The Foreign Service Journal, October 2003

B OOKS 64 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 3 Understanding Islam Islam Under Siege: Living Dangerously in a Post-Honour World (Themes for the 21st Century) Polity Press, 2003, paperback, $19.95, 176 pages. R EVIEWED BY K ARL F. I NDERFURTH In his latest and perhaps most important work, Islam Under Siege: Living Dangerously in a Post- Honour World (Themes for the 21st Century) , Akbar S. Ahmed observes: “For the first time in history, Islam is in confrontation with all of the major world religions: Judaism in the Middle East; Christianity in the Balkans, Chechnya, Nigeria, Sudan, and sporadically in the Philippines and Indonesia; Hinduism in South Asia; and, after the Taliban blew up the statues in Bamiyan, Buddhism.” Unfortunately, this statement rings true with me. While serving as U.S. assistant secretary of State for South Asian affairs from 1997 to 2001, I had direct responsibility for Afghanistan and came to know the Taliban all too well. During its five-year reign in Afghanistan, the Taliban, whose name comes from talib, or “religious student,” declared war on other reli- gions. Shiite Muslims, who number several million in Afghanistan, were considered little better than infidels by the Sunni Muslim Taliban, who carried out periodic massacres of Shiites. Foreign aid workers were arrested on charges of spreading Christianity. Hindus were ordered to wear yellow identification badges to distinguish them from Muslims (under intense international criti- cism, the Taliban later backed down on this). And, as part of its campaign to destroy all “un-Islamic idols,” the Taliban blew up centuries-old and revered giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan. Was there a way to persuade the Taliban to pursue a path of greater tolerance, to show respect for the diversity of Islam and the Quran? That was unlikely, given, as Ahmed points out in his insightful look at the ethnic and religious roots of the Taliban, “their zeal for Islam and the burning desire to impose their vision on all of society.” Today, of course, the Taliban are no longer in control of Afghanistan and therefore no longer a major con- tributor to the confrontation between Islam and the other major world reli- gions. But Ahmed remains con- cerned that if we are to prevent the world “from lurching toward one cri- sis after another, one flashpoint to another” — the terror attacks of 9/11 and the recent Iraq war come to mind, both with their religious over- tones — “then we all need to radical- ly rethink the relationship between our religion and other religions; a rad- ical reassessment of each other.” In his final chapter, “Toward a Global Paradigm,” Ahmed points us in the direction of what “people of good will and good faith” (of which the author is eminently one) can do to increase the prospects for a “har- monious relationship between Islam and the West and other world civi- lizations.” The steps he urges for the Muslim world are fundamental and transformational. Of central impor- tance, Ahmed says, is the internal challenge of rebuilding “an idea of Islam which includes justice, integri- ty, tolerance and the quest for knowledge.” Equally important is what the West must do — to take the initiative “to respond to the Muslim world firstly by listening to what Muslims are saying and secondly by trying to understand Islam.” “Understanding Islam” has been and continues to be a central focus of the life’s work of Akbar Ahmed. As a scholar and former diplomat, he writes with authority, clarity, insight and compassion. And his message to his many audiences is the same: “Whether one adheres to the notion of the clash of civilizations, or whether one chooses dialogue, understanding Islam is the key.” He, Ahmed urges the West “to respond to the Muslim world firstly by listening to what Muslims are saying and secondly by trying to understand Islam.”