Islamic World And The West example essay topic

The Foundation of Animosity Between the Islamic World and the West Lewis, Archibald. (Editor), The Islamic World and the West, 622-1492 AD. John Wiley and Sons, New York; 1970 September 11, 2001 is a day most Americans will never forget. The fall of the two towers was a horrific act that killed over five thousand people and affected millions. It was the most devastating act of terror the United States had experienced since Pearl Harbor, if not ever. It was a cheap shot at a superpower that in some minds had stepped over its boundaries.

The guilty party was a group who call themselves the "Al Qaeda". They are Islamic extremists who believe firmly in the Koran and who strongly oppose the infidels of Islam (Westerners). Some would say that our involvement in the Middle East over the past 100 years sparked this anger. Maybe America supported the wrong people or even perhaps bombed the wrong city.

However, Archibald Lewis would disagree with this statement. In the book The Islamic World and the West 622-1492 AD. He states the animosity between Islam and the West solidified its foundation from about the 7th century until nearly five hundred years ago. Lewis's belief is that the hostility the West (America and Europe) experiences between the Islamic world in our common times dates back over a thousand years. This was a time period where the West (Europeans back then) and the Islamic world fought many battles against each other, and were closely economically tied together. This book demonstrates the major underlying reasons resentment was felt back in the 7th through 15th centuries and how it developed into hatred that still exists today.

Part one of the book begins by expressing the importance of religion to the Islamic people and what their feelings were dealing with Christianity and Judaism. Using the Koran as a guide, Lewis shows the religious sentiment Islam has towards Christians and Jews, .".. although they are commanded to worship one God only. There is no God but He; far be that from Him, what they associate with Him!" (10) Due to the fact the Christians believed that Christ was the Son of God, but also God himself they thought of Christianity as being absurd. This resentment leads up to the persecution of Muslims, Christians, and Jews who were all in a power struggle against one another. This was the first conflict that got the ball rolling as the expansion of the Islamic world was in full gear. This religious hatred is the first point Lewis proves thoroughly to support his thesis.

It is easy to understand because you can still see it today on the news almost every day in Israel. (10) The second part of the book deals with the beginning of the Crusades in the Middle East, and what effect it had on religious tolerance right up to the Renaissance era. This was a time when Islam was in its golden age. The Islamic world spanned across three continents from Spain all the way to China. The persecution of religion helped lead up to the start of the crusades when Christians wanted the holy lands back into their control. This brought up the second point the author made, which was the power struggle between the Islamic world and the West.

Eventually Christianity (the Franks) took over much of what is today Israel and Iraq. This constant warfare started a precedent that is still in effect in some of the Islamic, and Christian and Jewish borders of today, such as Israel. Again, relating it to recent events, it is not hard to imagine that this power struggle existed over a thousand years ago in the same parts of the world. (47) The last part of the book talks about two major turning points in Islamic and Western history.

These were the fall of Constantinople and the conquest of Granada. The fall of Constantinople confirmed the Islamic stronghold on the East Mediterranean Sea. It also proved Islamic supremacy in that region of the world. At the same time the conquest of Granada was a huge stepping-stone for the West. On the eve of Christopher Columbus voyage to the Americas, it was a strong hold on the Mediterranean Sea. It would lead to European expeditions on the seven seas of the world.

It was also the end of the major war with Islam and a new beginning of exploration and discovery for Europe. However, the stage was set for future hatred and animosity of the Islamic world and the west. This third part of the book is the turning point of both civilizations. The Europeans expanded to the Americas and eventually became extremely wealthy up to this day. The Islamic world then deteriorated and fell behind the West. Lewis does a successful job of showing how jealousy had been built up over the past five hundred years due to the West flourishing in the world based on these events.

(137) It is my belief that the author wrote this book to bring about understanding of the intertwined history of the Islamic World and the West. He did this in order to get rid of the stubbornness many Westerners have about Islamic people as well as stereotypes. I do not detect the author has a bias in the way this book was written. I think the fact that the book was published in 1970, a time when turmoil is nothing like it is now, kept him from having a strong bias.

I think if it was published last year, he would clearly state a bias one way or another based on recent events. The collection of historical documents he used for the book do a good job to give you a sense of what it was like back in their time. I think the author proved his thesis by using historical events and people to demonstrate the different ways animosity existed between the two cultures. I now feel like I have a much better understanding of the Middle East and how history has brought us to the point we are at today. The book drives the three main points home that there is a religious clash, power struggle and jealousy between the Islamic World and the Middle East. I think everyone should be educated in Islamic history especially with what the future may hold.

In the beginning of this book I think Lewis sums up the importance that this history may hold for generations to come, by saying "Thoughtful individuals, surveying the contemporary age in which we live, cannot fail to grasp the importance of the numerous relationships that link the Western and Islamic worlds and that may well determine the way the future unfolds". (v) Lets just hope it is a peaceful one. Lewis, Archibald. John Wiley and Sons, New York; 1970.