Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SESSION 2013-2018
PH.D
A REVIEW OF THE CRISES OF ISLAM :HOLY WAR
AND UNHOLY TERROR.BY BERNARD LEWIS.
SUPERVISOR NAME
NAME
STUDENT
DR PRO MUHAMMAD
MUHAMMAD RAMZAN
HAMMAD LAKHWI(ASSOSIATE PROFESSOR)
CLASS PH.D
RL NO 11
DEPARTMENT OF ISLAMIC
STUDIES P.U LAHORE
BERNARD LEWIS
INTODUCTION:
Bernard Lewis, FBA (born May 31, 1916) is a
British-American historian specializing in oriental studies who is also known
as a public intellectual and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E.
Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.
Lewis' expertise is in the history of Islam and the interaction between Islam
and the West, and is especially famous in academic circles for his works on
the history of the Ottoman Empire.
Lewis served as a soldier in the British Army in the Royal Armoured
Corps and Intelligence Corps during the Second World War before being
seconded to the Foreign Office. After the war, he returned to the School of
Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London and was
appointed to the new chair in Near and Middle Eastern History.
Lewis is a widely read expert on the Middle East, and is regarded as one of
the Wests leading scholars of that region. His advice has been frequently
sought by policymakers, including the Bush administration. In
the Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing, Martin Kramer, whose
Ph.D. thesis was directed by Lewis, considered that, over a 60-year career,
Lewis has emerged as "the most influential postwar historian of Islam and
the Middle East."
Lewis is known for his controversial views on the Armenian Genocide. He is
notable for his public debates with the late Edward Said, concerning the
latter's book Orientalism(1978), which criticized Lewis and other European
Orientalists.
In 1990 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected Lewis for
the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for
achievement in the humanities. His lecture, entitled "Western Civilization: A
View from the East," was revised and reprinted in The Atlantic Monthly under
the title "The Roots of Muslim Rage." His 2007 Irving Kristol Lecture, given to
the American Enterprise Institute, was published as Europe and Islam 1
INTRODUCTION OF ORIENTALISM
History of the world shows paganism always remained against
Islam but it faced failure. When it feels weakness in fighting face
to face paganism adopts the way of conspiracies, After crusades
paganism changed its policy and disguised itself in form of
Orientalism. This movement tried to deface Muslims and Islamic
teaching under pretence of knowledge and research and to some
extent, succeeded, On one side Orientalists admitted
authenticity and truth of Quran and Sunnah ,and on the other
hand they created confusion and tried to hit basic Islamic sources
in order to create several debates about Islamic basic sources.
Bernard Lewis is one of these Orientalist . He has same thinking
and ideology. In his book THE CRISIS OF ISLAM :Holy War and
Unholy Terror, he raises many question about Islam and its
political and other systems. This book has nine chapters,. In this
assignment I shall try to review the said book.
2. The Apostate
3. Rebels
4. Dacoits
The author employs contrariety and force admits that Jihad has not
always meant aggravation. Author is of the view that all countries were
attained through force and Jihad. Perhaps this is wrong perception of the
author .On the other hand the author admits that the Christians and Jews
were allowed to lead their lives according to their own religion at the cost of
a tax JIZYA. As he says:
Bernard Lewis in the view that the disintegration of the Soviet Union
makes the fundamentalists believe that they have defeated Russia. Similarly
they can easily defeat the Super Power of today. He thinks this is farcical.
Bernard Lewis himself gives the answer of this question that majority
of Muslims consider west there enemy, Because Muslims are in the opinion
that west wants to exert pressure particularly on the Middle East to procure
its purposes and to acquire complete control of their natural resources which
is sole mission of U.S. He gives the reason of Muslim and west enmity that is
leadership of Syed Qutub who is leader of fundamentalists . Syed Qutub
was deadly against the west and western style of life.
Bernard Lewis concluded that Syed Qutub poisoned the minds of the
fundamentalists against America. This is the reason of hatred of Muslims
against the Americans society. Muslims used the term GREAT SATAN for
America.
He also criticizes the American policy toward the Iraq and Iran
dictatorship, on the other hand he admires the political system of Israel
(indirectly Bernard Lewis supports the Israeli State) and admires the
democratic system in Israel. Bernard Lewis expresses that after collapse of
soviet union American policy has change toward middle east that is to
establish monopolistic control of middle eastern oil and resources. The
Muslim world is well aware of American intension so Muslims are making
some new alliances with other countries.
Sadam Hussain. The US and Europeans support Saudi Arabia for their own
interests. Therefore, the US is not concerned for the common people of any
country,
principles and adoption of Western life style. Particularly, the rulers of Muslim
countries are the representatives of the West.
REFERENCE
1.Bernard Lewis, retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Lewis
on 29-4-14
2.Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, p. 5 ,Phoenix Orion Books Ltd ,2003,UK.
3. Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, p. 24
4, Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, p.31
5. Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, p.39
6. Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, p.45
7. Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, p.52-53
8. Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, p.54