This is not a book of history; it does not claim to cover every aspect of Islam religion. It confines itself to the search for the true mission of Islam and how that mission has been hijacked in the struggle of faith and power. This is the story of contest between religion and politics where politics was made a sacrament and religion abused. In describing this aspect, the historical part naturally cannot be ignored. This is not a book of religion either. Since religionand politics overlap each other in this study, theology and jurisprudence have their interplay also. The conflict within Islam for the soul of Islam continues. Will the struggle be resolved in the present and the foreseeable future? Or will it make life more difficult for the faithful? This book attempts to find the answers.

Why fears about Muslim integration into Western society—propagated opportunistically by some on the right—misread history and misunderstand multiculturalism. In the United States and in Europe, politicians, activists, and even some scholars argue that Islam is incompatible with Western values and that we put ourselves at risk if we believe that Muslim immigrants can integrate into our society. Norway's Anders Behring Breivik took this argument to its extreme and murderous conclusion in July 2011. Meanwhile in the United States, state legislatures' efforts to ban the practice of Islamic law, or sharia, are gathering steam—despite a notable lack of evidence that sharia poses any real threat. In Blaming Islam, John Bowen uncovers the myths about Islam and Muslim integration into Western society, with a focus on the histories, policy, and rhetoric associated with Muslim immigration in Europe, the British experiment with sharia law for Muslim domestic disputes, and the claims of European and American writers that Islam threatens the West. Most important, he shows how exaggerated fears about Muslims misread history, misunderstand multiculturalism's aims, and reveal the opportunism of right wing parties who draw populist support by blaming Islam.

Islam and Conflict Resolution investigates and analyzes those aspects of Islam that deal with international law and peaceful resolution of conflict in an attempt to bridge the gap between the Western and Islamic worlds. The authors seek to expose the common ground that exists between the beliefs of Islam and those of the Judeo-Christian religions that influence action in the modern world. Most importantly, they seek to clarify the Muslim belief that conflict is not permanent or unavoidable, pointing out that Islam offers many recommendations for reducing conflict at various levels of personal and interstate relations. The book encourages an intellectual effort on both sides for education that will lead to a definite understanding of each other's world so as to lead to fair treatment in policymaking and journalism as well as an end to hostility between the Muslim and Judeo-Christian worlds.

Islam is often portrayed, especially in Western media, as an alien, violent, hostile, and monolithic religion, whose adherents are intent upon battling nonbelievers throughout the world. Shattering the Myth demonstrates that these conceptions more accurately reflect the bias of Western reporters than they do the realities of contemporary Islam. Westerners are barraged by images of violence that usually originate from armed confrontations in one small corner of the world. Islam, Bruce Lawrence argues, is a complex, international religious system that cannot be reduced to stereotypes. As Lawrence demonstrates, Islam is a religion shaped as much by its own postulates and ethical demands as by the specific circumstances of Muslim people in the modern world. The last two hundred years have brought many challenges for Muslims, from colonial subjugation through sporadic revivalism to elitist reform movements and, most recently, pervasive struggles with fundamentalism. During each period, Muslims have had to address internal tensions, as well as external threats. Today Muslims in the post-colonial era, only some of whom are Arab and living in the Middle East, are playing ever greater roles in economic changes, both regional and international. As the impact of these changes has become evident in societies around the globe, new leaders have come into public view. The most remarkable emerging presence is that of Muslim women. Lawrence argues that it is the experience of Muslim women in particular that calls for a more nuanced understanding of Islam today. It is time, Lawrence believes, to replace inaccurate images of Islam with a recognition of the multifaceted character of this global religion and of its widely diverse adherents. Here he describes changes that are taking place throughout the world, particularly in Southeast Asia, enacted by governments and nongovernmental organizations alike. In a time of rapid international change, Lawrence suggests that it is time for our images of Islam to reflect more clearly the realities of Islam as it is lived. Shattering the Myth provides significant insights into the history of Islam and a greater understanding of the varied experiences of Muslims today. "An informed interpretation of the contemporary Muslim experience . . . Lawrence's explanations for the particular states of affairs in Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and Malaysia, among other cases, are compelling . . . [A] distinguished contribution."--From the foreword by James Piscatori and Dale F. Eickelman

"Islam is a simple religion: it requires of its followers only two things -- one, a belief in the unity of God and, two, a belief in the prophethood of Muhammad. Despite the pure and homogeneous nature of the faith, the history of Islam has been one of conflict. The first problem Islam faced was the issue of succession to the Prophet. from then on, Islam has been riven by dissent -- a result of the almost uninterrupted face-off between Islamic rulers, who were usually secular and flexible in their interpretation and implementation of the rules and practices of Islam and fundamentalist theologians, jurists and their followers, who insisted on a rigid adherence to the Quran and the Sunna. Besides a thorough analysis of this problem, the author examines other issues that have led to discord -- the treatment of non-Muslims in an Islamic State; the power of taxation of the State; the nature of punishment for certain offences mentioned in the Quran and so on." --Page [4] of cover.

Michael Gilsenan looks at the relations between different forms of power, violence, and hierarchy in Akkar, the northernmost province of Lebanon, during the 1970s. Often regarded as backward and feudal, in reality this area was controlled primarily by groups with important roles in government and business in Beirut. The most "feudal" landowners had often done most to introduce capitalist methods to their estates, and "backwardness" was a condition produced by this form of political and social control. Gilsenan uses material from his stay in Akkar and a variety of historical sources to analyze the practices that guaranteed the rule of the large landowners. He traces shifts in power, and he examines the importance of narratives and rhetoric in constituting social honor, collective biography, and shared memory/forgetting. His lively account shows how changes in hierarchy were expressed in ironic commentary regarding idealized masculinity and violence, how subversive laughter and humor counterpointed the heroic ethic of challenge and revenge, and how peasant narratives both countered and reproduced the values of hierarchy.

Many today warn that the Muslim world and the West are on a collision course. The depth and intensity of animosity expressed by Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda followers led some to ask, “Why do they hate us?” The temptation for some American government officials and political commentators was to condemn and dismiss, to explain away anti-Americanism as irrationality, ingratitude, jealousy of US success or hatred for the American way of life. This approach fails to get at real issues. As governments respond to the threat of global terrorism, must be balanced by evidence that establishes a direct connection of guilt and by strikes that are focused rather than wide-ranging and indiscriminate. A disproportionate response runs the risk of a backlash in the Middle East and the broader Muslim world – as well as among American and European Muslim citizens – that erodes the goodwill of many and reinforces an image of a superpower again placing itself above international law. The war against global terrorism should not justify a gradual erosion of important principles and values at home or become a green light to authoritarian regimes in the Muslim world to increase repression. There is also a need to adopt a more balanced policy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If foreign policy issues are not addressed effectively, they will continue to provide a breeding ground for anti-Americanism, hatred and radicalism, the rise of extremist movements, and recruits for the Bin Ladens of this world. Short-term foreign policies that are necessitated by national interest must be balanced by long-term policies and incentives that pressure our allies to promote a gradual and progressive process of broader political participation and power sharing.

Here is the first panoptic history of the long struggle between the Christian West and Islam. In this dazzlingly written, acutely nuanced account, Andrew Wheatcroft tracks a deep fault line of animosity between civilizations. He begins with a stunning account of the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, then turns to the main zones of conflict: Spain, from which the descendants of the Moors were eventually expelled; the Middle East, where Crusaders and Muslims clashed for years; and the Balkans, where distant memories spurred atrocities even into the twentieth century. Throughout, Wheatcroft delves beneath stereotypes, looking incisively at how images, ideas, language, and technology (from the printing press to the Internet), as well as politics, religion, and conquest, have allowed each side to demonize the other, revive old grievances, and fuel across centuries a seemingly unquenchable enmity. Finally, Wheatcroft tells how this fraught history led to our present maelstrom. We cannot, he argues, come to terms with today’s perplexing animosities without confronting this dark past.