Islam I
Finally I finished reading Bernard Lewis’ The crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror. I came to know this scholar because I read a couple of his articles, one in The New Yorker and the other (translated) in Letras Libres. The book is solid like a rock and informative as a complete library. Actually the nucleus of the book was an article published in The New Yorker in November 2001.
Really a jewel. You want to understand the real conflict that exists for centuries between Islam and the Western world. What happened 90 years ago? Why Iraq is important for Islam? Why the future is not optimistic in the sense of the clashes that will occur in this arena? What the different meanings that jihad has had across the Islam tradition and history are. What about the suicide? How do Hamas and PLO play in this game? What is the problem that Bin Laden sees in Saudi Arab and why that rises so violent reactions? What has Wahhabism had changed in the contemporary Islam perspective?
If you really want to have a clear comprehension of the news you watch everyday regarding terror and Islam, read it.
