Islam Under Siege: Living Dangerously in a Post- Honor World

by Akbar Ahmed

In this groundbreaking book, Akbar Ahmed, one of the world's leading authorities on Islam, who has worked in the Muslim world but lives in the West, explains what is going wrong in his society by referring to Islamic history and beliefs. Employing theological and anthropological perspectives, he attempts to answer the questions that people in the West are asking about Islam: "Why do they hate us?" "Is Islam compatible with democracy?" "Does Islam subjugate women?" "Does the Quran preach violence?" These important questions are of relevance to Muslims and to non-Muslims alike. Islam Under Siege points out the need for, and provides the route to, the dialogue of civilizations.

September 11, 2001, underlined the role of Islam in our time. In its demographic spread, its political span, and its religious commitment, Islam will be an increasingly forceful presence on the world stage in the twenty-first century. While some scholars predict that there will be a clash of civilizations, others see a need for a dialogue of civilizations.

This book will help students, scholars of politics, sociology, international relations, and cultural studies, and reporters as well as a more general audience interested in some of the most important issues of our time.

Genres: Religion, Islam, Islamism, Politics, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Akbar 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.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too bad he did not have an editor. Interesting perspective.

[Nader Ismail · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is reflective of the world in 2003. There’s a lot of questions about Islam and Muslims in the post 9/11 era. It reflected a time when there’s a lot of tension amongst Muslim Americans who witnessed injustice and violence happening around the world but also felt that they were under suspicion in the United States. It did take me back to that time of the early 2000s. I gave it three stars because it wasn’t a complete waste of time but for what does exist out there it seems pretty mediocre in my opinion. Thankfully it’s a pretty short read, only 172 pages. It is not for somebody who is a student of politics or religion it is really a sociology piece. It gives some interesting perspective on the making of the Taliban, and the views of the West in the Muslim world and vice versa. It’s basic argument is that we find ourselves at odds today, this is the result of misunderstanding and the effects of globalization. The solution he offers in the final chapter is basically dialogue and getting to know ourselves and getting to know people of other faiths and traditions. He did very briefly talk about the problems in the Muslim world being tyrannical monarchies and dictators and in adequate education and economic opportunities. Problems in the west being mostly ignorance and misunderstanding. The book itself has a lot of fluff, there’s not very much content to it, but there are references to a lot of good works.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents a contemporary anthropologist's take on the problems of the Muslim world, the West, and the relationship between them. He has an interesting perspective, but his writing tends to lag, taking an entire chapter to make one simple point. He tries to look at how Muslim societies have gotten away from their roots, and how this has had a negative effect, but he never describes what an "ideal" Islamic society would be like (or even what a good Muslim society in the past was like), so it is hard to understand what point he is actually making.

[Sebastian Cosgrove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for research, and took some of his classes, one of the most knowledgable guys on the topic.