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He includes long pieces, such as his capsule history of the interaction--in war and peace, in commerce and culture--between Europe and its Islamic neighbors, and shorter ones, such as his deft study of the Arabic word watan and what its linguistic history reveals about the introduction of the idea of patriotism from the West. Lewis offers a revealing look at Edward Gibbon's portrait of Muhammad in Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire unlike previous writers, Gibbon saw the rise of Islam not as something separate and isolated, nor as a regrettable aberration from the onward march of the church, but simply as a part of human history ; he offers a devastating critique of Edward Said's controversial book, Orientalism ; and he gives an account of the impediments to translating from classic Arabic to other languages the old dictionaries, for one, are packed with scribal errors, misreadings, false analogies, and etymological deductions that pay little attention to the evolution of the language.

And he concludes with an astute commentary on the Islamic world today, examining revivalism, fundamentalism, the role of the Shi'a, and the larger question of religious co-existence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews. A matchless guide to the background of Middle East conflicts today, Islam and the West presents the seasoned reflections of an eminent authority on one of the most intriguing and little understood regions in the world.

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To ask other readers questions about Islam and the West , please sign up. Written in , is this still seen as a fair assessment? HOw has Bernard Lewis changed in his thinking? See 1 question about Islam and the West…. Lists with This Book.

Apr 17, Mashael rated it it was ok. Historical facts that I have never stumbled on ever before, yet the book is very subjectively written. Lewis intentionally left out the other sides of Islam and limited his argument to military and Jihad! As if Islam is only about that. The book is very polemic e.

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The book is subjectively written as the writer is too biased. I recommend th Historical facts that I have never stumbled on ever before, yet the book is very subjectively written. I recommend those who read it or wanna read it, to read Richard Bulliet's Islamo-Chistian Civilization to understand Lewis's polemic style.

Sep 14, Deniz rated it really liked it.

I recommend it for those who are not professionally informed about the Middle East, Turkey and Egypt. For instance, the article comparing the legal differences between Sunni and Shiite lawyers is really informative. Apr 03, Alain Dewitt rated it it was ok Shelves: A collection of 11 essays and not a book with a single thesis. Some chapters are very academic, such as the one dealing with the problems and issues confronted when trying to translate Arabic.

A couple of chapters are very informative, such as the one dealing with the question of Muslims under non-Muslim rule.

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My own favorite chapter is 'The Question of Orientalism' where he refutes Edward Said's eponymous book. Jul 28, Todd rated it really liked it Shelves: Clear, crisp, Lewis covers a moderate range of topics focusing on Islam generally , the West and the Islamic world's understandings and misunderstandings of one another, and the source and development of a number of important concepts in Islam, to include modern religiously-motivated political movements.

Lewis' no-nonsense scholarship is on display and one cannot help but appreciate how deeply steeped he is in his topic. One chapter is devoted to powerfully refuting Edward Said 's Orientalism , Clear, crisp, Lewis covers a moderate range of topics focusing on Islam generally , the West and the Islamic world's understandings and misunderstandings of one another, and the source and development of a number of important concepts in Islam, to include modern religiously-motivated political movements. One chapter is devoted to powerfully refuting Edward Said 's Orientalism , all the while still welcoming scholarly criticism of the study of Islam, from within and without.

Islam Isn't Just Compatible With Western Values, It Fully Endorses Them

Lewis has a reputation for being unsympathetic to Islam, though one picks up throughout this book that he is not particularly sympathetic toward Christianity or, indeed, religion in general. In fact, Lewis tended to minimize many of the more commonly criticized parts of Islam and Islamic history, such as the treatment of non-Muslims under Islamic rule see Bat Ye'or 's three books on Dhimmis and Dhimmitude for a more complete treatment of this subject , while sparing no effort to highlight a number of complementary complaints about European behavior on those various issues.

In his overall brief historical survey of Islam, he probably aims for a person with moderate knowledge of the subject, though not a fellow expert or a novice. In his other chapters, he tends to go into more depth on particular aspects of his subject.

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Lewis on Europe's obsession with the Ottoman Turks, the raging battle between secularism and fundamentalism in the Muslim world, or the difficulty of studying other peoples' histories is to be taken through a treacherous terrain by the coolest and most reassuring of guides. You are in the hands of the Islamic world's foremost living historian.

Of that world's ordeal he writes with the greatest care and authority and no small measure of sympathy. Lewis contrasts the Christian and Islamic civilizations and explains their interaction in war and peace, commerce and culture Islam and the West is a primer for greater understanding of the countries engaged in cold and hot wars that, directly or indirectly, are rooted in religion.

As the title suggests, the book's main thrust is one the encounter--all too grequently the clash--between Europe and the Middle East. Scholarly but not pedantic, writing without fear or favor, Lewis makes an ideal guide through the political, religious, and cultural thickets of Islam A learned, forceful analysis that treats Islam with respect, not condescension. Everywhere in this book Mr. Lewis's commanding achievement is evident--his great learning, his deep knowledge of Arabic philology, his masterly acquaintance with the history and culture of the Middle East, and his intimate familiarity with the relations of East and West.

Lewis' comparative and synthetic approaches to the issues discussed are highly informative and worthy of careful reading by both specialists in the field s and lay readers. Camron Micheal Amin, Benjamin C. Fortna, and Elizabeth B.

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. To illustrate Islam's support for a democratic government, verse 4: The people must take their vote as a responsibility and thus choose the most appropriate and suitable person to lead them. It then in turn exhorts those in authority to exercise justice. Further, it promotes dialogue and consultation to gauge public opinion and decide matters fairly as illustrated in Muslims in the early era of Islam had this sense of responsibility.

So when Islam itself supports a democratic form of governance and also requires Muslims to 'obey those in authority among them' 4: By the same token, those who really feel Islam isn't compatible with Western values ought to educate themselves on Islam's true teachings, even if some so-called Muslims won't. If we take justice to be one of the Western values to be proud of, those unaware of Islamic teachings would be surprised to hear how the Qur'an strongly exhorts to absolute justice on more than one occasion 5: So much so that Harvard declared this verse as one of the greatest expressions of justice.

Coming on to perhaps the most valued Western principle - and therefore the most contested issue around Islam - freedom, we find a similar tale. Those asserting Islam restricts freedom are grossly mistaken, or simply deceived by the oppressive political regimes in the Middle East - confusing the religion of Islam with oppressive political and dictatorial rule.

What hardline Muslims and the uninformed so inexplicably miss is how, when the Prophet of Islam was forbidden to compel anyone in matters of faith, can his followers then have the authority to impose their beliefs on others? Time and again Islam's teachings uphold religious and personal freedoms. If dictators in the Middle East or radical Muslim preachers oppose the Prophet Muhammad in their words and actions then they're solely to blame.