Islam in Europe

by Jack Goody

This vigorously argued book reveals the central role that Islam has played in European history. Following the movement of people, culture and religion from East to West, Goody breaks down the perceived opposition between Islam and Europe, showing Islam to be a part of Europe's past and present. In an historical analysis of religious warfare and forced migration, Goody examines our understanding of legitimate violence, ethnic cleansing and terrorism. His comparative perspective offers important and illuminating insights into current political problems and conflicts. Goody traces three routes of Islam into Europe, following the Arab through North Africa, Spain and Mediterranean Europe; the Turk through Greece and the Balkans; and the Mongol through Southern Russia to Poland and Lithuania. Each thrust made its mark on Europe in terms of population and culture. Yet this was not merely a military especially in Spain, but elsewhere too, Europe was substantially modified by this contact. Today it takes the form of some eleven million immigrants, not to speak of the possible incorporation of further millions through Bosnia, Albania and Turkey.

Genres: History, Islam, European History, Nonfiction, Politics

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2003

About the author

Sir John (Jack) Rankine Goody (born 27 July 1919) is a British social anthropologist. He has been a prominent teacher at Cambridge University, he was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 1976,[1] and he is an associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. Among his main publications are Death, property and the ancestors (1962), The myth of the Bagre (1972) and The domestication of the savage mind.

Jack Goody explained social structure and social change primarily in terms of three major factors. The first was the development of intensive forms of agriculture that allowed for the accumulation of surplus – surplus explained many aspects of cultural practice from marriage to funerals as well as the great divide between African and Eurasian societies. Second, he explained social change in terms of urbanization and growth of bureaucratic institutions that modified or overrode traditional forms of social organization, such as family or tribe, identifying civilization as “the culture of cities”. And third, he attached great weight to the technologies of communication as instruments of psychological and social change. He associated the beginnings of writing with the task of managing surplus and, in an important paper with Ian Watt (Goody and Watt, 1963), he advanced the argument that the rise of science and philosophy in classical Greece depended importantly on their invention of an efficient writing system, the alphabet. Because these factors could be applied to either to any contemporary social system or to systematic changes over time, his work is equally relevant to many disciplines.

Reviews

[Duygu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bir Goody sever olarak keyifle okudum kitabı. Türkçe çevirisinde kitabın adından başlayarak azizliğe uğrasa da yine de okunabilir.
Kitabın temel argümanı özetle, tıpkı Judeo Hristiyan gelenek gibi İslam'ın da bugün Avrupa dediğimiz şeyi şekillendiren otantik ve önemli bir unsur olduğu ve yine medeniyet dediğimiz "şey"in kökenlerini incelemeye kalktığımızda homojen, kapalı, "araksız" bir öze filan ulaşamayacağımız.
Yazarın ana araştırma meselelerinden biri olmadığını, bu kitabın detaylı bir çalışma yerine yazarın entelektüel merakının sonucu ortaya çıkmış denemelerden/makalelerden oluştuğunu hatırlamak gerekiyor zira kitabın son bölümü artık genel olarak 20.-21. yy.'da Müslüman göçleri ve Batı başlığına birkaç nokta üzerinden bakıyor. Bu kısımların daha incelikli olmasını dilerdim, yine de güzel.

[Bob Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book in search of an editor

There is an old dictum for people who write books: "Write what you know." Sir Jack Goody wrote a lot of anthropology in his long life and it was well-received. When he was in his eighties, he decided to write about the relationship of Islam with Europe and its history IN Europe. This is certainly a relevant topic, one well-worth discussing. As he points out, Islam has a very long history in Europe---in the Iberian peninsula, in Sicily, in the Balkans, and even in Russia and Poland and including the mass immigration today. European music, literature, architecture, and cuisine (not to mention science and mathematics) were all heavily influenced by contacts with Islam. The problem is that Goody was not really prepared for such a book, or maybe he tossed it together too quickly. As a result, while the topic is good, as I said, and he makes many valid points, the book is weak. Its organization is scattershot, with the same facts or observations appearing here and there. There are a number of factual mistakes, misspellings of foreign names, and he wanders off topic a great deal. Many sentences don't seem to connect with the previous one or lack a precise subject. I felt that perhaps nobody wanted to point this out to a famous scholar. If you are planning to write on a new topic in your eighties, you ought to think twice or else get a good editor.
Besides a necessarily short history of the contacts between Islam (Arab, Turkish, Tatar) and Europe, there are also chapters on ethnic cleansing and terrorism in which he expresses his political views with some trenchant observations on the way the West has distorted these words in its own interests. While finding these worthy, in a book of 160 pages we may decide that he bit off more than he could chew (in addition to the criticisms I made above). So, I conclude that three stars is more than generous.

[C M · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me start with the most important: DO NOT BUY (OR READ) THIS BOOK!!!

First of all, this book is not about "Islam in Europe." In fact, only the first chapter is on Islam in Europe. The other three chapters are on barely related topics. Chapter 2 (Bitter Icons and Ethnic Cleansing) is inspired by a vacation to Cyprus and makes some interesting, but totally irrelevant, points about the concept of 'ethnicity'. Chapter 3 (Islam and Terrorism) mainly serves to critique Israel, while Chapter 4 speaks very shortly and unsystematically about "the Islamic Other".

Second, the author has no particular expertise on the topic. Jack Goody is a long retired British social anthropologist, who is famous for his work on literature, technology, inheritance, flowers and food. He did his field work mostly in Ghana. Nowhere in the book does he draw on original research, at least with reference to the alleged topic of the book: Islam in Europe. In fact, in many cases he just summarizes works of others.

Third, the book is mostly a'left-wing' political pamphlet, probably aimed at countering Islamophobia. While the key point is well-taken, but far from original or unknown -- Islam has long and deep roots in Europe -- the defense of Islam is at times absurd and totally blind for several negative aspects (particularly of 'fundamentalists).

I want my $18 and five hours back!

[Ruby Yaquot · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب للمبتدئين ، وخاصة للبيقرأو لوجه نظر اجنبيه عن الإسلام.

"وَلا تُجَادِلُوا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ إِلاَّ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ وَقُولُوا آمَنَّا بِالَّذِي أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَأُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَإِلَهُنَا وَإِلَهُكُمْ وَاحِدٌ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ

وَكَذَلِكَ أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ فَالَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ وَمِنْ هَؤُلاء مَن يُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَمَا يَجْحَدُ بِآيَاتِنَا إِلاَّ الْكَافِرُونَ" سورة العنكبوت

الكاتب شارح بصورة حلوه بداية توغل الاسلام ف أوروبا من جهة الغرب ، والحضارة الاندلسيه هناك وازاى أوروبا اتغيرت تغير جذري بدخول الاسلام . والكاتب بيعترف بفضل الاسلام ع المجتمع الأوروبي من كل النواحى حتى الاكل والشرب ...
لف بينا مع الخريطة وطلعنا فوق الاندلس مع فرنسا وألمانيا وايطاليا وصولا إلى حضارة اخره نبعت من الشرق ع حدود القسطنطينية وهى قوة أخرى مسلمه وازاى اتاثرت أوروبا الحديثة بالغزو التركى ، شامل من القرن ١٤الى زمن الكاتب .. معلومات مرتبه ، بيساعدك تبحث وتستوفى كل نقطه ذكره باختصار...
شفت صورة واضحة لأسباب الحروب والتحالفات وانفصال الدول ف أوروبا ...
الفصل الآخر بيدعو الى تأمل الدين والإيمان ، وبيوضح أن فيه فرق بين الإسلام والجماعات أو الإرهاب ... وبيقول أن ف كل دين هناك طوائف لا تعمل بغرض الدين وانما بغرض سياسي أو اقتصادى بحت ....
شرح ف الفصل الآخر قوة أفغانستان اللى دمرت تمثال بوذا ف باميان ، وشرح بالتفصيل أن المفروض اتباع بوذا مايزعلوش ده لو كانوا يعرف دينهم كويس خاصه ان عقيدة بوذا بتمنع اي تمثيل أو صورة مجسمه للأشخاص ...
ووضح بالامثله أن ف الدين المسيحي وف عصر الملكة اليزابيث كان هناك منع للمسرح والتمثيل ، وتحطيم زجاج الكنائس لاحتوائها ع صور ورسومات تمنع دخول نور الله .... ورفض الصليب وتقبيله وعبادته
كتاب موجه بيدعو المغيبين للتأمل ف غرض الدين والإيمان ....

[Michel · Rating 1 out of 5]

النص سيء جداً وقررت انا لا أكمل بعد هذه العبارة في الصفحة ٩٧, المترجم متحدثاً عن تأثر فن العمارة الغربي بالشرقي،،
" فاستعمال الورق المذهب واللازوردي الذي كان معروفل في القطع الغوطية قد طبق لاحقاً في بيوت التجار بعد مزاولته في دمشق وتبريز وشبابيك الهاتف (أي نعم متل ما قرأت) في واجهة كاداريو سنة ١٤٨٠ سبق أن كانت من قسمات قصر بشتك سنة ١٣٣٧ في القاهرة".