Al-Huda
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the Message Continues ... 7/101
Newsletter for January 2010
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Is the Islamic past relevant to the present?
(a book review)
Review By Muhammad Khan
(The book: Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction, by Adam
J. Silverstein, New York: Oxford University Press, pp157, 2010).
Unlike Judaism and Christianity, Islam was born in history. We
know more about Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) than we do
about Moses or Jesus (peace be on them). According to Islamic
tradition, Adam was not only the first Prophet but also the
first Muslim and that is why all classical Muslim historians
began their chronicles with the beginning of creation, covering
the careers of all the prominent Prophets and Messengers, often
concluding in their own lifetime (915 in the case of al-Tabari).
Thus Islamic history did not begin with Prophet Muhammad; it
began with the creation of time. As the late Alija Ali
Izetbegovic, the Bosnian President and Philosopher, explained,
“There are two histories of Islam: the one preceding and the one
following Muhammad, upon whom be peace. The latter one, the
history of Islam in the narrower sense, cannot be fully
understood if one has insufficient knowledge of the former,
particularly of the period which covers Judaism and
Christianity. These three religions have played a major role in
human history. Through them, man has become the axis of history
and has learned to perceive humanity as a whole. Through them,
he has known the meaning of external and internal life, external
and internal progress, their mutual relations and their limits.
The historical successes and failures of both Judaism and
Christianity have culminated in a decisive Islamic experience of
mankind. Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad are thus the
personifications of three primeval possibilities of all that is
human.” (Islam Between East and West, reprinted 1999, p187)
This universal and inclusive approach to human history, pursued
by the early Muslims, was in reality inspired by the Divine
revelation, for the Qur’an is much more than a book and guide.
It also provides a powerful and integrative assessment and
re-evaluation of the progress of time in the light of Divine
knowledge, wisdom and judgment. If that was not the case, why
would a quarter of the Qur’an consist of historical data and
information about Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph and Jesus
among others? These facts were included in the Divine revelation
to inform us where we are and where we need to be.
The Qur’an therefore is the most powerful and pertinent
commentary on the progress of time and the vicissitudes of
history. Thus, in the book under review, Adam Silverstein is
right to say, “Perhaps it is the history that is important to
Muslims – if we were to ask a pre-modern Muslim to define the
limits of Islamic history he would likely be puzzled by the
suggestion that it has temporal or spatial limits at all…Islamic
history is the product of people and their actions. But people
in the pre-modern world were the product of their environment.
They could not ignore the natural backdrop against which the
events of Islamic history unfolded and nor can we.” (p1 and 3)
A lecturer in Islamic history at Oxford and Fellow of Oxford
Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, the author of this book
seeks to account for the sudden rise and rapid expansion of
Islam, both in the east and the west, from the seventh century
to the twenty-first century. He begins by explaining that we
need to understand Islam and especially Islamic history in order
to make sense of the difficulties and challenges we face today.
In his own words, “In recent years it has become increasingly
obvious to non-Muslim Westerners that Islam matters. Whether or
not this is a good thing continues to occupy a central place in
public debates and in the media. On the basis of some of their
recent statements, Prince Charles appears to be a fan; Pope
Benedict XVI – not so much. The growing visibility of Muslims in
newspaper headlines and on the streets of European and North
American cities has raised important issues concerning
integration, multiculturalism, interfaith relations, and even
what it means to be ‘British’, ‘American’, or ‘Western’
altogether…Regardless of one’s opinion on these matters, it is
clear to many that there is a conflict brewing between ‘Islam’
and the Judeo-Christian culture upon which Western civilization
is thought to be based.” (p xv)
If this is true, then we need to turn to the Islamic past to
find answers to these new and emerging challenges, argues
Silverstein. Influenced by the ‘clash of civilizations' theory
first formulated by Bernard Lewis and later popularized by
Samuel Huntington, the author is of the opinion that the roots
of present ‘Muslim rage’ actually lies in the Islamic past.
Otherwise, “How then are we to explain the enormous cultural
gulf that appears to separate Judeo-Christian, Western societies
from Muslim one? To answer this question we must turn to Islamic
history. The role that Islamic history plays in modern Muslim
societies is extremely important, though it is often overlooked
since it has no equivalent in the modern West. For this reason,
understanding the rise and subsequent development of Islam may
enable us to interpret modern Muslim societies and understand
their relation to – and relationship with – Western ones.” (p
xv-xvi)
Although it is true that the Islamic past is very important to
the Muslims (just as the Jewish and Christian past are also
important to them), yet the author’s attempt to explore and
explain the Muslim present solely in relation to the Islamic
past, unsurprisingly, leads him to conclude that today “Islam
matters” because “Islamic history matters” as much, if not more
(see p 138-9).
However, this view is problematic for a number of reasons.
Philosophically speaking, it confuses the absoluteness of the
ideal with the relativity of our existential reality and in so
doing fails to understand the true nature of the relationship
between the ideal, the actor and his actions in the context of
the Islamic worldview. To assume that the three are always
linked are theoretically and practically contentious, if not
erroneous. Secondly, given the huge diversity of Islam as a
faith, culture and civilization, it is unfair and unacceptable
to trace the roots of contemporary cultural difficulties and
political problems directly to the Islamic past when, arguably,
these problems and difficulties are the fruits of, in the words
of the philosopher Charles Taylor, a post-Enlightenment,
nihilistic “secular age”.
In addition to the above, Silverstein’s analysis of Muslim past
is also inherently bias because his approach assumes that
somehow Islam and the West are locked in a cosmic ‘clash’ and
therefore they are inherently culturally incompatible.
Not surprisingly, the idea that the Muslims, Jews and Christians
had lived together and thrived in a multi-faith and
multicultural al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) is, in his opinion, a
myth which has been fabricated for political ends (see p
129-131).
Consisting of seven short chapters, an Introduction and
Conclusion, it would not be unfair to say that the author of
this book has been heavily influenced by the speculative,
out-of-date and academically discredited theories formulated by
I Goldziher, J Schacht, J Wansborough, P Crone and M Cook, among
others, concerning the origins of Islam, its Prophet and
scriptural sources (see chapter 4 in particular). In other
words, although I agree with the author that Islamic history is
a very important subject and both Muslims and non-Muslims need
to study the Islamic past more closely in order to assess the
relevance of Islamic past to the present, however, I profoundly
disagree with his simplistic and selective approach to the study
of Islamic history; in fact, he appears not to have had access
to the original sources.
However, as Professor Hugh Kennedy has recently pointed out, the
traditional Arabic sources may not be perfect but they need to
be consulted and treated with respect to acquire a fuller
understanding of the Islamic past (see The Great Arab Conquests,
2008, p33).
I also came across several factual inaccuracies which should be
rectified at the earliest opportunity. On page 72 the author
says that “jihad literally means ‘striving against another’.”
Actually the Arabic word jihad literally means to exert or make
an effort; this could be either physical or spiritual effort
made individually or collectively. Also, Alexander the Great is
not considered to be a Prophet by the Muslims (p1); in fact, the
Qur’anic commentators disagree concerning the identity of
Zul-Qarnayn as mentioned in Surah Kahf, verse 83.
Likewise, referring to my book, The Muslim 100, the author
states that “…a recent book on the 100 ‘most influential Muslims
in history’ includes only one Western Muslim – Malcolm X…”
(p134). In fact, my book includes more than half a dozen Western
Muslims including Ibn Rushd, the medieval European philosopher,
and Muhammad Ali, the legendary American boxer.
These errors aside, I found this book interesting, not least
because it focuses on Islamic history as a discipline in its own
right. As the third title on an Islamic subject in the OUP’s
popular A Very Short Introduction series, a volume on Islamic
history is welcome.
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