Most of our generation learned of the history of civilization from the perspective of “Western civilization”.
Muslim success or failure was defined by their clashes with the outposts of Christian civilization, but only as these conflicts influenced European history. We also learned how Islamic civilization preserved science and art in the Dark Ages, but not much else. To many of us the history of Muslim civilization was peripheral to world history.
The authors of our two core books: Destiny Disrupted, and No god but God, capture in colorful, understandable, and very readable language the rich story of world history from the perspective of the Muslim community. The authors introduce the key people, events, ideas, legends, religious disputes, and turning points of world history from an Islamic perspective.
They clarify how these two great civilizations grew up oblivious to each other, what happened when they intersected, and how the Islamic world was ultimately affected by its slow recognition that Europe -a place it long properly perceived as primitive- had somehow hijacked its destiny.
The story they tell moves from before and during the lifetime of Mohammed, through a succession of far-flung empires, to the interaction with European colonialism and the revolt against European domination, to the modern conflicts that culminated in the events of 9/11 and the current struggles within Islam.
This is a fascinating and enlightening story. Our two very readable core books, are available in inexpensive used editions. There will be about 70 pages of reading each week.
Please join us in looking at world history from the perspective of the one billion people who are Muslims.
Here's a transcript of our two minute pitch:
In the year 610, according to the Christian
calendar-- in an obscure place in the Arabian Peninsula that probably no
Europeans even knew existed-- a prosperous caravan trader meditating in an
isolated cave- perceived he was hearing messages from an entity he knew as the
archangel Gabriel.
So, what is Islam? Is it A religion? A community? A way of life?. A prescription for a society? A state?
What made it so appealing?
Are its tenets compatible with the modern world?
There is lots of reading --about 70 pages a
week -- but our two core books are very well written and easy to follow.
1. The Middle World, Muhammad's Revelations and the
Hijra
2. Birth of the Khalifate and the Schism between
Sunni and Shia
3. The Khalifates of the Umayyads and the Abassids
4. Scholars, Philosophers, and Sufis
5. Enter the Turks: The Seljuk Empire
6. Havoc--Crusaders and Mongolian Hordes
7. Rebirth of Order: Ottomans, Safavids, and
Moghuls
8. Meanwhile in Europe: The Reformation
and the Enlightenment
9. The West Comes East: European Powers
Colonize the World
10. The Reform Movements in Islamic Governance
11. Industry, Constitutions, and Nationalism
12. The Rise of the Secular Modernists and the Crisis of
Modernity
13. The Tide Turns (Wahabism)
14. The Islamic World Since 9/11
Destiny Disrupted, Tamim Ansary, PublicAffairs, a member of the Perseus Book Group , N.Y., 2009
No god but God, The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, Reza Aslan, Random House N.Y. 2005
The Qu'ran, Oxford or Penguin or other editions