In November of 1979, the image of an irate mob burning down Islamabad’s U.S. Embassy in response to the capture of the Great Mosque receives significant global attention (Lewis 4). Though the capture of the Great Mosque in Mecca had nothing to do with the United States (an Islamic zealot group was responsible), many Muslims nonetheless felt the need to channel their anger towards Western society. Since 1979, it also seems that the hatred some Muslims have for the West has only been exacerbated over the past few decades. As this latter issue of Muslim anger becomes increasingly prevalent to the Western world, the question of what exactly are the “roots of Muslim rage” and how do they pertain to the West arise. Though some believe that the “root of Muslim rage” is directly correlated to political motivations, it is in fact correlated to civilizational jealousy, westernization, and failing Middle Eastern states. In this paper, I argue that civilizational jealousy, the once great Muslim civilization deemed inferior after Western advancement, westernization, the pressure to comply with western ideologies, and failing Middle Eastern states, the perpetual poverty and lack of sovereign power, are the “roots of Muslim rage” against the West.
In order to begin searching for the rudiments of civilizational jealousy, which has led to Muslim anger towards the West, one must delve as far back as the 8th century. Muslims of the East had been battling European Christians of the West for supremacy and control over the Levant, North Africa, and Europe for several centuries. Islam and Islamic rule began in Saudi Arabia and expanded over a myriad of regions, reaching as far as France, Vienna, and Southern Italy. Between the eleventh century and th...
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...ousy, westernization and failing Middle Eastern states, which can lead to hateful acts and orsentiment against western nations. Civilizational jealousy has created a bitter feeling towards Western nations due to Islam’s once strong status, but rapid downfall, leaving only Western nations as the successors. Attempted westernization has caused many Muslims to resent western institutions and ideologies, as they created poverty and devastation in Muslim majority states. Failing states in the Middle East have given terrorist organizations new life, allowing them to taken in those who the state has not provided for and convince them that their toils and hardship are somehow the West’s doings. These “roots of Muslim rage” may very well be issues that the West can no longer address and that Muslims themselves must repair within their own communities, states, and nations.
Ansary, Mir Tamim. Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes. New York: PublicAffairs, 2009. Print.
The culture of Islam has its positive aspects, as well as its negative aspects. Islam bestowed many unfortunate people the opportunity to gain more knowledge about their surroundings, and the adversities that they may face on a daily basis. Islam also created alliances, and trade contracts with other surrounding countries, allowing them to receive resources that other religions and groups could not envisage. However, to gain these privileges, Islam had to first fester the lives of many civilians that dared step in its path. Islam not only ruined the lives of people, but it ruined whole kingdoms. Many people felt an...
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.
It is often said that history is written by the victor, and in the race to industrialization of the past two centuries, Western Europe and the United States have emerged as the victors. This enabled them to write a history in which their rise to power was preordained and inevitable and in which Eastern cultures are viewed as backward and intolerant. These Eurocentric histories have so fully permeated the global psyche that the stereotypes they have perpetuated inform our cultural interactions to this day. However, an unbiased look at the premodern history of Asia and the Middle East reveals the inaccuracy of the Eurocentric paradigm. Contrary to the Eurocentric view, there is nothing inherently intolerant about Islam or Middle Eastern and East Asian culture. In fact, many of the societies that have existed in the East have been extraordinarily tolerant and heterogeneous.
The tragedy of strained relations between Islamic and Judeo-Christian countries is a part of everyday life. One need only pick up a newspaper or check the news story of the day via television, radio, or internet to learn of the latest violent attack by a suicide bomber or military retaliation on such an attack. The terrorist attacks have been perpetrated by countries that are predominantly Islamic with the counter attacks coming from a well-armed Israel, supported by US arms sales as well as US silence. Arecent CNN talk show byline queried, “Are we at war with Islam?” One does sometimes wonder.
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).
Many events have shaped history for the good and for the bad. The Holocaust was an event that has remained in the memories of many throughout the world and is still a very sensitive subject to this day. There were many people affected by its gravity, and its backlash is still mourned today by its survivors and those who lost loved ones during that time period. It is easy to sympathize with the pain that people went through during that horrific time. Steven Spielberg’s film, Schindler’s List, does an excellent job at tugging at the heart strings of its audience and invoking emotion. Throughout the movie, the filmmaker’s ability to captivate the audience provides viewers an insight into the suffering that the Jews endured during World War II at the hands of the merciless Nazis.
“The Reality and Truth of the Muslim World – Islam.” Underground Hope. 18 Dec 2001: 1-2.
Islam is portrayed and is commonly accepted as the most violent and largest direct threat to the West. This is a generalization made by most of the West, but it is not particularly the West or the Islamic people’s fault. There is constant turmoil in Islamic countries in the Middle East and these conflicts are what make the news in the West. The only representation in the media that the Islamic nation gets is that of war. Though most Islamic people are not violent, the select few that do participate in terrorist groups give the rest of the Islam nation a bad image.
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.
Watching a good movie is fun, but evaluating a movie and analyzing it to dissect its similarities and differences with a similar movie is much more engaging. The two movies I have recently seen were "Daredevil" and "Elektra" and they are both based off of comic book cartoons. Immediately one can see how these two movies could be similar, but I think that having the movies based off of comics is where their differences truly shine. Between the two movies, I say "Elektra" is better because of several key criteria that I was able to spot: character development, the "all hope is lost" scene, and the special effects.
September 11th, 2001 can be considered as one of the most significant events shaping the world in the 21st century. 9/11 was a turning point in history. After the decline of the Soviet Union, prominent threat to world stability and peace wasn’t prominent. However, after September 11th Muslims rose as the new threat to world peace. The image of Muslims and their credibility was completely tarnished and Muslims were stated to be seen as a threat and untrustworthy. In this paper we will see how introducing a state of exception and increased surveillance of Muslims has led to them to become fearful and alienated.
In both given articles, “The Roots of Muslim Rage” by Bernard Lewis, and “The Roots of Muslim Rage Revisited” by Nicolaas J.E. van der Zee, argue about the enhancement of the Muslim fundamentalism with different perspectives; however, I believe that Lewis’ view may be quiet misleading to the actual perception. 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 is a source of aggression” . In defiance of Lewis’ 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 Lewis conceptualizes to be the headline of Islam does not have any supporting
When I read Sonnet 43, "How do I love thee?" I was very impressed with it. I have read a lot of things about love, and I do know a lot about love as well. When reading it, I was very intrigued with how much the writer described their love for this person, and the depths they went to describe it as well. It is a true love from what I can read, especially from the lines "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height", "I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use", "With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death." This is imagery for the mind to me, it helps me to clearly understand the love and be able to compare it to some of the best things in life such as childhood, god, saints, etc.
After 9/11 has induced negative attitudes towards Muslim peoples who tend to be strongly associated with any act of terrorism. The media has played a colossal role in developing such negative association wherein it constantly portrays Muslim people in combination with violent terrorist acts. It does so in a way that they both go hand-and-hand. In other words, it has made it as though the Islamic religion is synonymous with terrorism. The media has perpetuated Muslim stereotypes over the years that followed the 9/11 incident. Because of this, society has developed, and still has developed, this prejudiced mindset about the Islamic religion and the Muslim communities around the world. People immediately assume that any violent act being depicted through the media is the direct result of Muslims. They automatically generate this idea that the act was performed by a Muslim terrorist even when they were not involved whatsoever. Regardless of whether it was true or not, Islamic religion and its Muslim adherents are at the top of societies’ agenda just waiting for the evidence to be generated so that they can then safely blame them for such world affairs. Again, this has led to the attack on the Islamic religion itself wherein people have come to postulate Islam as an act of oppression, violence and hatred towards non-Muslims. Anti-Muslim sentiments and campaigns have resulted from such misinformation the media has been generating and feeding its viewers.