Summary
Title: Sword of Islam: Muslim Extremism from the Arab Conquests to the Attack on America
Author: John F. Murphy, Jr.
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1591020107
Pro:
• Provides a great deal of information on Muslim extremist groups, their actions, and their goals
• Offers larger ideological and theological context to the goals of Islamic extremists
Con:
• Chapters skip around a lot in a way that can be disconcerting
Description:
• Exploration of the history of Islamic extremism
• Focus on relationships between extremist groups through the 20th century
• Stresses the existence of a common ideology among disparate groups around the world
Book Review
Arguably, one cannot really understand Islam and Islamic history without also understanding the role and influence which Muslims extremists have had through the centuries; yet it is also true that their role and influence has probably never been greater than in the 20th century. This is the story recounted by John F. Murphy, Jr. in his book Sword of Islam: Muslim Extremism from the Arab Conquests to the Attack on America.
A military historian who has coauthored confidential reports on international terrorism, Murphy is interested in not only the scope of Islamic violence around the world but also in the connections between the actors and events. This is a complicated story to tell, and Murphy's success is rather mixed.
On the positive side, we get quite a lot of information on Muslim terrorists and Muslim extremism around the world: Osma bin Laden's Al Qaeda, the Taliban, the Muslim Brotherhood, Palestinian Hamas, Jihad and PFLP, Hezbullah, the Moro Front in the Philippines, and more. Murphy stresses that these are not isolated groups with isolated agendas. Although they may not coordinate their actions in a single, massive, world-wide conspiracy, they do share a common ideology and common vision for the world which requires that if we are to deal with one, we must also deal with all of the others.
This is an important insight, because there is a strong tendency to consider each situation as unique to particular economic, social, and cultural circumstances - but that would be missing the forrest for the trees. These groups may not represent Islam as a whole, but they do represent a very powerful and popular strand in the web of traditions that make up Islam.
