have rights and are not oppressed. The veil is widely misunderstood and many do not know what it represents. In many ways, men and women are equal as much as they are not; and this is in every religion.
Burns, Thomas J. "Islam." Religion and Society. OU Campus' Dale Hall, Norman. 14 Apr. 2014. Lecture.
Women who have the misfortune of living in predominately Muslim societies often are confronted with adversities concerning their rights in marriage, divorce, education, and seclusion. Consequently, many Westerners seeing a lack of equality towards women in these societies consider it as a confirmation of their own misconceptions about Islam itself. Islam is often rejected as being an intolerant and violent religion that discriminates against and subjugates women, treating them as second-class citizens. From a Muslim’s perspective, Islam’s stance on women can be approached by two opposing views. Scholars amongst the Muslim apologists have claimed, “The verses in the Qur’an represented Muhammad's intention to improve a debased condition of women that prevailed during the Jahiliya, the time of ignorance before Islam came into being.” (Doumato, 177) If inequalities still exist between men and women, they cannot be attributed to Islam, but are a result of the misinterpretation of Islam’s true meaning. Others have entirely denied the notion of inequality between men and women in Islam, claiming that the alleged inequalities “are merely perceived as such by foreign observers who confuse seclusion and sex difference with inequality.” (Ibid.) Many Muslim apologists defend the Koran as noble for the very fact that it raises women to an equal status of men despite their inferiority.