October 7, 2008
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is based on an interview with Bernard Lewis, author of Islam: The Religion and the People (Wharton School Publishing).
For many Christians, Islam is as mysterious and unsettling as the invisible voice calling Muslims to daily prayer.
Despite its nearly 1,400 years of existence, the religion that worships Allah and follows the teachings of Muhammad remains something of a partial picture in the West. The result is misunderstanding, fear of the unknown and even distrust. More than one Christian has peered upon the star and crescent moon atop the minarets of a mosque and remarked how much it reminds them of the hammer and sickle and red star that has come to symbolize communism.
The Two Universal, Exclusive Religions
Then there is this: Christianity and Islam are the two major religions which each hold that their truths are not only universal but also exclusive and final. It also is the sacred call of the Christian and the Muslim to spread their beliefs to a world that needs to hear their message. This leads to an inherent friction born of a “we’re right, you’re wrong” competition that is not only preached but practiced.
Bernard Lewis, one of the West’s leading experts on Islam, explained it this way in his new book, “Islam,” co-written by Buntzie Ellis Churchill:
“For both Christians and Muslims ... it is their sacred duty not to keep [their faith] selfishly for themselves, like the Jews or the Hindus, but to bring them to all mankind, overcoming and removing or destroying whatever obstacles may be in the way.”
This shared ultimatum, however, is where the similarity between the two faiths ends. Lewis, who is Jewish, does an exemplary job analyzing both the connections and fractures between the two faiths in his book.
While not an apologist for Islam, Lewis tends to show its positive side by pointing out Christianity’s flaws. But overall he is balanced and brings needed insight to a subject that he said suffers from the spread of “a lot of false information about Islam.”
“There are things worse than ignorance and that is wrong knowledge,” he said.
Lewis, 92, hesitates to estimate the number of Americans who have a working knowledge of Islam, offering only that the percentage is low. That lack of knowledge is one of the primary reasons he wrote the book, to emphasize the importance of a historically-correct understanding of the religion.
The Growth of Radical Islam – In America
The other reason is that Islam has become more of a modern issue. In Europe especially, the faith continues to grow in urban centers, but is increasingly found in the United States.
“[I]t’s moving in that direction,” he said, adding that the brand of Islam being practiced in the U.S. tends to be of a more radical variety, at least where it is growing the fastest.
“Imagine a Muslim family living in Detroit,” Lewis said. “They would want a grounding in their religion, which is normal, so they look around for evening classes, which are almost all controlled by radical groups.”
Among other modern concerns, Lewis covers the increase of radicalism played out through terrorism.
Suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism are condemned by the majority of the Muslim world, Lewis said, but “not as much as one would wish. They condemn it, but they do so very cautiously, because they’re afraid.”
The problem is the radical groups have acquired incredible influence through oil money, he said, adding that until fairly recently the ultra-violent end of the religion’s practitioners would have been considered the “lunatic fringe.”
Lewis touches on these topics in his book, but for the most part concentrates on educating readers about the history and practices of Islam, including such cultural issues as dress, language, economics and politics.
The Non-Separation of Church and State
