Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization [Hardcover]

Akbar Ahmed (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 7, 2007

Globalization, the war on terror, and Islamic fundamentalism - followed closely by a rise in Islamophobia - have escalated tensions between Western nations and the Muslim world. Yet, internationally renowned Islamic scholar Akbar Ahmed believes that through dialogue and understanding, these cultures can coexist peacefully and respectfully. To learn what Muslims think and how they really view America, Ahmed traveled to the three major regions of the Muslim world - the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In response to the events of September 11, 2001, Ahmed, Islamic studies professor at American University in Washington, D.C., set out last year to visit Muslim nations in the Middle East, South Asia and Far East Asia. Accompanied the entire way by two non-Islamic American students and occasionally by others—including one American student who was Islamic—the Pakistani-born professor hoped to improve his understanding of the contemporary Muslim realm in all its diversity. Not so incidentally, Ahmed also wanted to shatter the stereotype of the U.S. as a warmongering, Islam-hating nation. The result is a fascinating account of how he and his students braved danger to build mutual understanding in Pakistan, India, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Qatar, Malaysia and Indonesia. As academics, they administered detailed questionnaires to Muslims in each nation, while as social creatures, they sat through seminars, luncheons, dinners and casual conversations looking for a candid exchange of ideas about religious, political and cultural differences. Occasionally Ahmed lapses into academese, loses his humility or generalizes beyond what the evidence seems to support. But mostly he comes across as an honorable man who believes that the future of the human race depends on international dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims. (June)
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Review

"Akbar Ahmed has long been one of the beacons of the Muslim spokepersons in the West. Here he breaks new ground by taking the theme of dialogue as guiding light. This is a wonderful way to get a sense of the textures of conversations among contemporary Muslims." --Professor Omid Safi, University of North Carolina

"I strongly urge anyone concerned with the fate of this planet to not only read Journey into Islam, but also heed it." --The Rev. Canon John L. Peterson, Director, Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation, Washington National Cathedral

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press; 1 edition (May 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815701322
• ISBN-13: 978-0815701323
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #518,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Antidote to Clashing Civilizations May 10, 2007

By Brian Forst

Format:Hardcover

Akbar Ahmed is a welcome departure from the roar of Muslim rage. Journey into Islam, his latest book, is an anthropological account of his 2006 travel with a team of research assistants to the three major regions of the Muslim world: the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. It tells of mutual suspicions between the West and Islam, fed by stereotypes of the other, and how those perceptions can be reversed through direct personal exchange, how conversations even with extremists can change minds. It offers Ahmed's wise observations and reflections, documented in prose and photographs, and it has powerful implications for all of us.

I must put my cards on the table: Akbar is my friend and colleague. I was a skeptic when I first heard him in 2001, but I found the potency, eloquence and courage of his message irresistible, a vital counterpoint to the drumbeat of clash and turmoil. His central point is that civil dialogue, aimed at listening and learning -- without stifling one's own perspectives and concerns -- allows each side to understand the other, discover a common humanity, and sometimes even to develop friendships.

For Journey into Islam, Ahmed and his research team interviewed some 120 people in each of nine countries at universities, hotels and cafes, madrassahs and mosques. Ahmed had access to people that most non-Muslims would not have, including prime ministers and presidents, princes and sheikhs, but mostly ordinary Muslims. The team asked what they read, what changes they had witnessed in their communities and societies, the nature and extent of their access to technology and the news, people they regarded as role models, both contemporary and historical, and how they viewed America. The findings of his research are consistent with those of the surveys of public perceptions and opinions in Islam conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project and Zogby International. While his samples may be less representative of the broader populations than those of the Pew and Zogby surveys, they probe more deeply and are probably more candid. This was an exercise in dialogue as well as social science.

Ahmed reports that Muslims see themselves in a world spinning out of control, due principally to the cold forces of globalization, which brings the "poisons of greed, ignorance, and anger" into their lives. They find refuge by returning to their roots. The problem, he observes, has been exacerbated by the War on Terror, which has fueled the most revolutionary factions of Islam. Ahmed is hopeful that in time the more modern, democratic, and humanistic factions will re-emerge, and that we can accelerate such a development by returning to sanity through commitment to a more enlightened model of engagement: dialogue.

These are not the frothy slogans and dreams of a Pollyanna. Ahmed knows that some people are fanatics, beyond constructive dialogue. At the same time, as Pakistan's ambassador to Great Britain in the 1990s, he learned about changing minds and opening doors to tolerance and moderation. This book describes his extending that mission from the lofty halls of diplomacy to places where ordinary people live.

We are assaulted daily by apocalyptic images of suicide bombers acting in the name of Allah. Islam has been assaulted no less by grotesque images of Abu Ghraib and women and children killed by United States military, collateral damage inflicted in the name of freedom and democracy. Such images have become etched in the minds of the general public on each side, yet neither set bears any resemblance whatever to the lifestyles, morals and aspirations of the mainstream of either side. Ahmed's aim is to understand, chronicle, and correct these gross and toxic distortions.

Like the proverbial Persian rug, the book is not without a flaw. The absence of interviews of Persians, in fact, is a distinct flaw. More basically, anthropological research is usually plagued by questions about the representativeness of the observations, and this one is no different. While some 85% of Islam is Sunni, the countries visited were more predominantly Sunni than that, so the Shia perspective -- centered in Iran, a vast country not included in the study -- is underrepresented. Ahmed does discuss basic differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims, to be sure, but he does not probe beneath the steep ascent of Shia influence in recent years from Iran on down a crescent that runs through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. This important development has been effectively documented by Reza Aslan and others, and the interested observer would do well to read Aslan's No god But God, too. The fundamental distortions between the perceptions and realities that Ahmed reports are bound to exist everywhere, but the differences between Sunni and Shia attitudes would be worth knowing more about, particularly given the title of his book.

Ahmed's work, in any case, with that of Aslan and others, reveals a powerful, widely overlooked truth: despite popular images to the contrary, Islam is undergoing profound reform. Muslims are seeking their religious roots for answers, but they are not hopelessly stuck in the past. The West can influence this crucial process for the better by acknowledging what is worthy about Islam and encouraging the expansion of that worthiness by showing more interest and respect. The colossal failures of hard power should make Ahmed's approach the preferred alternative for idealists and policy makers alike.

This is an important, extremely timely book. It provides an opening for those who have grown weary of TV accounts of our dire circumstances and battles lost in the war against terrorism. If you would like to learn about Islam today from a humble, learned man, a voice of reason, one who understands intimately both Islam and the West, you should read this book. You might discover that the prospects for shifting the course of the world from clash to mutual understanding and respect are real, and in our hands.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a must read June 4, 2007

By Cedric Smith

Format:Hardcover

I read this book in just two sittings. I did not want it to end. The author covers so much and weaves an incredible and hopeful story throughout the deep analysis of contemporary Muslim culture and world politics. Ahmed introduces us a a real "extremist" or "jihadist" in the first pages and we see his remarkable transformation throughout the book. He is not the caricature that we see on the news or in Hollywood. Journey into Islam gives us a nuanced look into the mind of Muslims around the world ranging from fundamentalists like the one described above to modernists like President Musharraf and others to Sufi mystics. Combining history, personal narrative and jaw-dropping access to every sector of Muslim society, this book, for the first time, gives the reader an understanding of what is happening in the world today and why. I have read a lot of books on the subject but I can honestly say that I was clueless before I read this one. Extraordinary.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful interpretation of the Islamic world September 14, 2007

By Curious Senior

Format:Hardcover

This is an excellent, thoughtful study of the Islamic world and the impact globalization and our "war on terror" is having on these societies, by a professor of anthropology who has devoted his career to helping the west understand Islam. I strongly recommend it to anyone wanting to get behind the rhetoric which we are getting from the media and our government these days.