60 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent academic overview of terrorism in Islam, April 30, 2002
John Esposito is the author of one of the very best introductions to Islam currently available, ISLAM: THE STRAIGHT PATH, and is one of the most respected Islamic scholars currently working in the US. It was with enormous excitement that I discovered that Esposito had written a book that addresses the concerns that most Americans and Europeans have in the wake of 9-11.
This book is invaluable for understanding both the variety of traditions in Islam concerning Jihad, a term which means, simply, "struggle", and not, as many in the US imagine, something akin to "war". This "struggle" is most often, as Esposito explains, spiritual than military, and he is outstanding at showing the wide variety of views concerning the forms "jihad" can take. Even for those who believe in a military "jihad" Esposito demonstrates that there are many viewpoints. He is also superb at integrating these varying understandings with the origins of Islam. One of his great achievements is in showing that just as there is enormous diversity in Christianity (just compare the beliefs of Anglicans, Southern Baptists, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, Roman Catholics, Russian Orthodoxy, Pentecostals, Unitarians, Jehovah Witnesses, and Presbyterians, to take merely a few Christian traditions, and the point is grasped), so also there is a vast amount of diversity in Islamic belief. He points out that the vast majority of Muslims do not countenance violence against innocent civilians. The focus, however, of this book is on that minority that embraces violence.
Esposito discusses not only traditional Islamic teachings on Jihad and the relations of Islam with non-Islamic individuals and countries, but also 20th century thinkers and activists. This was the part of the book I found most helpful. Esposito shows how the terrorists are frequently driven by a set of ideas derived from specific writers or schools of thought. The have been inculcated in specific ways of conceiving the state of Islam's relation with the rest. These thinkers have argued for a purer form of Islam, for the establishment of genuine Islamic governments in primarily Islamic countries, for the severing of cultural and economic ties with the West (even to the extent of ceasing to export oil), for the elimination of an American and European presence and influence in these countries, and for the establishment of a homeland for the Palestinian people. And, unfortunately, many--though by no means all--of these thinkers conceive it as legitimate to employ terrorist acts of violence to achieve these goals.
While UNHOLY WAR has many virtues, it does have couple of weaknesses. The weaknesses consist in the fact that for most of us, the situation with terrorism is an immensely practical issue: we want to know what can be done, what solutions exist for resolving this situation, how Muslims and Westerners can peacefully coexist on this planet. Esposito does offer a final chapter that addresses some causes for hope, primarily in the shape of paradigms within Islam itself that offer alternatives to those espoused by Osama bin Laden and his cohorts. This was the weakest part of the book, by far. The individuals that Esposito mentions have not, unfortunately, captured the imaginations of many Muslims who are engaged in the struggle to right what they see to be the wrongs inflicted on Islam by the US and European civilization. I would love for Americans and Middle Eastern Muslims to understand each other; for now, I would be content with extremists ceasing acts of terrorism and for Americans to begin addressing in concrete the Muslims very real complaints about US military presence in Saudi Arabia and the failure to respond to needs for a Palestinian homeland.
Stylistically, the book is not as well written as one might hope. The first chapter especially is sometimes a bit flat. Perhaps the desire to get this book published quickly is partly at fault for that. Nonetheless, this is a book that can be read with enormous profit. Like me, perhaps a reader will be left feeling actually less hopeful afterwards, especially after learning how widespread ultraconservative Hammadi Islam has become. But anyone reading this will definitely have a greater understanding of the intellectual underpinnings of the more radical elements of contemporary Islam.
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50 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A sincere attempt to understand, June 5, 2002
Having read a few of John Esposito's other books I had come to appreciate him as one of America's most level-headed analysts of things Islamic. That is why the first chapter of 'Unholy War' was somewhat disappointing. The description of Osama bin Laden's career as a militant Muslim appeared not to differ very much from many other, superficial accounts of this new 'posterboy' of international terror. Thankfully this unease was dispelled by the remainder of the book, where Esposito shows himself again as somebody with a willingness to understand, without becoming apologetic.
For in the second chapter the author seems to regain his composure when he constructs a genealogy of the Islamic Jihad doctrine. The reader is guided through the earliest time of Islam, via the lone medieval figure of Ibn Taymiyya and the 18th-century revivalist Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, to three exponents of modern-day Islamic reformism: the founder of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Hasan al-Banna, the Pakistani writer-activist Maulana al-Mawdudi, and the chief ideologist of Islamic radicalism, Sayyid Qutb.
As this chapter only gives a brief account of the development of the Jihad concept, there are certain unavoidable generalizations. Unfortunately the depiction given of Shi'ism is somewhat simplistic. However, with this historical account Esposito makes the less-informed reader aware of the fact that the past is of great importance for giving meaning and guidance to Muslim identity.
Crucial in this section of the book is the underscoring of the fact that Muslims disagree among themselves about the exact meaning of Jihad. The fact that until to date the United States government judged Islam's holy and unholy warriors by their goals is another excellent observation. They were called liberators when fighting America's Cold War adversary, but brandished as extremists as they toppled America's ally, the Shah. Future policy makers should heed the implicit warning that is contained in Esposito's qualification that things are never that simple.
The third chapter is without a doubt the best. Discerning a new dimension of radical Muslim activism: globalization, the author also focusses on the mutual misunderstandings and misconceptions that exist between the Western and the Islamic World. Where Westerners tend to see Islam as a religion of the sword, Muslims equal Christianity with Crusades and hegemonic ambition. Later history has done very little to dispel these grossly simplistic images.
But these images do bear a relevance for today's situation. European colonialism ended Muslim expansion that had continued since the days of the Prophet. This setback was formative for the Muslims' present mindset. Combined with the Muslim notion that Islamic societies must reform themselves in every age, 'they make a combustible mixture'.
Western domination has not only had an impact on the relationship between the Muslim and Western world, but also on the relationship between rulers and ruled in the Islamic world itself. The upheaval created by Western interference has still not petered out. Most of the Muslim states are creations of colonialism and the prevalent systems of government are still authoritarian. Esposito warns against drawing the conclusion that repression and dictatorship are therefore inherent to Islam.
Esposito cautions also against two other misleading generalizations, which are the result of ignorance regarding the complexities of Muslim society.
One is the assumption that radical Islam is only about armed resistance, violence, and terrorism. But there is another side to it as well. Even organizations that are involved in terrorist activities, like the Hizbollah and Hamas, have at the same time provided vital social, educational, and health services for their communities where the governments have failed to do so. Such contributions to the raising of living standards will get them the enduring support of the people, even if such organizations are at the same time guilty of atrocities against outsiders.
Another mistake is to group all forms of Islamic reformism in gloss categories and use umbrella terms. Esposito cites the misdenomination of all radical Muslims as Wahhabis or Salafis. The original meanings of these terms referred to very specific historical movements, while the latter term was - ironically - first used to denote that trend in Islamic thought, which encouraged the incorporation of modernist concepts and ideas.
In the final chapter of the book, Esposito makes an attempt to introduce empathy into our stand towards the Islamic world. He points out that if we presume 'the other' as being completely different from what we are, then we will find in 'the other' whatever we are looking. There is a real danger that we will be tempted to demonize the other.
Instead we should try to take a look at the historical experience of the Islamic world through their eyes. In addition to that we must endavor to judge Islam by the totality of its teachings, and not take extremist ideas living at the perify as representing mainstream Muslim sentiment.
Furthermore, religious traditions have come into being through the interactions of their predecessors. While we accept that a Judeo-Christian tradition has been internalized and turned into what we call 'Western society', most Westerners have difficulty in coming to terms with the prospect of a Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition. And yet such encounters have already taken place in the past: in Asia Minor, Spain, and Sicily. They have been vital not only for the formation of Islamic civilization, but also for some of the most fertile phases in Western thought.
It is on these grounds that Esposito rejects the unavoidability of a clash of civilizations. Too much cross-fertilization has already taken place. Western and Islamic traditions are pluralist and not monolithic. Towards the end of the book he presents also a number of representatives from the Islamic world who acknowledge the existence of such a pluralism. It is such figures who can act as bridge-builders from the Muslim side, while similar minds start at ours.
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26 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A REALISTIC WORK THAT PLUGS MANY HOLES, October 20, 2002
By A Customer
Esposito has done a good job in presenting the many facts that are not known to common public in the West. I feel Esposito has been very brave and upfront. He's been outspoken, yet also well balanced. He does not try to please anyone. Also, contrary to what his critics might say, he is not one sided. In fact, to put it more appropriately, this book fills up a hole in the western media, by presenting the other side of the story, which is largely missing from the media. It is a great read because it helps REALISTICALLY answer many questions the west has about Islam, rather than giving self-satisfying short answers which make no sense. The author also differentiates between terrorists, and Muslim activists all over the world. He explains how various rulers, Western and Islamic, have cleverly used the tag of terrorism to curb legitimate opposition in many Muslim countries. Wherever he has tried to correct a wrong western perception of a Islamic principle, he has given solid references and examples. If you don't already have your mind made up on blaming the religion, feel there are questions unanswered by the media, want to know the facts, or just want to hear the other side of the story from an unbiased resource, I would recommend this book to you.
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