Product Description

Americans' awareness of Islam and Muslims rose to seemingly unprecedented heights in the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001, but this is not the first time they have dominated American public life. Once before, during the period of the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis of 1979 to 1981, Americans found themselves targeted as a consequence of a militant interpretation of Islam. Daniel Pipes wrote In the Path of God in response to those events, and the heightened interest in Islam they generated. His objective was to present an overview of the connection between in Islam and political power through history in a way that would explain the origins of hostility to Americans and the West. Its relevance to our understanding of contemporary events is self evident.

Muslim antagonism toward the West is deeply rooted in historical experience. In premodern times, the Islamic world enjoyed great success, being on the whole more powerful and wealthier than their neighbors. About two hundred years ago, a crisis developed, as Muslims became aware of the West's overwhelming force and economic might. While they might have found these elements attractive, Muslims found European culture largely alien and distasteful. The resulting resistance to Westerniation by Muslims has deep roots, has been more persistent than that of other peoples, and goes far to explain the deep Muslim reluctance to accept modern ways. In short, Muslims saw what the West had and wanted it too, but they rejected the methods necessary to achieve this. This, the Muslim trauma, has only worsened over the years.

"Scholarly, far-ranging, and thoughtful... the debate is interesting, and Pipes has made a stimulating contribution to it."-The New Republic

"Brilliant, authoritative... demonstrates encyclopedic knowledge of Muslim intellectual history... Few other writers have explained so lucidly such complex developments in Muslim history."-The Washington Post

"He has resisted a widespread tendency to translate Muslim self-expression into social science jargon as unintelligible as any mosque harangue. His unadorned interpretation strikes a judicious balance between faithfulness to sources and clarity of presentation."-The American Spectator

Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and a columnist for the New York Post and the Jerusalem Post. Among his books are The Long Shadow: Culture and Politics in the Middle East (published by Transaction), Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition, Friendly Tyrants: An American Dilemma, and The Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Aftermath and the West.

Product Details

• Published on: 1984-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 373 pages

Review
One of the better introductions to the contemporary Muslim world - mainly because of its informative historical sections. Skillfully moving the reader through material often tainted by second-hand information and prejudice, Pipes, a State Dept. official and scholar, carefully lays out the connections between Islam and Judaism, and the ways both differ from Christianity. The key elements are the body of written law and the accompanying (originally oral) body of interpretation: in Judaism, the Pentateuch and the Talmud; in Islam, the Qur'an and the Hadith Reports. The Shari'a, Islam's sacred law, touches all aspects of public and private life - from diet to taxes, usury to criminal punishment - as does the Jewish Halakha. Christianity, contrastingly, shifted the focus of religion from law to faith, making possible a separation of religion and politics - especially impossible for Islam. Islam, Pipes emphasizes, took hold in a tribal society where identities were incompletely formed (whereas the Hebrews had a common language and customs before Moses gave them their law); so Islamic law has been the main factor holding the disparate Islamic people together. From these laws, a second element of cohesion has developed: what Pipes calls "Islamicate" civilization, or the relatively uniform cultural practices that distinguish Muslim communities. (The seclusion of women, for example, is an Islamicate practice, not an Islamic one.) The relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, Pipes notes, are determined by a combination of these religious and cultural factors. Among the latter is hostility toward Europeans - the result, in part, of European hostility toward Muslims. First came the Crusaders, religious rivals roughly equal in belief, technology, and civilization; next came the secularizer Napoleon, with advanced military techniques and new principles of social organization. Europeans represent modernization and secularization, and Pipes' main argument is that Islam is particularly incapable of meeting the challenge of either. Here, he begins to slide into predictability. Shari'a is a commendable but impossible code to live by, he says. Surveylng the Muslim and part-Muslim nations, he describes the Islamic revival of recent years as a reaction against modernization by the faithful, buttressed by Islamicate predispositions and supported by the Arab oil resources. But the revival is doomed to failure, in his view, because Arab economic power is waning and Islamic fundamentalism cannot challenge the modern world. By this reading - more trenchantly put forth in V. S. Naipaul's Among the Believers - the shift from fundamentalists to secularists and back will more likely continue than lead to an unprecedented accommodation. A good descriptive account with a weak conclusion. (Kirkus Reviews)

About the Author

Daniel Pipes is the president of the Middle East Forum and the author of numerous books, including In the Path of God: Islam and Political Power; The Long Shadow: Culture and Politics in the Middle East; andThe Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Ayatollah, and the West. A former official in the departments of State and Defense, Pipes has taught at the University of Chicago, Harvard University, and the US Naval War College. His work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.