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After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy (Hardcover)

by Noah Feldman (Author) "Can democracy be made to flourish in the lands where Islam prevails?..." (more)
Key Phrases: mobile ideas, ignorant barbarism, oil monarchies, United States, Saudi Arabia, Islamic Republic (more...)

3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Feldman is careful to distinguish his first book from some of the spate of recent works with the word "jihad" in the title, which contend that anti-Western, violent brands of Islam are growing in strength and bravado. Feldman argues, on the contrary, that September 11 and more recent sporadic attacks mark "the last, desperate gasp of a tendency to violence that has lost most of its popular support." Violent jihad, or struggle, he asserts, has lost its luster in the Muslim world except in cases of self-defense, and most Muslims find both Islamic ideals and democratic values appealing. The question then becomes, "Would democratically elected Islamic governments be good or bad for Western interests?" His answer is that we shouldn't fear the worst. Feldman, a professor at New York University's School of Law with a doctorate in Islamic thought from Oxford, notes that both Islam and democracy are based on human equality and are highly flexible, and disputes claims that they are incompatible. About a third of the book is taken up with overviews of Islam and democratic development in specific countries and regions, such as Iran and Indonesia; these chapters cover well-hashed territory, but make useful summaries for nonexperts. Diehard proponents of a separation between mosque and state may remain unconvinced that elected Islamic governments would support such liberal notions as women's rights or religious freedom. But the strength of Feldman's work lies in his consistent and simple reminder that the emergence of democracy in some countries will not necessarily bring about Islamist rule, and that suppressing it would itself be downright undemocratic.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
An NYU law professor with a doctoral degree in Islamic studies considers whether Islamic nations can also be democratic.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1 edition (April 15, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0374177694
ISBN-13: 978-0374177690
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds

Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #795,582 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Can democracy be made to flourish in the lands where Islam prevails? Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mobile ideas, ignorant barbarism, oil monarchies, violent jihad, gradual democratization, greater jihad, rentier states

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Saudi Arabia, Islamic Republic, Middle East, Cold War, Supreme Leader, Ottoman Empire, West Bank, United Nations, World War, European Union, Gulf War, Muslim Brotherhood, Supreme Court, East Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, Northern Alliance, Palestinian Authority, Saddam Hussein, Soviet Union, Welfare Party, Islamic Action Front, President Bush, Persian Gulf, Prophet Muhammad

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 43 books:

Civil Islam by Robert W. Hefner on page 116, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington on page 26, page 184, and Back Matter
What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East by Bernard Lewis on page 26, and Back Matter
The Arabs in History by Bernard Lewis on page 26, and Back Matter
Islamic Political Thought by William Montgomery Watt in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 43 books this book cites

23 books cite this book:

Contemporary Islam: Dynamic, not Static by Abdul Said on page 128, and page 188
Muslim Ethics: Emerging Vistas by Amyn B. Sajoo in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism (The Contemporary Middle East) by Zachary Lockman in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror (Gifford Lectures (Princeton University Press)) by Michael Ignatieff in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
World Culture: Origins and Consequences by Frank J. Lechner in Back Matter

See all 23 books citing this book

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong

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International Relations of the Middle East by Louise Fawcett

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The Persian Gulf At the Millennium by Gary G. Sick

Discusses:

Understanding Jihad by David Cook

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	15% buy The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State (Council on Foreign Relations) 3.2 out of 5 stars (9) $15.61

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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews

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3.8 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Islamic democracy is the only solution to Islamist violence, May 4, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy (Hardcover)

The negative reviewers here have not read this book. In response to some of their claims: Other than Saudi Arabia, all Muslim nations allow churches/synagogues/temples for their minority faiths. Don't judge all Muslim nations by the behavior of the Saudi Wahabis. In Bangladesh, which is a Muslim democracy, Christmas is a public holiday, even though Christians make up less than 1 percent of the population. In the United Arab Emirates many malls display Christmas decorations and play Christmas carols. Christians also conquered, massacred and oppressed other peoples. Look at the treatment of natives in US, Canadian, South American and Australian history.

But now to the book. Feldman says that the West should not fear democracy in Muslim nations because even if Islamic parties come to power (they usually don't) the people will soon get tired of them because they won't deliver on basics, such as education, infrastructure and jobs. Islamic parties tend to promise Utopia if they get elected but will always fail to deliver on their promises. There is a lot of evidence to support Feldman's argument. You only have to look at Iran to see how quickly most people tired of Islamic rule. Muslims in Northern Nigeria are already starting to grumble about Islamic rule. In Pakistan, an Islamic party recently won power in one state (only because of outrage over the then impending US invasion of Iraq). Many now say that they regret their vote for this party and feel that crackdowns on freedoms and women's (already limited) rights have gone too far. In Malaysia Islamists recently lost control of one state they controlled.

Feldman also claims that Islamic Law can exist alongside democracy. Islamic Law is not actually Islamic. It did not exist in Muhammad's lifetime and was first implemented in the Ottoman Empire about 1000 years after the founding of Islam. Islamic Law only became widespread in the last 50 or so years. However, most Muslims do not know this, they falsely believe that Islamic Law is divine, and will therefore insist on some form of Islamic Law. In many Muslim nations Islamic Law exists alongside secular law. For example, family law tends to come from Islamic Law but criminal or business law is secular. I agree with Feldman that Islamic and secular law can coexist in a democratic society (it already does), and I also agree with Feldman when he says that this will make women and non-Muslims second-class citizens. But Feldman also believes, and I agree, that these societies will evolve and that women and minorities will fight for equal rights as has happened in the West. Keep in mind that in America Christianity was used to justify slavery and women's inequality. And keep in mind, that in America, women and minorities have had to struggle for the rights they have today. It's unreasonable to expect Islamic nations to become bastions of equality and justice overnight. This will be a long slow process.

Feldman is right that we in the West should not fear democracy in Islamic nations. About 40 percent of Muslims currently live in democratic countries, such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, France and the US, so Islam and democracy are obviously compatible. For too long the West supported and propped up dictators in Muslim nations and look what happened. America was hit on 9 11 and we and the Europeans will be fighting extremist Islamists for years to come. Giving Muslims the freedom to control their own destinies is the only answer to this problem.

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22 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, May 29, 2003

By	Ahmed (London, UK) - See all my reviews

Noah Feldman's book amounts to a restatement of arguments made in the '90s by one of his apparent mentors, John Esposito, who argues thatIslamists should be allowed to win elections. The trouble is, most Muslims in the Arab Middle East disagree with them, particularly women, who stand to suffer the most under the rule of clerics. Although I disagree with Feldman's argument, my main gripe with the book is its striking lack of originality. One might as well go to the source and read books by Esposito and Akbar Ahmed.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rosy Prediction on Prospects for Islamic Democracy, April 5, 2007

By	Eagle Eye - See all my reviews

This review is from: After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy (Paperback)

Feldman propounds a solution to a crucial problem of U.S. policy toward the Middle East: the fact that almost all the Arab regimes we support have scant legitimacy in the eyes of their people. The thrust of his argument is that things are so bad now that the U.S. doesn't have much to lose in supporting Arab democracies, even those that would be anti-American. As it stands, he believes that Arab governments are able to stifle freedom of thought and speech and manipulate public opinion against Israel and the U.S., to deflect attention away from their own fragile legitimacy. Why not, he proposes, just withdraw U.S. support for these regimes and truly support open political systems. Even if Islamists take over, the necessities of rule and the realities of power would force them to moderate their rhetoric. Arabs would have a channel to vent their political frustrations, and would no longer have any reason to attack the U.S. to get at their own regimes, as was the case in 9/11. Feldman also assumes that in open political systems, Arabs would pay more attention to their own local concerns and that the Palestinian-Israeli dispute would become less important.

Feldman's internal logic is consistent and he argues well, but how realistic are his assumptions? Are Islam and democracy as compatible as he believes?

His views are important because he was among the drafters of the interim Iraqi constitution.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Islamic permutations
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Published on April 3, 2006 by Mary E. Sibley

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic and valuable overview of Islam and democracy
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4.0 out of 5 stars A hopefull book...
An optimistic book that provides some hope for an Islamic democracy that aside am not suprised that it's been lambasted by the belligeratti... Read more

Published on March 10, 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars An example of scholarship trumping the truth
If Feldman's arguements had any validity, there would be Christian churches in Saudi Arabia, and thousands of "unbelievers" would still be alive in the Islamic countries... Read more

Published on November 14, 2003 by J. Adams

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5.0 out of 5 stars AN ANSWER FOR WHY&HOW
I think that this book represent one of the most important books that explain the answer for alot of questions for what happen in the few last years&that there is a way to... Read more

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3.0 out of 5 stars not bad, but not exceptional either
There is little exceptional in this book that distinguishes it from others written by similar authors. Read more

Published on July 7, 2003 by Tron Honto

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