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Western Dominance and Political Islam: Challenge and Response

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In "Western Dominance and Political Islam" its author, Khalid Bin Sayeed, pleads (1) that authoritarian Muslim dictators/kings should install popularly elected governments, and (2) that the Muslim imam-clerical hierarchy, who are theologically stuck in the 7th Century, should cast-off its "Old Time Religion" of Islam and allow liberal/progressive/moderate/secular-oriented `thinking' within its ranks if they want to truly `modernize' the Islam religion so that the down-trodden Muslim commoners can rise out of their squalid lives. The problem is that the author does not provide anything like a "10-step Rehabilitation" program to `reinterpret' or `reformulate' Islam to bring about its `enlightenment.' The author focuses his attention on the political and economic problems of Egypt, Pakistan and Iran. The author doesn't understand economics, so while he admires all of the products created in Western free-market countries, he believes (as many Muslims do) that all of these low-priced commodities that the Muslim poor buy - are actually `debasing' Muslims -- in that they are buying low-priced, foreign-made "Western decadence" products over the more expensive and shoddier products made in Muslim countries. He realizes that communism doesn't work, and while capitalism provides the products the poor want, he just believes that the commoners don't understand that they shouldn't really be buying "Western" (i.e. American/European) products - because they decay Muslim values (which he doesn't identify). He favors some type of a Muslim-controlled economy: not capitalist, not communist, not socialist -- just Islamic (whatever that may entail he does not stipulate). He SEES how the political tyrants in Egypt, Pakistan and Iran have established `monopolies' for their relatives to control the production and sale of various commodities in these countries - but he blames this on the capitalistic system, rather than recognizing that the monopolies exist because they are empowered by these despotic rulers. He believes that to bring "modernization" to these countries, Islam has to be `reformed', primarily by allowing people to obtain a `Western' education and junking those sections of the Quran that stifle intellectual inquiry. He opines that the imams in each Muslim country need to allow some type of an intellectual-forum council (a publicly elected parliament) to arise -- to toss out "bad" Islam and keep just the "good" modernization stuff. Unfortunately, he doesn't provide any type of a shopping-list for differentiating between the good versus the bad Koranic stuff - but he believes that the parliamentarians will easily figure this out. The author believes that "Islam is the Solution" in rectifying the economic sufferings of the Muslim masses. Of course, Israel takes it on the chin - it simply has too much influence on getting American financial support for it to continue its occupation of inherent `Palestinian' lands. This is a book worth reading by even the Daniel Pipes/Robert Spencer Alliance folks to identify a Muslim who writes about the ravages that Islam has brought upon its believers, but one who can't figure out how to pull himself out of the Islamic intellectual tar-pit. I learned a lot from this book about various political causes-and-effects regarding these countries. The author identifies many Islam-created problems, but he doesn't offer specific reforms as to how to rectify them. (One book that specifically identifies hundreds of Islam-induced problems is "Decline of Muslim States and Societies" by Misbah Islam - although he, too, believes Islam can be `reformed.') The author was Professor Emeritus of Political Studies and Adjunct Professor of History at Queen's University. Prof. Hrair Dekmejian correctly notes: "The book makes a strong statement against the pervasive political and cultural influence of the West in the Islamic world and in favor of Islamic modernization for the rebuilding of social and political systems in Muslim countries", but he is a little to hyperbolic in claiming "The author provides an enlightened Islamic perspective on what Muslims should do to rebuild their societies."