Islam And The West In World History-1

Running head: ISLAM AND THE WEST IN WORLD HISTORY 1

Islam and the West in World History

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ISLAM AND THE WEST IN WORLD HISTORY 2

Islam and the West in World History

The clash, which exists between Islam and the West, has become more evident, in the

recent years. It is clear that, since the onset of the 21

century, there has been a general

misconception that the practices, institutions, and perspectives of the West have enormously

been threatened by Islam and Muslim in many areas. Based on the above argument, this paper

will critically evaluate the relationship which has existed between the Muslim and Western

world over different times in history, as highlighted in the article “Islam and the West in World

History” written by Shahrough Akhavi in 2003.

Trying to understand the ways in which the West is viewed by Muslims in the context of

the world history would be complicated as both the West and Islam are abstract concepts having

varied experiences and traditions (Akhavi, 2003). Therefore, it is hard for them to be termed as

monistic units for the purpose of analysis. However, it is worth noting that, although Muslims

highly view the world in regard to their individual internal processes, their vision have

enormously been affected by experiences they have had from the West. It is true that Muslims

mainly compartmentalize their individual lives in order to maintain religion in a private sphere as

well as using non-religious types of behavior in the external world. It is also clear that Islam is an

enormously legalistic religion and has a communitarian method of ordinance. This makes it hard

for Muslims to fully understand some of the Christian tenets, especially those touching on

giving, among other aspects. However, all these do not necessarily indicate that Islam criticizes

theology. This is because Muslim society needs people who are well qualified in law in order to

educate believers on ways in which they can fulfill God’s desires at all time (Akhavi, 2003).

In the early modern period, the ideas of the West hardly influenced the Muslim society.

For instance, although Ottomans, who existed from 1435 to 1683, were formidable threats to

ISLAM AND THE WEST IN WORLD HISTORY 3

countries such as Russia, Austria, and Hungary, their relationship was in no way hostile.

However, as a result of series of wars, such as the Vienna siege in 1683, as well as other

differences in areas such as trade among others, writers from the West leveled polemical attacks

regarding Muslim thought. Some of these writers include Rossini, Mozart, Delacroix, Byron,

Ingres, and Fitzgerald (Akhavi, 2003).

The European political influence on the Muslim countries enormously resulted from the

French revolution. This can partly be associated with spread of communication as well as

increased travels by Europeans to the Muslim world. Further, majority of the rulers in the

Muslim world were highly convinced that reforms in line with the Western patterns could

enhance survival of their society, without necessarily losing any cultural identity. For instance,

as a result of the European powers, the Iranian, Mughal, and Ottoman governments were forced

to modernize their political and societal systems. However, this was rejected by some clergy

arguing that the reforms would violate the holy law (shari'a). According to the conservative

clergy, the reforms would make it hard for Muslims to follow the law, hence not being able to

execute God’s commands. This would in turn make the Muslims get into a situation of unbelief

and this was against God’s commands. Consequently, the great reform in the Islamic movement,

known as salafiyya, between 1880 and 1935 was a point of focus with the West, though within

certain limit (Akhavi, 2003). Despite the Western control in the interwar period in the Middle

East, various political models from West such as fascists, Marxists and liberals have failed. For

instance, the failure of Marxism was due to the identification of the Middle East region with

foreign power and atheism, the USSR. However, it should be noted that, despite of all these

gains, most of the Western states in the Muslim countries failed to enhance democracy in these

ISLAM AND THE WEST IN WORLD HISTORY 4

countries as they did advocate in their home countries, thus making them unpopular in the

Muslim countries (Akhavi, 2003).

Consequently, the European states withdrew from the Muslim societies, thus making

them to establish independent states, and different types of authoritarian regimes came into

power. Initially, they enjoyed political legitimacy due to the sheer fact that the rulers who took

over were the natives, although their despotism and incompetence enormously reduced their

supports. In order to save his realm, Ottomam Sultan had raised a banner on the pan-Islamism

just prior to the World War I. In 1920s, there was a creation of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in

order to expel British rule in this region. However, in the 1970s, Muslim Brotherhood split into

various groups and pursued violence, all in an effort to come up with a society which is ruled by

the Islamic law. The relationship between the West and Muslim society started to become

deplorable during this time. For instance, in 1979, the U.S. and other Western countries accused

Iran of opposing peace between Arab countries and Israel as well as encouraging terrorism.

Further, Osama Bin Laden, a Saudi expatriate businessman and other admirers of Mawdudi and

Qutb gained notoriety. Supporters of Qutb, who fled to Egypt in order to escape arrests, set

explosives in New York in 1993. This further deteriorated relationship between the West and the

Muslim society (Akhavi, 2003).

Conclusion and Recommendations

As highlighted in this article, it is evident that the relationship between the Muslim

society and the West needs to be restored for the benefit of us all. Just like in the eighth as well

as ninth centuries, where Muslims coexisted peacefully with non-Muslims and the Islamic

philosophy was enormously influenced by the Western thoughts, there is a great need to evaluate

ways in which this trust can be restored as a matter of urgency. Therefore, ways in which the

ISLAM AND THE WEST IN WORLD HISTORY 5

relationship between the Western Muslim and worlds can become equal in future should be

established. Further, a research should be conducted on ways in which bitterness existing

between Western and Muslim worlds, mainly resulting from the radical Islamic movements of

1980s and 1990s, can become a thing of the past. Generally, the need to tolerate one another,

despite of our varied economic, religious, and political backgrounds, should be advocated at all

times.

ISLAM AND THE WEST IN WORLD HISTORY 6

Reference

Akhavi, S. (2003, June). Islam and the West in World History. Third World Quarterly 24 (3),

545-562

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