Understanding Muslim-West Alienation

Understanding Muslim-West Alienation: Building a Better Future, Arshad Khan, Writer's Club Press, 2002

The conflict between Islam and the West, specifically America, did not start the day that New York and Washington were attacked. It is because of religious, social and political factors and has been brewing for many centuries. This book attempts to fill in the details.

The Islamic religion was started by the prophet Muhammad approximately 1400 years ago in Arabia. It spread quickly, reaching from Spain to China. When an area was conquered, there were no forced conversions to Islam. The right of the residents to freedom of religion was guaranteed. Honest and efficient governments run by early Muslim rulers, who found that simply conquering an area wasn't enough, brought about the rise of a civilization that lasted for centuries.

While Europe was going through the Dark Ages, the Islamic world was The Center of learning and culture, especially during the years 750-950 AD, Islam's Golden Age. The conflict between Islam and the West started approximately 1000 years ago with the Crusades, a number of attempts to take Jerusalem from the Muslims and return it to Christian rule. That conflict still goes on today.

Moving to the present, the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack violated several basic principles of Islam. They killed innocent civilians, the committed suicide, they killed more than 200 Muslims who were working in the World Trade Center, and one of the hijackers was reportedly consuming alcohol in Florida the night before, all of which are totally against the teachings of Islam.

Islam has many complaints with America. Support for Israel is one-sided; Jewish influence in the Senate is too strong; America is widely perceived as anti-Muslim; the West talks a lot about democracy and human rights, but supports some of the worst dictators in the world; American media is biased and driven by business needs. Part of the "blame" for present conditions in the Muslim world lies with Muslims themselves. They suffer from a widespread lack of education, the control by religious fundamentalists is great, Muslims lack role models, the majority of Muslims care only about their personal sphere, otherwise, they are silent and apathetic, their leaders have failed them consistently.

The author talks about "jihad," which is mostly a personal struggle against one's inner self. It is not a tool of oppression or forced conversion against non-Muslims. On both sides, people have hijacked the term and turned it into something that it is not.

This book is a basic look at the Muslim view of the West, and it succeeds very well. It doesn't try to be a complete reference source, and it is clearly written and very easy to read. It is also eye-opening and highly recommended.