Summary

Islam as a religion is central to the lives of over a billion people, but its outer expression as a distinctive civilization has been undergoing a monumental crisis. Buffeted by powerful adverse currents, Islamic civilization today is a shadow of its former self. The most disturbing and possibly fatal of these currents--the imperial expansion of the West into Muslim lands and the blast of modernity that accompanied it--are now compounded by a third giant wave, globalization.

These forces have increasingly tested Islam and Islamic civilization for validity, adaptability, and the ability to hold on to the loyalty of Muslims, says Ali A. Allawi in his provocative new book. While the faith has proved resilient in the face of these challenges, other aspects of Islamic civilization have atrophied or died, Allawi contends, and Islamic civilization is now undergoing its last crisis.

The book explores how Islamic civilization began to unravel under colonial rule, as its institutions, laws, and economies were often replaced by inadequate modern equivalents. Allawi also examines the backlash expressed through the increasing religiosity of Muslim societies and the spectacular rise of political Islam and its terrorist offshoots. Assessing the status of each of the building blocks of Islamic civilization, the author concludes that Islamic civilization cannot survive without the vital spirituality that underpinned it in the past. He identifies a key set of principles for moving forward, principles that will surprise some and anger others, yet clearly must be considered.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Allawi (The Occupation of Iraq), former minister of defense and minister of finance in Iraq's postwar governments, offers his version of the causes and consequences of the "decline" of Islamic civilization and proposals for its rejuvenation. The author argues that the West's violent encroachment on the Muslim world in the 19th and 20th centuries shattered local institutions and economies and disrupted any natural evolution of Islamic society; furthermore, current efforts to "modernize" the faith amount to draping an entire civilization in ill-fitting, inorganic ideas. Allawi calls for a return to the creative and artistic heritage of Islam and a restoration of balance-"between the physical and the spiritual... between men and women; between rights and duties"-while suggesting that the time to find balance may soon run out. The writing is erudite and the conclusions fascinating, but Allawi's dismissive attitude toward Western societies and their "mass rejection... of the cardinal virtues, not least wisdom and moderation," as well as a reluctance to accommodate anything other than a faith-based understanding of human reality might limit his audience. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Choice Review

The layered and complex relations between Western and Islamic cultures in the past 200 years include a variety of interactions whose range Allawi (senior visiting fellow, Princeton) analyzes with one eye on the current state of Islamic civilization and another on its future. The shocks of colonialism, modernity, secularization, and globalization on the inner social and outer political worlds of Muslims have prompted some to advocate secular politics and personal Islam, others to reform Islam to face Western challenges, and still others to develop a political Islam to confront the West. Allawi analyzes and critiques leading Muslim intellectuals as he traces the predicament of an Islamic civilization eroded by incursions of the West and buffeted by Muslim secularists, modernizers, and militants. As he discusses the ideal of the Islamic state, human rights in the West and in Islam, Shari'a, and Islamic banking/economics, he does not prescribe a way to restore Islamic civilization, but he does provide a central question for all who seek to renew the civilization: how can a modern society be built on the recognition of the sacred or the divine? Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above; general readers. L. J. Alderink emeritus, Concordia College

Library Journal Review

Allawi (The Occupation of Iraq) investigates the pathways that led to the deterioration of the Islamic civilization, known for its splendid culture between the eighth and 12th centuries. The inadaptability of Islam to modern life, the author argues, stems from its deep roots in the sacred. To be modern, according to Allawi, is to be liberated from the divine as the sole source of ethics and virtues. Allawi demonstrates that the individual in Islam is not an autonomous entity-a common principle in all religions-rather, its essence is driven from a complete submission to the godly creeds. He notes that the secularization of Muslim societies, which seemed to be on track until the mid-1970s, has shattered, giving way to political Islam. He suggests that the failure of Muslim societies to address the challenges and the threat of fast-growing Western cultural imperialism deepened their crisis. In an analytic, journalistic style, Allawi presents views about modern Islam that are both stimulating and informative. This provocative book is recommended for informed readers.-Sadiq Alkoriji, South Regional Lib., Broward Cty., FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.