First year seminar
Essay 3: Due APRIL 9
Rough draft: due APRIL 4
Background: In the book No God but God Aslan gives a detailed history of the rise of Islam, along with an explanation of various sects and trends. His goal is to advance the argument that Islam is going through the equivalent of a reformation. While Christianity modernized in the 1600s, Islam thanks to the Ottoman Empire and the traditional readings of the Hadiths did not. Thus the Islamic world, which started far more advanced than the West, fell behind the West by the 17th century and ultimately decayed into pre-modern corrupt states. Now, as globalization forces the entire world to confront modern secular notions of science and the economy, the Islamic world is split on how to respond. Some, like the Bin Ladens, want to re-create the community of Medina circa 630, and adhere to the conservative, traditional form of Islam as conveyed by the Hadiths and practiced over the centuries. They see the West as a hindrance to this, and thus the West has to be driven out of Islamic lands. The West is seen much like the old Quraysh – no real faith, driven by a desire for money and power, with a society riddled by social injustice. Just as the lowly Yathrib exiles managed to bring down Mecca and the Quraysh, so to can the Islamic world bring down the West – and perhaps even subsume it.
Aslan argues that this extremist reaction is not only not the majority, but is held by a small minority of Muslims. Many others want Islam to modernize (like Aslan), while others try to find away to unite the modern era with a traditional Islamic faith (the fundamentalist Shi’ite government in Iran is trying to do this). Some like Ataturk and earlier the Shah, simply want to ban Islam from politics, and embrace western ideals. Whatever direction they take, change is happening fast, and being forced on Muslims from the outside; they aren’t finding time to find their own way, events are pushing the Islamic world to react.
One issue faced by Islam in approaching this is the fact that their religion is praxis oriented rather than faith oriented. They have faith, but so much of what being a Muslim is all about centers on rituals and community activities. In the US and Europe growing Muslim communities are having to deal with both reconciling their faith with life in the modern West, and being mistrusted by westerners as somehow different or dangerous. Celebration of Ramadan in a Muslim world is a time of feast and community experience; in the US or Europe it can be lonely and the opposite sort of experience if a Muslim is cut off from community. Inside the Islamic world there are also splits – Shi’ite vs. Sunni, Arab vs. non-Arab, with large communities in places like Pakistan, Indonesia and non-Arab Africa.
Assignment: In a 4 to six page essay, react to the final paragraph in Aslan’s book, where he states:
“When fourteen centuries ago Muhammad launched a revolution in Mecca to replace the archaic, rigid and inequitable strictures of tribal society with a radically new vision of divine morality and social egalitarianism, he tore apart the fabric of traditional Arab society. It took many years of violence and devastation to cleanse the Hijaz of its ‘false idols.” It will take many more to cleanse Islam of its new false idols – bigotry and fanaticism – worshipped by those who have replaced Muhammad’s original vision of tolerance and unity with their own ideals of hatred and discord. But the cleansing is inevitable and the tide of reform cannot be stopped. The Islamic Reformation is already here. We are all living in it.”
In answering, 1) determine what you think an Islam ‘cleansed of its new false idols’ would look like – how would it look if it recaptured Muhammad’s original vision of tolerance and unity? 2) Speculate on the major issues faced in achieving this reform. What kinds of problems must be overcome? 3) Finally give your assessment of what kind of role the West can or should play in helping bring about these changes. Some believe war to defeat extremists and spread democracy would work best, others want to work with existing conservative governments…what do you think?
Note: it is essential that every one of the three ‘questions’ involved in the essay above is answered by referring to various parts of the Aslan book. You may choose your own focus. Some people might find the Shi’ite-Sunni split important to address, others might focus on the role of women, or jihad. You have a lot of freedom on what you focus upon, but the best answers will show a real knowledge of Aslan’s arguments, evidence will be taken from many parts of the reading (not just one or two chapters), and will inject your analysis with the evidence from Aslan.
Although it’s not due until April, now is the time to start thinking about the reading and putting together ideas as we work through, jotting down reactions to the book, talking with each other about the issues, or stopping by my office or Ashley’s office hours to get these ideas put together in your head. Good luck!