Customer Reviews

Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition: Essays by Western Muslim Scholars (Perennial Philosophy)

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There are many books today which deal with the so-called crisis in the Islamic world, from Bernard Lewis' "What Went Wrong?" which takes a narrow and often absurdly one-sided view to the West-Islam problem, to books by Muslims trying to explain away their real shortcomings by blaming everyone but themselves. This book does neither. To my knowledge the perspective that both sides should be embracing a more deep-rooted and traditional practice and understanding of Islam has only appeared in perhaps a few articles in the Western press and in one or two recent books. The rest of the literature out there seems to be caught between either a complete dilution of Islam in favor of modernity or a mindless rejection of all things Western in favor of a cult of zealous legalism.

I reccommend this book for two reasons. First, it starts from a point of view of pragmatism that is refreshing in such an emotional time. A prime example is Ansary's article analyzing Bin Laden's strategy using game theory, which is original and extremely persuasive. Second, it takes into account the vast ocean of Islamic civilization and the intellectual and spiritual history to which it gave rise. Both sides of the issue of Islamic fundamentalism have almost completely insulated themselves from the great tradition of scholarship and traditional spirituality. For example, both Jerry Falwell and Osama bin Laden seem to agree that the Koran allows cart blanche to carry out war as one sees fit (if one is a Muslim). Dakake's article makes it clear that only a total ignoramus or a delusional maniac could accept such an interpretation in light of the history of just war theory in Islam.

In general, one finds insights about Islam and the present situation that it is difficult to find elsewhere. You will not find rehashing of the same tired analysis we are pelted with on a daily basis in our media. Agree or not, the points of view presented here are important and are, to my mind, very persuasive.

Ever since standing on the flight deck of the USS Midway in late February 1980 watching the calm, warm waters comprising what was then called Gonzo Station recede in the ship's wake, I have tried to uncover insights into what was compelling the peoples of that restless corner of the world to act in ways I couldn't quite comprehend. Gonzo Station was a "box of water" at the mouth of the Straits of Hormuz where the aircraft carrier from which I been flying was tethered for 90-plus days. The USS Midway was the 1st major US warship to sortie towards the Arabian Sea in response the seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran. We flew one helluva of bunch of armed reconnaissance sorties in preparation for the ill-fated operation rescue attempt at Desert One in the sands of Iran. I left Gonzo Station with concern that we would be back. Several years later, I was fortunate to be selected by the Marine Corps to attend a respected graduate school in New England, where I decided to attempt to gain greater understanding as to what had driven the mullahs, imams, and ayatollahs to become so "political." But at that time, much of the scholarly writing on this topic was limited to work by individuals, generally all Muslims, born and reared in the Middle East but now living in the West. As much as they attempted to write from a perspective that would allow a WASP male like myself understand how stresses in Islam were beginning to manifest themselves in the political life of nations, they failed - - at least as I saw it. That is why Dr Lumbard's book Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betray of Tradition is an essential key for a male WASP like this retired Marine to try anew to understand the complex societal, cultural, and religious linkages behind the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, the bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon, and most recently, the latest act of war performed against America by certain twisted practitioners of Isalm - - namely, the horrendous attacks of 9/11. The contributors to this book and its editor speak to me in a manner I can readily understand. Of particular note is the chapter on "The Decline of Knowledge and the Rise of Ideology in the Islamic World" by the book's editor. It identified the net effect of the failures in the general and religious education systems of these nations and why the minds of young males are such fertile ground for manipulation. For persons such as myself who remain curious as to how events arise that have effected my private and professional lives, the opportunity afforded to me by this book regarding insights into the role of Islam within the lives of its believers from a convert who may have grown up or lived just down the street from me is invaluable. There is a reason why Christians or Jews convert to the other Abrahamic faith. If their god is the same god to whom we refer with the words "In God We Trust" on our money or etched on the walls of our most sacred buildings (and I believe he or she is), then we need more books like this one to enable us to feel completely "at ease" living with "non-jihadist" Muslims, born or converted. We must continue to search out the good in Islam so that our nation's policies towards Middle Eastern countries can be more effectively recast while we hunt down to their death those fundamentalist who have betrayed the traditions of this great faith.

Stephen T York
Lieutenant Colonel, USMC Retired

I thank Robert Spencer for putting in his views. However I respectfully disagree with his assessment of this book. This book I do believe gives a powerful counter to the Takfiri/Qutbist/Al-Qaeda ideology of infinite Jihad. The modern Islamic jurists who give the caveats about killing women and children, also follow a modern line of scholars, and NOT traditional Sunni scholars or the examples of their prophet and of the Sahaba (companions of Mohammed). I am not Muslim, however, as a conflict anthropologist I am working on doing research to develop alternative methods of counter-terrorism using traditional Islam as the foundation. This book has been an excellent resources for me in opening the doors to the very long and rich history of traditional Islamic scholars and their views on Jihad. Aside from a handful of fanatical early scholars like Ibn Tammiyah, the majority have never advocated what we see today in the extremist movement in Islam that is rapidly growing as it is being fed by the "War on Terror".
Surah 9:29 is scary at first glance, but not so scary when it's read within the context of Sunah (life, actions, and behavior of Mohammed) which heavily emphasizes respecting peace treaties with non-believers for example. This book mentions also examples of joint-Jihad in which Christian Arab tribes fought alongside Muslims against common enemies. So the Qu'ran needs to be understood within the context of Sunah and historical context. This is something good Islamic scholars do. Sadly not every modern Islamic scholar does this. But that does not mean that they represent Islam and all Muslims. At any rate, this is a form of review and not the place for debate. I will go to the website you named on your post to continue the debate if you post a topic on this book. I hope what I said however is of interest to those interested in this book as I believe it is a vastly more accurate book then many others out there that try to scare the hell out of non-Muslims that we need to start fighting Islam like we did the communists during the Cold War.
This neoconservative view that is being followed now by the United States government only leads to self-fullfilling prophecy as it swells the ranks of extremist Islamist movements by giving legitimacy to them and fullfilling the extremist's claims that the United States is waging a war upon Islam.

Salam
Miles

In the climate of the current widely orchestrated Islamophobic assessment, this book is a powerfully fresh set of articles to bring to bear against those who are ignorant of Islam's true existence. Throughout the chapters I was confronted/reassured with numerous arresting counter-facts. In the article The Myth of Militant Islam I found out that the Quranic advice "Slay them wheresoever you find them" is located within the very same sentence as "and turn them out wherever they have turned you out," interpreted by the vast majority of historic and current Islamic scholars to refer not to Christians and Jews of the Book but specifically to those polytheist Meccans who cruelly harried the first few adherents to the message of Muhammad. Several other commonly bantered-about Quranic phrases are shown in their true and respectful light. In the article The Decline of Knowledge and the Rise of Ideology in the Modern Islamic World the editor masterfully emphasizes the great degree of effort which traditional Islam gave in wedding knowledge to religious doctrine and action. Historically and even currently, Muslim sufi circles waxed and waned in popularity and influence within the Islamic world. This historic knowledge-spirituality synthesis has faded somewhat, to be replaced by various accretions of discarded Western ideologies reconstituted by liberalizing Muslim modernists and doctrinaire (stringent) Muslim reformists in the form of pseudo-Islamic theological and philosophical writings. Thus, what began as the anti-religious Renaissance and Enlightenment attack against Christianity's religious and intellectual synthesis has been partially ingested into Muslim writings. Stringent reformist Muslims, in a confused reaction to being confrontated with Western science and secularism, now struggle side by side with the Muslim modernists as they move toward some future undescribed goal, both paradoxically unaware of their accord in accepting the secular Western scientific paradigm that eventually runs counter to the body of religious ethics and laws which they as Muslims yet try to preserve. In the article A Traditional Islamic Response to the Rise of Modernism one is alerted to the figure of Maulana Thanvi, an Indian Sufi born in 1863, who chastised certain modernist Islamic thinkers by using an Islamic set of spiritually intellectual arguments to expose the erroneous assumptions of invading Enlightenment ideologies such as naturalism, rationalism, empiricism and scientism. In contrast to the Christian West's willful divorce of knowledge from religion and the subsequent kowtowing to modernism, there exists in today's Islam a surprising amount of intellectual integration within the religious universe, drawing upon the vast store of Islamically integrated thought and wisdom. In the article Recollecting the Spirit of Jihad the true and long understood meaning of this term, maliciously abused now by several sides, is nobly resurrected to its deeply sacred and enviable conceptualization. Historic and recent examples of tolerant Muslim warriors in Spain, Algeria, Dagestan and Afghanistan involving inter- and intra-religious dimensions are recounted, making it apt be speak of a Christian chivalry mirrored in the Islamic world. The article The Muslim World and Globalization: Modernity and the Roots of Conflict alerts one to the catastrophic misjudgment by today's most popular policy-making circles in presuming that Islamic people are supposed to simply throw garlands of flowers around forced "instant democratization," which ends up being a cover for, and heavily dependent upon, capitalistic economies of historically problematic performance. This most broad-scoped article excoriates globalization, spells out the inherent ethical conflicts between modern and traditional Islamic economic systems, and makes dubious the claim that Western-style democracy will make Islamic life better, noting that traditional and current Islamic societal structures already exemplify respectable democratic-like characteristics and universal ethical norms.

In these articles, the realization unfolds that the presence of that body of the Muslim population who are neither "fundamentalist" nor moderate/modernist is in actuality the vast majority, and they are properly called traditional orthodox mainstream Muslims. This category is holistic: it excludes intellectually repulsed "fundamentalists" and religiously-embarrased moderates. What is simply not true is the simpleton claim made on this week's Sunday morning TV weekend roundup that 95% of all Muslims are "moderate traditional Muslims...."

In short, I came to this collection of articles as a life-long American Muslim witness to the besmirchment of Islam that is currently being attempted. Like-minded and otherwise interested readers will find a repletion of alternative arguments, in several topics of interest, to bring to bear against the current spectacle of slanted and uninformed print and electronic media. The picture of past and present portrayed by this book certainly paints a more substantial and hopeful base from which to redirect the current Islamic debates. Bravo!

It is with the highest confidence that I recommend this superlative book. For almost three years I've been trying to reconcile the contradictory definitions of Islam (and more importantly political Islam) set by both the religion's detractors and adherents. Finally Joseph Lumbard's book paints a lucid picture of the plight of modern Islam, the precarious struggle between Islamic traditionalism and modernism, and the intellectual slip-ups of the religion's "fundamentalist" misinterpreters. Of course some essays are stronger than others (see the Winter article), though the book is consistent in its high level of scholarship. In fact, it sets the standard for the post 9-11 Islamic academic discourse. At 14 bucks, this book is a steal on many levels (not the least of which being its high-quality printing and format), and I highly recommend it for anybody remotely interested in Islam, political science, religious studies, or current events. If you, like me, feel that nobody has adequately explained and analyzed the seemingly insane and indiscriminate nature of terrorism and its neoconservative response from a socio-religious perspective, then this is THE book for you.

In the wake of the tragic events in New York. Many americans were confused about thier muslim nieghbors. Many seek answers of the events explained by extreme views that islam is a violent religion that threatens america. For years i seen politicians, journalists, and evangalists try to show islam to be a religion threatening to americans for there own personal gains. In this book, it reveals from sound islamic scholarship that islam is not a relgion for extremists or warmongers. It gives the approach from legitamate scholarship that was reconized by the majority of muslim scholars all throughout the history of islam. The books shows in a good manner to average westerners and confused muslims how reformists who broke away from the fold of the majority try to make up there own ways of religion for political and personel gain. Basically heretics. It gives how they rose and the ideas that gave roots to them. For a person trying to find truth in this crazy situation that we americans find ourselves i think you would find it very enlightening. But if you want to beleive in Robert Spencer's, Daniel Pipe's, Hal Lindsey's, Ibn Warraq's, and Bin Ladin's interpetation of islam then this book isnt for you. This view point comes from a muslim convert who study indepthly of this religion for many years and conversed with many of the great muslim scholars on many issues. I am also a patriotic american who served in Operation Iraqi freedom in the war against Terrorism to help keep America safe. This book from my studies is what i feel helps keep america safe.

Scholarship in the field of Islamic studies has improved steadily since the 1970's. Whereas Islam was often viewed as a monolith, and from an orientalist perspective, current scholarship has been more informed of the realities of the religion. Unfortunately recent popular media and writing has tended to reverse this positive trend and outlook. Many books, articles and classes are back to portraying Islam and Muslims in terms of divisive characterizations. Muslims tend to be viewed as "fundamentalist", modernist or opposed to Western civilization. The spiritual dimension of the religion, Sufism, is often viewed as outside the core foundations of the religion. The divisive perceptions by both Muslims and non-Muslims reflect some actual situations but do not contribute to much needed mutual understanding.
The authors of this work demonstrate that only with an integrated approach, which includes the depth of the spiritual tradition within Islam, may issues in the current crisis be addressed and lasting solutions found.
What is unique about this book is that it explains the current situation and crisis we are facing (particularly as a result of the terrible tragedy of September 11th) based on a more complete understanding of the Islamic intellectual tradition. This tradition always refers back to a metaphysical, meta-historical Reality defined not only by Islamic revelation, but by all the world's great religious traditions. It would be easier to simply state positive aspects of Islam without rising to the challenge of addressing the specific problems, issues and negative images the Western media has confronted Muslims with. It is even more rare to see these issues addressed from the perspective of a long-standing intellectual tradition based on sacred texts and writings of eminent figures in the past and modern eras. The authors in this book manage to incorporate sound scholarship and critical analysis using the resources of the spiritual and intellectual tradition of Islam to address the difficult questions now challenging the Islamic view.
The book edited by Joseph Lumbard includes: a foreword by Seyyed Hossein Nasr; a Qur'anic analysis of the term "Jihad" by David Dakake; a study of the decline of knowledge based on the Islamic intellectual tradition of "Ihsan" by Joseph Lumbard; a response to modern secularism by Fuad Naeem; an analysis of the spirit of jihad by Reza Shah-Kazemi; a view of the roots of modern misconceptions of Islam by Ibrahim Kalin; an application of game theory as a strategy for dealing with the politics of terrorism by Waleed El-Ansary; a Muslim response to the social, economic and political impacts of globalization by Ejaz Akram; and a perspective on the effects of fanaticism on the Muslim community by T. J. Winter.
This work constitutes a refreshing collection of articles that succeed in stimulating the debate on the current world crisis and in taking account of the problems from an integral approach to Islam.

Every once in a blue moon I come across a book that I would just love to purchase hundreds of copies of and distribute to everyone I meet. This is one of those books. There is so much nonsense being circulated around the water cooler and even in academia regarding Islam. On the one hand we have the Islam bashers who develop strongly negative opinions of Islam with little real knowledge of it. On the other hand we have a minority of loud mouthed puritanical fundamentalists (within Islam) who pervert the meaning of the Quran. How do we combat both? The exact same way this book does by providing actual context to the "proof texts" (mis) utilized by both groups and by making available the full range of Islamic teaching regarding just war and the proper and compassionate treatment of others.

One aspect of Islam that is often misunderstood (and is explained very well in this work ) is the concept of Jihad. Jihad means literally "struggle" or "exertion". It can be used to denote struggle against others as well as struggle against the ego, ignorance , and temptation . Jihad against others can include both military struggle AND verbal struggle (debating, proclaiming the truth in the face of opposition, etc..). Inner Jihad is also known as "Greater Jihad" and outer Jihad is called "lesser Jihad" based on a hadith of the Prophet (pbuh)*.

The first Quranic verse** to mention the military aspect of Jihad discusses the defense not only of mosques but also churches, monasteries, and synagogues! That this is the first statement on military JIhad is agreed on by the great early Quranic commentator Al Tabari as well as Ibn Kathir, Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Ibn-al Zubayr, Zayd ibn Aslam, Qatudati, among others (all respected early Islamic scholars ). In other words military (or lesser Jihad) was often intended to defend both Muslims and the people of the book from persecution. In fact people of the book were often called to join in WITH Muslims in various military Jihads (and did so ) against those persecuting them.

* "You have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad". Hadith revealed after a battle.

**Verse 22:39-40

39. "To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they are wronged;- and verily, Allah is most powerful for their aid;-

40. (They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right,- (for no cause) except that they say, "our Lord is Allah.. Did not Allah check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allah is commemorated in abundant measure. Allah will certainly aid those who aid his (cause);- for verily Allah is full of Strength, Exalted in Might, (able to enforce His Will). "

This book clearly demonstrates that Bin Laden's call to attack U.S. citizens for a "Crusader-Zionist" foreign policy is absurd. Taxpayers do not make enemy combatants in any law, let alone Islamic law, regardless of foreign policy. The essay on game theory also refutes the idea that the terrorists' goal is to conquer the U.S. rather than influence our foreign policy using a "tit-for-tat" strategy. The claim that Bin Laden is attacking U.S. citizens because they are enemy combatants by paying taxes, while denying that U.S. foreign policy is the key fueling the attacks is self-refuting. Unfortunately, many Christian fundamentalists make this mistake, doing a disservice to their fellow Americans by contributing to a dangerous combination of power and ignorance.

[...]

Certainly I would like to believe the book's central thesis, that Osama bin Laden and other jihad terrorists violate the tenets of traditional Islam, but the book fails to make this case. For example, the opening essay by David Dakake mentions ahadith that forbid mujahedin from killing women and children, but breezes by the caveat emphasized by many Islamic jurists -- unless they are aiding the war effort -- which the jihadists use to justify killing innocent civilians. He gives no explanation of how moderate Muslims might refute this. Nor does he, in a lengthy explanation of the laws of jihad concerning warfare against Jews and Christians, even once mention the central text on this subject, Qur'an 9:29 -- a glaring omission that casts doubt upon the entire enterprise.

If traditional Islam refutes jihadism, that is good news, and a source of hope for an end to the crisis within Islam. But pretending that this is so, as this book essentially does, doesn't make it so. This book may reassure non-Muslims who know little of Islam that Islam is peaceful, but it will do nothing to convince jihadist Muslims to lay down their arms.