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Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization
Globalization, the war on terror, and Islamic fundamentalism—followed closely by a rise in Islamophobia—have escalated tensions between Western nations and the Muslim world. Yet internationally renowned Islamic scholar Akbar Ahmed believes that through dialogue and understanding, these cultures can coexist peacefully and respectfully. That hope and belief result in an extraordinary journey. To learn what Muslims think and how they really view America, Ahmed traveled to the three major regions of the Muslim world the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia. Journey into The Crisis of Globalization is the riveting story of his search for common ground. His absorbing narrative and personal photos bring the reader on a tour of Islam and its peoples. Ahmed sought to understand the experiences and perceptions of ordinary Muslims. Visiting mosques, madrassahs, and universities, he met with people ranging from Pakastan President Pervez Musharraf to prime ministers, princes, sheikhs, professors, and students. He observed, listened, and asked them questions. For example, who inspires them? What are they reading? How do the Internet and international media impact their lives? How do they view America, the West, and changes in society? Ahmed's anthropological expedition enjoyed extensive access to women and youths, revealing unique information on large yet often misunderstood populations. Lamentably, he found high levels of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism and a widespread perception that Islam is under attack from the West. But he also brought back reason for hope. He returned from his groundbreaking travels both impressed with the concerned, kind nature of the individuals he encountered and invigorated with the vitality and passion they displayed. Journey into Islam makes a powerful plea for forming friendships across religion, race, and tradition to create lasting peace between Islam and the West.
323 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
23 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
Akbar Ahmed
49 books49 followersAkbar Salahuddin Ahmed, is a Pakistani-American academic, author, poet, playwright, filmmaker and former diplomat. He currently holds the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and is Professor of International Relations at the American University in Washington, D.C.Immediately prior, he taught at Princeton University as served as a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He also taught at Harvard University and was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Anthropology. Ahmed was the First Chair of Middle East and Islamic Studies at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. In 2004 Ahmed was named District of Columbia Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. A former Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland, Ahmed was a member of the Civil Service of Pakistan and served as Political Agent in South Waziristan Agency and Commissioner in Baluchistan. He also served as the Iqbal Fellow (Chair of Pakistan Studies) at the University of Cambridge. An anthropologist and scholar of Islam. He completed his MA at Cambridge University and received his PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He has been called "the world's leading authority on contemporary Islam" by the BBC.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 7, 2009
Ahmed takes three research students on a trip to the widest possible variety of Islamic nations to very liberal communities and to very traditionalist and hard line communities. His students are a white man, an Islamic girl and a blond, white Christian girl. All of them are very aware of the cultures they are visiting and are scrupulous in observing correct forms of dress and behaviour in each situation.
His commentary on the history and beliefs of the people they meet intersperses with actual encounters and you see the different expectations within different groups and surprisingly (to me as a white English non-religious person) different way the 3 students are treated by each community.
Ahmed explains the way different sects have developed in different areas through time and the way they are interacting with each other and with western culture today. I was finally able to understand the reasons behind what, to me, had been fairly meaningless, random bomb attacks on the West in recent years. They make a certain kind of sense when you know the background and thinking of the people involved.
It was fascinating to “meet” so many different kinds and flavours of different peoples who are normally lumped into an amorphous mass by the western press.
His commentary on the history and beliefs of the people they meet intersperses with actual encounters and you see the different expectations within different groups and surprisingly (to me as a white English non-religious person) different way the 3 students are treated by each community.
Ahmed explains the way different sects have developed in different areas through time and the way they are interacting with each other and with western culture today. I was finally able to understand the reasons behind what, to me, had been fairly meaningless, random bomb attacks on the West in recent years. They make a certain kind of sense when you know the background and thinking of the people involved.
It was fascinating to “meet” so many different kinds and flavours of different peoples who are normally lumped into an amorphous mass by the western press.
August 16, 2009
I keep thinking about this book Akbar Ahmed is a professor living in the States who is of Indian/Pakistani background and is Muslim. He takes a few students to several Muslim countries for a "cultural exchange". He and the students are learning about Muslim role models and how people abroad view Americans- and are answering questions while they are there. I learned a lot about the different "schools of thought" within the Muslim world and several of the anecdotes from their journey touched me to the point of tears.
July 12, 2014
While the author is anecdotal and not always as focused as I would like, I enjoyed this book - it has a powerful message.
February 3, 2016
Its really important what Mr. Ahmed did in this book. although this book written for the western readers, but it talks about somethings should muslims -like me- to knew it.
January 31, 2016
In this book, Akbar Ahmed documents the radicalism of the current Muslim world. In an attempt to explain the political currents in the Islamic world to the West, he developed a survey which would document the diverging social models in Muslim countries. Unfortunately, in his travels, he found that, from insular rural madrassas to the most elite secular schools in Karachi, young students of Pakistan (and elsewhere) are praising bin Laden and raging against globalization.
Yet in spite of this Mr. Ahmed insists that Westerners "misunderstand" Muslims when they correctly perceive what he himself has uncovered so meticulously.
His much praised "Aligarh model" (of pluralism) is exploded when he actually visits Aligarh University and his researchers are confronted by a crowd of students who approach within inches of their faces to shout violent denunciations of America and who acclaim bin Laden as their representative. These students were more strident than those they found even at the Salafi schools they visited.
Mr. Ahmed weakly deflects this to avoid the conclusions that would logically result: If these are the people most willing to accept Western influences, very few developments from this region will be positive for America in the foreseeable future. Changes in American foreign policy will do little to alleviate that. This is clear from the account offered, despite the author's weak editorializing.
Yet in spite of this Mr. Ahmed insists that Westerners "misunderstand" Muslims when they correctly perceive what he himself has uncovered so meticulously.
His much praised "Aligarh model" (of pluralism) is exploded when he actually visits Aligarh University and his researchers are confronted by a crowd of students who approach within inches of their faces to shout violent denunciations of America and who acclaim bin Laden as their representative. These students were more strident than those they found even at the Salafi schools they visited.
Mr. Ahmed weakly deflects this to avoid the conclusions that would logically result: If these are the people most willing to accept Western influences, very few developments from this region will be positive for America in the foreseeable future. Changes in American foreign policy will do little to alleviate that. This is clear from the account offered, despite the author's weak editorializing.
February 28, 2008
This is such a wonderful work. And just the point of view we've been waiting for. The Globalist called it the best book of the year.
July 27, 2017
Excellent assessment of the world of Islam and the role of the United States. Factual, and anthropological. Well constructed and loaded with wisdom.
May 7, 2025
I understand many immoral things done by USA in its confrontation with Middle-East. Even Indian media pointed out to this thing many a times. After reading this book, u feel that many islamists see Democracy, Secularism & Pluralism as Haram in Islam. You see writer asking west to support backward islam countries in Education etc, but u have islam countries totally rejecting Darwin theory, even criticizing it directly in their Science Textbooks. So they are totally alien to the Concept of Church and State Seperation.
We see stories like: Girls were left to die in a school which caught fire, bcz they weren't wearing their dress properly (acc to Islam-dress code). Taliban rejecting education to women. People migrating to foreign lands and protesting there for Sharia-Law. Iraq passing a horrific law which allows girls as small as 9 to marry. If someone claims these are religious beliefs & they shouldn't questioned. Then those civilizations are headed to fail.
The writer wants peace but he doesn't clearly call out such terrifying acts but he mentions such things here and there. Anyways he calls for dialogue between different cultures for peace which is good. This will be not possible unless extremists change themselves and put aside medieval age dogmas. India is a terrific example where normal muslims just live happily with modern democratic values, so islam will have problem with 21st century moral standards if it doesn't change a bit. Extremists may be a small percentage but the damage they do to normal peacefully living muslims is too much.
We see stories like: Girls were left to die in a school which caught fire, bcz they weren't wearing their dress properly (acc to Islam-dress code). Taliban rejecting education to women. People migrating to foreign lands and protesting there for Sharia-Law. Iraq passing a horrific law which allows girls as small as 9 to marry. If someone claims these are religious beliefs & they shouldn't questioned. Then those civilizations are headed to fail.
The writer wants peace but he doesn't clearly call out such terrifying acts but he mentions such things here and there. Anyways he calls for dialogue between different cultures for peace which is good. This will be not possible unless extremists change themselves and put aside medieval age dogmas. India is a terrific example where normal muslims just live happily with modern democratic values, so islam will have problem with 21st century moral standards if it doesn't change a bit. Extremists may be a small percentage but the damage they do to normal peacefully living muslims is too much.
September 6, 2018
There were some interesting sections of this book; however, it was in general too long. I was only able to read a few chapters, and I found myself skimming parts because it was so verbose.
August 3, 2010
Scholarly work of anthropology/history by a professor of Pakistani descent who teaches at an American university. He takes a trip through the Islamic world with several of his students, and returns with an analysis of the problems in the Islamic world.
He discusses three "models" of Muslim life: Westernized/modernized, Sufi/mystical, and Salafist. He talks about how each of the models have affected Muslims in various parts of the world. He particularly dwells on the present day failings of the Western model, and how this is leading many Muslims to the Salafi model. Although a Westernized Muslim himself, he seems to see the most hope in the Sufi model, although he believes it needs to be updated to better address the needs of the contemporary world. He also discusses the lack of leadership in the Islamic world. Most of the people that he talks to during his journey can think of historical role models for Muslims, but struggle to find anyone on the contemporary scene who they admire. The author argues that this leads many Muslims to look up to radicals who are at least "doing something" for their troubled society.
The main problem with this book comes when he analyzes the Western world. He does bring up some good points, but he falls into a lot of stereotypes and conspiracy theories, like arguing that all Westerners hate Muslims based on the rhetoric of a few prominent individuals. This section is not central to his thesis, and I think it takes up too much of the book. I would have preferred for him to talk in more detail about the results of the surveys that he conducted during his journey. For example, he talks in depth about his subjects' heroes, and to some extent their views of the United States. However, he never discusses what people are reading currently, which he claims was one of the questions that he asked.
Another minor difficulty with this book was that he used unfamiliar names (all based on various cities in India) to describe the three models that he discusses throughout the book. I think it would have been better if he had used more familiar terminology, as it got confusing to keep track of which model was which.
He discusses three "models" of Muslim life: Westernized/modernized, Sufi/mystical, and Salafist. He talks about how each of the models have affected Muslims in various parts of the world. He particularly dwells on the present day failings of the Western model, and how this is leading many Muslims to the Salafi model. Although a Westernized Muslim himself, he seems to see the most hope in the Sufi model, although he believes it needs to be updated to better address the needs of the contemporary world. He also discusses the lack of leadership in the Islamic world. Most of the people that he talks to during his journey can think of historical role models for Muslims, but struggle to find anyone on the contemporary scene who they admire. The author argues that this leads many Muslims to look up to radicals who are at least "doing something" for their troubled society.
The main problem with this book comes when he analyzes the Western world. He does bring up some good points, but he falls into a lot of stereotypes and conspiracy theories, like arguing that all Westerners hate Muslims based on the rhetoric of a few prominent individuals. This section is not central to his thesis, and I think it takes up too much of the book. I would have preferred for him to talk in more detail about the results of the surveys that he conducted during his journey. For example, he talks in depth about his subjects' heroes, and to some extent their views of the United States. However, he never discusses what people are reading currently, which he claims was one of the questions that he asked.
Another minor difficulty with this book was that he used unfamiliar names (all based on various cities in India) to describe the three models that he discusses throughout the book. I think it would have been better if he had used more familiar terminology, as it got confusing to keep track of which model was which.
May 10, 2013
I want to like this book. The American audience needs more books and movies that portray Muslims as something beyond the terrorist stereotype, that hint at the complexity and depth of Islam and the many cultures it encompasses.
While my primary reason for reading Journey into Islam was to gain a deeper understanding of Islam, I also wanted to find a book I could politely recommend when people veered towards xenophobic hysteria over cocktails.
I'm still looking. Let me be clear: this is by no means a bad book. It has some excellent sections, but it's not a book I'd feel comfortable recommending to anyone.
Journey into Islam never decides on its focus: Is it a survey of different communities of Muslims around the world? An analysis of how the U.S. negatively affected its perception among Muslims? A memoir of the author’s own life? It's all of these and none of these, written in enough of an academic style to be off putting to a general audience but lacking the depth of analysis I consider my reward for slogging through academic language. Most frustrating, I don’t feel like I learned anything I didn’t already know, and I don’t consider myself that well read on the subject of Islam (better read than most Americans, sure, but that’s not the high bar I wish it was).
The global Muslim community is massive and many faceted. Dr. Ahmed gives readers a taste of that complexity, but not in a manner that justifies reading this book over a well-researched article on the subject. Not recommended.
While my primary reason for reading Journey into Islam was to gain a deeper understanding of Islam, I also wanted to find a book I could politely recommend when people veered towards xenophobic hysteria over cocktails.
I'm still looking. Let me be clear: this is by no means a bad book. It has some excellent sections, but it's not a book I'd feel comfortable recommending to anyone.
Journey into Islam never decides on its focus: Is it a survey of different communities of Muslims around the world? An analysis of how the U.S. negatively affected its perception among Muslims? A memoir of the author’s own life? It's all of these and none of these, written in enough of an academic style to be off putting to a general audience but lacking the depth of analysis I consider my reward for slogging through academic language. Most frustrating, I don’t feel like I learned anything I didn’t already know, and I don’t consider myself that well read on the subject of Islam (better read than most Americans, sure, but that’s not the high bar I wish it was).
The global Muslim community is massive and many faceted. Dr. Ahmed gives readers a taste of that complexity, but not in a manner that justifies reading this book over a well-researched article on the subject. Not recommended.
Want to read
August 8, 2007politics & prose rec:
"When I finished Akbar Ahmed's JOURNEY INTO ISLAM: The Crisis of Globalization, I wanted to shout it from the San Juan mountaintops that everyone has to read this book. I can't remember when I learned so much about a topic that I thought, mistakenly, I already knew about. Setting out on a journey through many Islamic nations, Ahmed made it his goal to interview and learn from Muslims throughout Islam about their fears and their aspirations, and in this volume he shares that newly found knowledge. The first thing I learned was the astounding number of misconceptions that I had about Islam, mistaking many ethnic rituals for religious dogma. Mostly I learned about what transpires within Islam and the major sects within the Muslim world representing a spectrum that stretches from the Sufi mystic to the Deoband fundamentalist. Some of the best parts of this book trace the growing numbers of the latter and makes a well-documented case for how the Bush administration has been directly responsible for the growth of the Islamic radical right." (Barbara)
"When I finished Akbar Ahmed's JOURNEY INTO ISLAM: The Crisis of Globalization, I wanted to shout it from the San Juan mountaintops that everyone has to read this book. I can't remember when I learned so much about a topic that I thought, mistakenly, I already knew about. Setting out on a journey through many Islamic nations, Ahmed made it his goal to interview and learn from Muslims throughout Islam about their fears and their aspirations, and in this volume he shares that newly found knowledge. The first thing I learned was the astounding number of misconceptions that I had about Islam, mistaking many ethnic rituals for religious dogma. Mostly I learned about what transpires within Islam and the major sects within the Muslim world representing a spectrum that stretches from the Sufi mystic to the Deoband fundamentalist. Some of the best parts of this book trace the growing numbers of the latter and makes a well-documented case for how the Bush administration has been directly responsible for the growth of the Islamic radical right." (Barbara)
July 7, 2015
I found this book through a recommendation on the Colbert Report in 2010. It is an anthropological study of the Islamic world. Akbar Ahmed and his team traveled to the 4 main centers of Islamic culture to survey the feelings and thoughts people had about their cultural heritage, the future, and Western society. I would recommend this book highly especially to those who grew up outside of a Muslim culture. The insightfulness and empathy was evident to me. It was a very interesting read; I found it enlightening and very informative.
One slight criticism I have would be the unevenness of parts of the writing to my ears. Some of the sentence structures and some of the grammar seemed confusing to me. I believe it's related to two things: 1. it is an academic work & 2. using English to discuss concepts and culture that did not originate in English may sound foreign to me but is in fact quite natural.
One slight criticism I have would be the unevenness of parts of the writing to my ears. Some of the sentence structures and some of the grammar seemed confusing to me. I believe it's related to two things: 1. it is an academic work & 2. using English to discuss concepts and culture that did not originate in English may sound foreign to me but is in fact quite natural.
April 21, 2008
Very educational and timely. He journeyed to a number of Muslim countries with 2 or 3 of his students and tried to take the pulse and temperature of a huge very complex group of believers. The book has contradictions as do most of us and certainly religions. Recommended for those whose life takes them into contact with Muslims in this country or elsewhere. Not a book with answers but a good starting point for Americans. This is only one of many books to read to explore the topic of Globalization and Islam. The book is sometimes well written and edited and other times otherwise. Of course it is personal with some social science added.
January 23, 2008
I know this book gets great ratings, and I think I would personally like Prof. Ahmed, but his writing is a mixture of good information, profound insight, and bad analysis. He just cannot objectively assess his enemy. He gives straw men arguments along the lines of "all Americans hate Arabs" and cites hateful shock jock radio DJs and ANNE COULTER as evidence. How many people do you know who think Anne Coulter speaks for them. In short, it's my impression that he understands the Islamic world much better than the Western one. But that could just be my bias.
March 9, 2011
Akbar Ahmed's study of Islamic countries in this book is a very powerful, honest, and critical guide to understanding our world today. This book offers a anthropological look at the state of the Muslim world after and directly before 9/11 and it is given a very compassionate and heart felt critique of what the West and the countries themselves are doing right and/or wrong. This book, while scholarly is done with love and I think the information gleaned out of this book will serve to help us all in the future if we choose to listen to it.
January 25, 2011
The best book to read about changing Muslim world by a Muslim, through out the ages in brief and the present mindset. Rejecting stereotypes and "conventional wisdom" about Islam and its encounter with globalization, this important book offers a new framework for understanding the Muslim world. As Western leaders wage a war on terrorism, Ahmed offers insightful suggestions on how the United States can improve relations with Islamic nations and peoples.
July 31, 2013
Pretty accurate depiction of the western world's highly prejudiced and lacking they of islam today. Surprisingly uninsightful especially as compared to mortimer's fate of islam written 30 years earlier. Towards the latter chapters Ahmed lets hints of narcissism shine through, though he clearly is an expert that we should be listening to.
April 24, 2009
I had to read this book for a class. I really recommend this book. It is a little hard to read but an excellant book. It gives a really good look at many forms of Islam practiced and make one understand the religion as a whole and not just what the media and the government wants you to believe.
March 1, 2011
An anthropological book on Islam. Very, very informative. There is so much to learn about the many different cultures within Islam. To clump all Muslims into one group is as dangerous as thinking all Christians think, believe, and behave the same way.
June 13, 2015
A little too academic without having quite the degree of focused analysis I was hoping for. I probably wouldn't recommend this book for someone who is just beginning to learn about Islam and its relationship with the West. This is better for someone who already has a bit of background.
April 27, 2016
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