Islam Under Siege

Abstract

Ahmed’s Islam Under Siege is among the most popular books of the post- 9/11 period both in the West and in the Muslim world. The subtitle of the book poses as its summary: Living Dangerously in a Post-Honor World. This multifaceted book addresses a wide audience, including those Americans in the Midwest who fearfully reflect upon the proverbial question “Why do they hate us?,” Muslims who incessantly lament the acrimonious reality of Islam being associated with terrorism, and intellectuals who strive to discern the underlying factors of the crisis between Muslims and the West. Ahmed responds to the query “Could acts of violence be relegated merely to Muslim societies?” by adeptly elucidating the underlying factors of the Muslim world’s crisis and the West’s failure to understand Islam. In a historical context, he ponders the emergence of what he coins the “posthonor” world in which we live, and finally offers a road map to global peace. To alleviate extremist behavior and the rise of terrorism, he stresses the indispensability of – sine qua non – dialogue. He invites Muslims to acquire a self-critical retrospective insight so that they can apprehend their contribution to today’s quagmire, and calls on non-Muslims to exercise more discernment in understanding the complexities in Muslims’ lives. The fulcrum of his argument is the notion of `asabiyah and its convoluted form, dubbed “hyper-asabiyya,” which he states creates an extremist demeanor in the Muslim world and ultimately results in violence. The term `asabiyah refers to social cohesion, as described by the medieval social philosopher Ibn Khaldun, and is accrued in a society that is based on justice, compassion, and knowledge. The need to maintain it against the threat of any danger to the established social solidarity engenders a hyperbolic form of `asabiyah, namely, “hyper-asabiyya.” Given that `asabiyah’s main goal is to protect and preserve the society’s “honor,” the trepidation over losing honor or any loss of honor spurs a voracious desire to maintain or recover that honor. This inherent urge to preserve the “core” or regain what is already lost intensifies the emergence of “hyper-asabiyya.” In other words, the breakdown of `asabiyah (a lack of social cohesion) engenders “hyper-asabiyya,” which is characterized by control and violence. Hence, ironically, while “hyper-asabiyya” arises because of the lack of `asabiyah, the former is an exaggerated form of the latter ...