Summary
Title: In the Shadow of the Prophet: The Struggle for the Soul of Islam
Author: Milton Viorst
Publisher: Westview Press
ISBN: 0813339022
Pro:
• Provides a widow on the thinking of Muslim leaders around the Middle East
• Written from a sympathetic, if also critical, perspective
• Emphasizes the diversity of Muslim viewpoints and experiences
Con:
• Written before 9/11, so perhaps a bit dated now in some respects
Description:
• Analysis of Arab Muslim culture and the problems Arab Muslims experience
• Explores why Arab Muslim culture is so far behind the rest of the world
• Argues that some basic aspects of Islamic theology are responsible for many of the problems
Book Review
Islam doesn’t harbor quite the diversity as does Christianity, and there probably isn’t as much variety among Arab Muslim nations as there is among Western Christian nations, yet the diversity and variety which do exist say a lot about the historical development of Islam. According to Milton Viorst in his book In the Shadow of the Prophet: The Struggle for the Soul of Islam, Muslim views can be divided into three broad categories: fundamentalist, orthodox, and modernist.
The fundamentalists are the Muslims which outsiders tend to be most familiar with. These Muslims wish to restore the original golden age that existed under the command of the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century. The modernists wish to blend Western advances in science and politics with traditional Islam. The orthodox don’t necessarily seek a restoration of a golden age, but they also don’t approve of any changes in Islamic law and practice — they tend to favor the idea that civil law should follow traditional Islamic law. It is here that the bulk of believers in the Middle East can be found, which explains why the fundamentalists rather than the modernists tend to receive the most widespread sympathy.
This is not the only division which exists among Muslims, though. There are also important differences depending upon which nation Muslims live in because each nation has its own unique cultural and historical perspective. Viorst travels around the region, interviewing religious leaders in Algeria, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and even France. Viorst traces the web of nationalist differences and religious similarities in order to present a portrait of Islam in the Middle East today.
Although there is also a detailed account of the origins of Islam, this is not strictly speaking a book about Islam as a religion or even about the politics of the Middle East. It is, instead, a book about the growth of political Islam in the Middle East today which asks: to what extent is Islam responsible for the problems in the Middle East, and to what extent might Islam provide solutions for those problems?
As to the first part, Viorst argues that the Arab world’s problems can in large part be traced to the incredible conservatism of Islamic interpretation. Because Islamic orthodoxy rejects innovations in thinking and tends to adopt a fatalist perspective that puts the destiny of everything in God’s hands, there is too little incentive for improvement, change, and progress. Thus the Arab world lags behind everyone else when it comes to economic development, scientific research, and political development.
Whether any hope for the future also lies in Islam depends upon whether Muslims continue to hold on to the past and this orthodox vision of their religion, or adopt something closer to the modernist vision which still advocates for a Muslim way of life and Islamic society, but which is also more open to innovation. The last chapter of the book is devoted to what Viorst calls the “Hahemite Option,” because he sees the path taken by King Hussein of Jordan as holding the most realistic promise.
There have been a lot of changes and shifts in the politics of the Middle East since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and subsequent American invasions, so there are aspects of Viorst’s book which have become dated. At the same time, though, his analysis of the various political camps in Islam generally seems to have remained intact. His basic criticism of Islamic conservatism also remains sound, I think, and thus whatever faults the book generally may have, it presents ideas which Muslim reformers must confront head-on.
