The Crisis of Islam

Holy War and Unholy Terror

By: Bernard Lewis

Narrated by: Bernard Lewis

Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Bernard Lewis examines the historical roots of the frustrations and resentments that dominate the Islamic world today and that are increasingly being expressed in acts of terrorism. He looks at the theological origins of political Islam and tells us what the Islamic doctrine of jihad has meant at different times in history. And he takes us, as only he can, through the rise of militant Islam in Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, examining the impact of radical Wahabi proselytizing and Saudi oil money on the rest of the Islamic world.

Crisis of Islam ranges widely through 13 centuries of history, but in particular it charts the key events of the 20th century leading up to the bitter and violent confrontations of today. The Second World War, the creation of the state of Israel, the Cold War, the Iranian Revolution, the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan, the Gulf War, and the September 11th attacks on the United States have all shaped Muslim perceptions in important ways.

While hostility toward the West has a long and varied history in the lands of Islam, its current concentration on America is new. So too is the cult of the suicide bomber. Bernard Lewis helps us understand the reasons for the increasingly dogmatic rejection of modernity by many in the Muslim world in favor of a return to a sacred past. Based on his George Polk Award-winning article for The New Yorker, The Crisis of Islam is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what Osama bin Ladin represents and why his murderous message resonates so widely in the Islamic world.

©2003 Bernard Lewis (P)2003 Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Remarkably succinct...offers a long view in the midst of so much short-termism and confusing punditry. Lewis has done us all - Muslim and non-Muslim alike - a remarkable service." (The New York Times Book Review)

"A timely and provocative contribution to the current raging debate about the tensions between the West and the Islamic world." (Business Week)

“Inestimable...replete with the exceptional historical insight that one has come to expect from the world’s foremost Islamic scholar.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Likes Islam to be Ataturked out of existence

Bernard Lewis' premise is that the best example of Islam is the state of Turkey or, more precisely, a state modeled on the 'reforms' of Kemal Ataturk.
Ataturk the 'hero' of modern Turkey murdered and imprisoned thousands of Imams, sufis and religious people who did not conform to his vision of Islam. Among the 'blessings' of his reformist vision were to forbid the call to prayer in Arabic, mandating the pre-islamic name of the pagan turkic tribes for their god rather than that in the Quran, the wearing of brimmed hats by men (hats which made it impossible to pray in the prescribed muslim way) and many other 'reforms'which, in essence, made it impossible to follow the prescriptions of Islamic practice (note: I am referring to personal religious duties which have no impact on state affairs). Ataturk died of liver disease from his alchoholism - a truly great example of his 'reformed way of life'.
Since Bernard Lewis admires his vison of Islam, one can only assume that Mr lewis would like an Islam where no one actually practises; where they carry the name 'muslim' with none of the 'baggage' of adhering to the teachings (and I am not talking about radical fundamentalism here).

Missing the Letter "R"

The subject sounded promising, but the actual result was a boring, detailed account. The historical view was wound up like a boring college history lesson; unfamiliar names and places with zero motivation to listen. Perhaps better to read than to listen to. The author reads like a prepared speech and speaks very fast with a British accent devoid of the letter "R". Not my kind of book. DNF.