Global Islam: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #659

by Nile Green

This book presents the first comprehensive survey of the multiple versions of Islam propagated across geographical, political, and cultural boundaries during the era of modern globalization. Showing how Islam was transformed through these globalizing transfers, it traces the origins, expansion and increasing diversification of Global Islam - from individual activists to organizations and then states - over the past 150 years.

Historian Nile Green surveys not only the familiar venues of Islam in the Middle East and the West, but also Asia and Africa, explaining the doctrines of a wide variety of political and non-political versions of Islam across the spectrum from Salafism to Sufism. This Very Short Introduction will help readers to recognize and compare the various organizations competing to claim the authenticity and authority of representing the one true Islam.

Genres: Religion, Islam, History, Nonfiction, Contemporary, Audiobook, Politics

184 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2020

About the author

Nile Green is Professor of History at UCLA, with an interest in the multiple globalizations of Islam and Muslims. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2018.

In pursuit of the patterns of both global and local Islams, he has traveled and researched in India, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Chinese Central Asia, the Caucasus, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Yemen, Oman, Jordan, Morocco, South Africa, Myanmar, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.

His seven monographs, seven edited books, and over seventy articles have traced Muslim networks that connect South and Central Asia with the Middle East, the Indian Ocean, Africa, Japan, Europe and the United States. His most recent book, The Love of Strangers: What Six Muslim Students Learned in Jane Austen’s London, was selected by the New York Times Book Review as Editors’ Choice. An earlier book, Bombay Islam: The Religious Economy of the West Indian Ocean, received both the Middle East Studies Association’s Albert Hourani Award and the Association for Asian Studies’ Ananda K. Coomaraswamy Award. His other books include Terrains of Exchange: Religious Economies of Global Islam; Sufism: A Global History; and, as co-editor, Global Muslims in the Age of Steam and Print, 1850-1930.

He served for eight years as founding director of the UCLA Program on Central Asia, as well as on various editorial and advisory boards, including the International Journal of Middle East Studies. He has held several visiting positions, such as at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, and fellowships, including the Luce/ACLS Fellowship in Religion, Journalism & International Affairs. Before moving to the United States from his native Britain, he was Milburn Junior Research Fellow at Oxford University. He holds degrees from London and Cambridge.

Reviews

[Oliver Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

For many people this might be exactly the book they are looking for. Compared with the novel Dune, which talks of a distant future dominated by an oppressive form of Islam, this is about the actual changes in Islam made in the last 150 years by a minority of reformers, who breached traditional rules, for example, avoiding the usual educational path to becoming a religious authority; but that changed the world as it is, creating scripturalist sects (Salafism, for instance) and transforming the landscape and government of many regions, and spreading terror.

Printing technology made some similar experiments possible in puritan and other reformation sects of early modern Europe, because suddenly the faith one was taught to believe in from childhood on was more directly accessible in the form of a textbook in one’s own language (German, English, French, etc.). The Quran can largely be understood by reading an English, Chinese or Persian translation of it, many became freely accessible to the public. It became possible in the 19th and 20th centuries. And today (21st c.), new social media have, again, emerged.

People are giving more authority to the holy book, rather than following only or exclusively the teachings of the traditional (local) religious leader, ulama, Sufi, or Sufi-ulama, tempered by their parents’ education. It comes to no surprise, then, that people start to realise their parents’ or religious leaders’ own ignorance or complacency with regard to the doctrines in the Quran.

Wanting to establish an Islamic state on earth, can be construed as wanting to create paradise on earth, like the communists, but it’s not the same thing. Religious hierochracies and caliphates inspired by and building on tradition have existed from Medieval Spain to modern Brunei, some of which have had their own textual inputs, like forging Hadiths to justify some state decision or adhering to additional material by a scholar (Malik, for instance).

Religion can get worse after going through a reformation, not just better; it’s what this book shows. We need to rid ourselves of the delusion that the Allah Delusion will become less delusional over time. We need be aware of this in dealing with Christianity too. As long as the Bible, the god of the Bible and the words that Jesus “spoke” remain holy, a source of unquestioned inspiration, we’re stuck with the same problem, facing future generations educated in lies becoming more zealous than their forbears.

[Cav · Rating 2 out of 5]

Global Islam: A Very Short Introduction did not meet my expectations. I have read a few books in the "Very Short Introduction" collection, and usually enjoy them.
This book fell short of the high bar established by the other books in this series.

Author Nile Green is a Professor of History and the current holder of the Ibn Khaldun Endowed Chair in World History at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He specializes in the Islamic history of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, including that of the wider Persianate world.

Nile Green:


The writing in the book got off to a bad start; with an intro that was way too long and verbose. Green includes a torrent of caveats, disclaimers and stipulations that set the stage for the writing that was to follow in the rest of the book.

Green's style here was very dry and flat; a marked change from the other books in this series that I have read.
The book has terrible flow. It reads like a long-form encyclopedia article: Place, name, date. Place, name, date. Rinse and repeat...

The body of the book talks about the spread of global Islam. Green mentions that the chief drivers responsible for exporting these political ideologies were/are Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iran; with each of the mentioned forwarding their own interpretation of the religion. Salafism, Wahhabism, Sufism, and Shiism are briefly talked about here.

******************

So, despite being excited to start this one, I felt it did not meet the high standards established by its contemporaries in the series. The author's writing style just did not resonate well with me here, and I found much of the book unengaging and arduous.
2.5 stars.

[Yusuf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Küresel İslâmî hareketlerin çok detaylı bir haritalandırmasını yapıyor yazar. Aslında Ruşen Çakır'ın Ayet ve Slogan kitabının küresel ölçekte yapılmışı diyebilirim. Detayları görmek için değil, ama kuşbakışı haritayı ve bağlantıları görmek açısından çok iyi bir metin.

[SusanJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading and listening to most of the "Very Short Introduction" books relating to Islam. Each has a different orientation, and this is the one I'm most intrigued by. I'm in a book group that will be discussing it over the next month or so, and I'm trying to learn all I can about the content.

The author tries hard in the Introduction to get the reader to see what he's up to, although several of the other reviewers here seem to have missed the point. By "Global Islam" he means specifically Islam as it's been propagated in the past century and half, under conditions of "globalization" -- ideas and movements and people moving around the globe as never before. Today we think of the internet and social media, but even before that there were cassette tapes being passed around, and religious leaders free to lead simply on the strength of their popular appeal, without having come up through previous traditional ways of acquiring authority.

I'm finding the book fascinating not only for its specific subject matter, but also as a way of thinking about the way other ideas and movements and groups of the like-minded form nowadays. I've also become a fan of the author's podcast, "Akbar's Chamber: Experts Talk Islam."

QUESTION: In the final section, the author says "In concluding, it is important to recognize the limits of the analysis offered here. The focus has been deliberately confined to what might be termed the “supply side” of religion, that is, activists, organizations, and states. This has left out of the picture the “demand side”: the ordinary people who follow—or, indeed, reject—the religious orientations presented by such “suppliers”. A truly holistic (albeit much longer) analysis of global Islam would necessarily consider both sides of the equation and in doing so tackle the question of why the messages of particular global Islamic organizations appeal to particular groups of Muslims. Yet this question of the appeal and reception of global Islam requires careful sociological inquiries into the multiple local settings where different organizations have been active. So far, pioneering research into these many worldwide settings is too patchy and incomplete to make responsible generalizations. Future investigations of the many points where the global meets the local will likely reveal many different reasons for following, or rejecting, different versions of global Islam..."

Anybody know of books that discuss the "supply side"? Anybody know a good place to post such a question? Thanks!

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always disdain unclear/vague book titles. So, it would be helpful to mention what this book is actually about. Green looks to give a quick generalization of what Islam is, a brief background of the religion itself, and a short overview of prominent Islamic theologians. After this, he is on to the main topic. What Islam looks like in different global contexts. Just like there are denominations in Christianity, so there are cultural contexts that shape that local faith to it's particular geographical region. This is not so much to say that the theology itself changes, but more so that the approaches do. The heart of, say, Pakistan, has different issues and needs than say, Charleston, WV. This is the approach that Green takes. Some parts were really interesting. Some were over my head. Other parts, as expected, were gobbledygook.

[Andrew Morse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent concise view.

[I-Lin]

Modernity (“global islam”) versus traditionalism (“world Islam”)

How islam entangled with communication technologies (print (and digital reproduction) creates accessible scripture) and diverse political ideologies.

The claim that communication technologies creates textualism, the claim to go back to the Quran, and a renouncement of rituals and mysticism is interesting.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I can recommend for my friends to understand a little bit more when I'm talking about Islam. I really recommend this book to people who are beginning to understand and trying to grapple with what Islam is today and why it looks like how it does in different places and spaces.

I think this book is helpful enough for people to know what is going with Islam and can be so helpful. i recommend to everyone I know who is Christian, Jewish, Atheist, and I'd even recommend it to Muslims. But I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who has ever been in Massachusetts or North Carolina and has thought about Islam.

On a personal note to all my friends - I know you love me - and this can help you understand me a little more without me saying the same thing over and over again. With regards to understanding my background and how big and broad Islam is and varies a bit beyond Mecca and Medina.

[Daniel Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chapter 1: What is "global Islam"?
Chapter 2: Islam in the age of empire, steam, and print
Chapter 3: Defending Islam from the secular world order
Chapter 4: From Islamic revolutions to the Internet

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those desiring to get on handle on Islam as a global phenomenon, this is the go-to book. I'm sure there are other works that do the same job, but given the size and clarity of this book, it's accessible without sacrificing some depth.

[Derek Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't know I had purchased a (boring) book of Sufi proselytizing. I knew we were off to a rough start when Green begins his book on global Islam by declaring that religions can be "non political."

[Boka]

A very short introduction to names. So. Many. Names.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The American Historian Nile Green published Global Islam: A Very Short Introduction in 2020. Green writes, “Global Islam refers to the versions of Islam propagated across geographical, political, and ethnolinguistic boundaries by Muslim religious activists, organizations, and states that emerged in the era of modern globalization. By contrast, the term world Islam refers to the older version of Islam that developed and adapted to different local and regional environments during the millennium before the onset of modern globalization” (Green 7-8). The focus of the book begins in 1870. Green writes “between around 1870 and 1920, the Russian, British, French, and Dutch empires achieved their maximum global influence” (Green 18). The book covers the history of Global Islam until 2020 (Green 129-130). Green writes he uses a “sociological approach” (Green 7). Green writes the “sociological approach has the advantage of avoiding abstract models of Islam that depict all Muslims as fundamentally alike when the social reality is that they are not” (Green 7). The book has a section on references, an index, and a glossary. The book has illustrations. The book has a section entitled “further reading” (Green 145-147). I am not a Muslim, but I thought Green’s introduction to Global Islam was well done.