Review of Islam and the West Post 9/11 edited by Ron Greaves, Theodore Gabriel, Yvonne Haddard, and Jane Idleman Smith (original) (raw)

2007, Journal for the Academic Study of Religion

As is often the case with edited volumes such as this one, the thirteen contributions (including Introduction and Conclusion) vary considerably in quality and in approach to the overall topic. I shall therefore deal with them one by one. The Introduction by two of the editors gives a brief survey of the historical background to 9/11 and its immediate aftermath, and canvasses some of the ideas in the articles to follow. It points out, perhaps provocatively, that 'Al Qa'eda is not as marginal in Muslim society as is made out by the West and many analysts' (p. 9). The next four contributions are grouped as 'Part I: Theoretical Issues'. Theodore Gabriel argues that the relation between Islam and the West has more often been 'one of mutual interdependence' (p. 18) than enmity but that Muslims have genuine grievances against injustices done by the West, especially in the case of the Palestinians, and these lead to antagonism. John J. Shepherd, by contrast, argues unremittingly that the content of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures conduce almost logically to extremism, whether that of Israeli West Bank settlers, Christian anti-Semites, Muslim terrorists, or others surveyed. The need is for greater self-criticism and a recognition that moral criteria stand above religious dogma: not an easy demand. Kenneth Cragg argues that the Meccan (rather than the Medinan) situation of Muhammad should guide current Muslim attitudes toward global politics. The argument is suggestive, creative but somewhat confusing, in a way typical of other writings of his that I have read. Ron Greaves presents the basic dilemma of modern Islam, the loss of its previous pre-eminence and the struggle to regain it, and four ideological positions into which most Muslims fall. He warns against identifying as 'moderate' those who most share the Western worldview, which claims to be pluralist but has its own absolutism, and he calls for a more genuine pluralism. The rest of the contributions are in 'Part II: Case Studies'. Marcia Hermanson deals with responses to 9/11, with the search for a 'good' or