Shattering the Myth (Hardcover)

by Bruce B. Lawrence (Author) "Major First World nationalisms, according to one widely cited sociological study, can be deduced from the review of five nation-states, all of which have forged..." (more)
Key Phrases: personal law, Shah Bano, Saudi Arabia, Islamic Republic of Iran (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Islamic scholar Bruce Lawrence shatters the myth of a monolithic and violent Muslim culture. Gazing down the corridors of the future, it's easy to see more of the same for Islamic nations: war, poverty, suppression. But Lawrence is optimistic, because he takes the long view, noting how Muslim nations have always been working for better futures, even though they have been shackled with a legacy of violence from Western colonialism and imperialism. Each Muslim society must be looked at from the details of its own history, he says, and from his acute observations of Muslim countries--from Tunisia to Malaysia--we see populations that are largely nonfundamentalist and ripe for advancement into democratic, humanitarian futures, most notably from the perspectives of women and capitalist-oriented Malays. Lawrence takes us beyond the veil of a uniform, violent, male Islam to a variegated and nuanced world that deserves more than the emblazoned headlines that define it now. --Brian Bruya

Review
"Bruce Lawrence's excellent analysis of Islam today brings together socioeconomic, historical, political, and religious elements, and sets these against the backdrop of global capitalism and high technology . . . . Shattering the Myth is an extremely well argued, well developed and well documented book that serves as a basis for further studies of Islam and the images held about it." -- Middle East Journal

"In Shattering the Myth, Bruce Lawrence takes us beyond the headlines and CNN broadcasts and shows us an Islam that is not quite as neat and tidy as popularly presented." -- Ethnic Conflict

"In this thought provoking and informative work, the author ... seeks to dispel the misconceptions and fears about Islam which are too often held by those with an incomplete understanding of what Islam is and what its followers believe and seek.... Anyone wishing to develop an accurate understanding of the subject should read this book." -- Virginia Quarterly Review

"Shattering the Myth is an important book. . . . It is a brilliant example of applied religious studies." -- History of Religions

"The book makes the commonsense yet often overlooked argument that Islam must be understood, in its variety, as a complex and developing religious system not separated from the everyday and global concerns of Muslims.... Insightful analysis." -- Religious Studies Review

A timely contribution to an ongoing debate on the relationship between Islam and violence, a debate that has shed more heat than light. It cannot afford to be ignored by anyone interested in the relations between Muslims and people of other faiths. -- Review

A timely contribution to an ongoing debate on the relationship between Islam and violence. -- Islamic Studies

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 237 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (March 16, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691057699
• ISBN-13: 978-0691057699
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,729,777 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not an Easy Read, November 14, 2001

By	Randall L. Daut (Wauwatosa, WI USA) - See all my reviews

I first heard of this book during a public radio program on which the author, Bruce Lawrence, was one featured guest. I read the professional reviews and figured it would be a good book. I did wonder why no lay reader had reviewed it. Having now finished the book on Nov. 14, 2001, I wonder if I'm the only person outside the academic world who has ever managed to get through it.

I began by reading the introduction; that was almost a fatal mistake. The writing style was difficult to follow, and the language was arcane, sprinkled with words like "postmodern," "metanarrative" and "perspectivist." After bogging down in the introduction for several days, I moved on to the first chapter. Fortunately, the book became somewhat easier to follow at that point, but the author continued to use uncommon words where common ones would suffice and to use common words in uncommon ways. He also had a tendency to begin sentences with "If." The clause that followed the "If" typically referred to an argument that was not spelled out, but which the reader needed to infer from the context. The author also made frequent use of qualifying phrases that contributed to the difficulty of the reading without adding much to the meaning.

In the book, Bruce Lawrence surveyed the Muslim world, focusing on the role of fundamentalism in various Muslim countries, then turning to the role of women in parts of that world. He ended with a consideration of Jihad and corporate culture in Malaysia. His sections on fundamentalism and Muslim women were the clearest sections. In the last section, he tended to lapse into a more arcane use of language again.

I cannot criticize the content of the book, because I have been quite ignorant of the Muslim world until very recently, but I have the sense that the author had a comprehensive and subtle understanding of the material he covered. Though it certainly wasn't easy, I believe I learned a good deal from this book. In the current world context, I think many educated readers would appreciate and benefit from the author's knowledge. Alas, I doubt that most people will do so unless he can write something that is clearer and more accessible.

5 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Islam is... Islams, April 28, 2002

By	John C. Landon "nemonemini" (New York City) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Shattering the Myth (Paperback)

... This work explodes the myth in reverse, of the alien,hostile, and monolithic Islam, and is both a corrective to a corrective and useful as a reminder of the dangers of one-dimensional reduction of any socio-historical complexity, most especially Islam where the journalist impressionism of accounts of terrorism lose sight of the endless rooms in a large labyrinth. There many things, like the legacy of Sufism, are not even visible to the naked eye. We seem left to repeat, 'Islam is this, or this'. The scale alone of Islam is tremendous, and the Middle East is but one star in this constellation, one should retell the tale of the blindmen and the elephant. There is an irony to world history that the world of Islam suffers the abstract cunning and mathematically economic jihad of westernization turned globalization, and as bedouins all we might note the curious genaeology of inheritance in both systems.
This book was reviewed alongside Paul Fregosi's Jihad.