Journey Into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization

This book was much needed. Unfortunately it is only a book, a drop of water in the desert, although we should never forget that single drops added up to dig the desert canyons. Much more must be done, and this requires confronting a problem not addressed by the Author. Why are we, people of the western countries, making such a confusion between politics and religion and why, anyhow, religion appears to be the key to peace within the people referring to the three Abrahamic religions? As modern people, living in a western democracy, we should be bound to separate Church and State. Which is not exactly achieved in too many of the western countries, USA included, and surely, despite the presence of Ahmed's Aligarh model, is not the case in the Islamic countries. Thus it appears that using a language to be appreciated by our Islamic travel mates means speaking a language that is not properly our own, although it is becoming increasingly popular in some countries having a Christian tradition. There is a contradiction that needs been solved. I hope that our Author and other serious scholars show us how.

This is an excellent, thoughtful study of the Islamic world and the impact globalization and our "war on terror" is having on these societies, by a professor of anthropology who has devoted his career to helping the west understand Islam. I strongly recommend it to anyone wanting to get behind the rhetoric which we are getting from the media and our government these days.

Though I am a novice in Islamic Studies, for any American who is still lured into the stereotyping of Moslims(and that means most Americans), this book is a must. It is extemely readable, current, and relevant. Not only does Profesor Ahmed give us a fresh look into Islam, both historical and contemporary, he challenges much of the accepted wisdom on globalization, as well as democratization, and he does so with detailed documentation and authority.

I read this book in just two sittings. I did not want it to end. The author covers so much and weaves an incredible and hopeful story throughout the deep analysis of contemporary Muslim culture and world politics. Ahmed introduces us a a real "extremist" or "jihadist" in the first pages and we see his remarkable transformation throughout the book. He is not the caricature that we see on the news or in Hollywood. Journey into Islam gives us a nuanced look into the mind of Muslims around the world ranging from fundamentalists like the one described above to modernists like President Musharraf and others to Sufi mystics. Combining history, personal narrative and jaw-dropping access to every sector of Muslim society, this book, for the first time, gives the reader an understanding of what is happening in the world today and why. I have read a lot of books on the subject but I can honestly say that I was clueless before I read this one. Extraordinary.

Akbar Ahmed is a welcome departure from the roar of Muslim rage. Journey into Islam, his latest book, is an anthropological account of his 2006 travel with a team of research assistants to the three major regions of the Muslim world: the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. It tells of mutual suspicions between the West and Islam, fed by stereotypes of the other, and how those perceptions can be reversed through direct personal exchange, how conversations even with extremists can change minds. It offers Ahmed's wise observations and reflections, documented in prose and photographs, and it has powerful implications for all of us. I must put my cards on the table: Akbar is my friend and colleague. I was a skeptic when I first heard him in 2001, but I found the potency, eloquence and courage of his message irresistible, a vital counterpoint to the drumbeat of clash and turmoil. His central point is that civil dialogue, aimed at listening and learning -- without stifling one's own perspectives and concerns -- allows each side to understand the other, discover a common humanity, and sometimes even to develop friendships. For Journey into Islam, Ahmed and his research team interviewed some 120 people in each of nine countries at universities, hotels and cafes, madrassahs and mosques. Ahmed had access to people that most non-Muslims would not have, including prime ministers and presidents, princes and sheikhs, but mostly ordinary Muslims. The team asked what they read, what changes they had witnessed in their communities and societies, the nature and extent of their access to technology and the news, people they regarded as role models, both contemporary and historical, and how they viewed America. The findings of his research are consistent with those of the surveys of public perceptions and opinions in Islam conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project and Zogby International. While his samples may be less representative of the broader populations than those of the Pew and Zogby surveys, they probe more deeply and are probably more candid. This was an exercise in dialogue as well as social science. Ahmed reports that Muslims see themselves in a world spinning out of control, due principally to the cold forces of globalization, which brings the "poisons of greed, ignorance, and anger" into their lives. They find refuge by returning to their roots. The problem, he observes, has been exacerbated by the War on Terror, which has fueled the most revolutionary factions of Islam. Ahmed is hopeful that in time the more modern, democratic, and humanistic factions will re-emerge, and that we can accelerate such a development by returning to sanity through commitment to a more enlightened model of engagement: dialogue. These are not the frothy slogans and dreams of a Pollyanna. Ahmed knows that some people are fanatics, beyond constructive dialogue. At the same time, as Pakistan's ambassador to Great Britain in the 1990s, he learned