The crisis of Islam
Subtitle: holy war and unholy terror
By: Bernard Lewis.
Edition: Modern Library ed.
Publisher: Modern Library
Published: 2003
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 184
Subjects: Religion - World Religions; War; Middle East - History; History; Terrorism; History: World; Religious aspects; Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism; Islam - History; Middle East - General; History / Middle East; Islam; Jihad
First sentence: It is difficult to generalize about Islam.
Description: "The Crisis of Islam ranges widely through thirteen centuries of history, but in particular it charts the key events of the twentieth century leading up to the violent confrontations of today: the creation of the state of Israel, the Cold War, the Iranian Revolution, the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan, the Gulf War, and the September 11 attacks on the United States." "While hostility toward the West has a long and varied history in the lands of Islam, its current concentration on America is new. So too is the cult of the suicide bomber. Brilliantly disentangling the crosscurrents of Middle Eastern history from the rhetoric of its manipulators, Bernard Lewis helps us understand the reasons for the increasingly dogmatic rejection of modernity by many in the Muslim world in favor of a return to a sacred past. Based on his George Polk Award-winning article for The New Yorker, The Crisis of Islam is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what Osama bin Laden represents and why his murderous message resonates so widely in the Islamic world."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: 1. Defining Islam; title: 2. The house of war; title: 3. From crusaders to imperialists; title: 4. Discovering America; title: 5. Satan and the Soviets; title: 6. Double standards; title: 7. A failure of modernity; title: 8. The marriage of Saudi power and Wahhabi teaching; title: 9. The rise of terrorism.