The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror by Bernard Lewis

1345 Words3 Pages

The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror is a book written by Bernard Lewis that ‘in particular charts the key events of the twentieth century leading up to the violent confrontations of today.’(Lewis) Lewis clearly and entirely pointed out key events explaining the choices to be made by the people of the Islamic faith. They must determine whether their religion takes its place alongside other religions in a global community, or whether it will revert back into conflict with non-Muslim nations.
Islam is a religion that most Americans don’t understand but still have strong feelings towards. To clear things up, Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion written in the Qur'an, a book considered by its believers to be the exact word of God. They also consider it to be the last prophet of God through the teachings and the example of Muhammad. They refer to their god as Allah. The basis of Islamic life is centered on Allah, whom must be submitted to and served. They believe that the previous messages and revelations have been partially misinterpreted or altered over time with evolving cultures and translating languages, but consider the Arabic Qur'an to be the unaltered and final revelation of Allah. The religion is practiced with the five pillars of Islam, which are basic concepts and required acts of worship. The first is, testifying to God's One-ness: The declaration "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet." The second is, Prayer. Prayer must happen at least five times a day, and must be done by bowing and facing towards the Mecca. Also, everyone must stand in straight lines and if women do come, however not required, must stand behind the men. The third is, giving charity. 2.5% of annual income is generall...

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...e perpetrators can be justified in terms of Islam. He answers with a straight to the point, no.
Lewis clearly and entirely pointed out key events explaining the choices to be made by the people of the Islamic faith. This paper highlighted just a few of the many key events. Lewis says, “Most Muslims are not fundamentalists, and most fundamentalists are not terrorists, but most present-day terrorists are Muslims and proudly identify themselves as such.” He also expertly points out, “Terrorism requires only a few. Obviously the West must defend itself by whatever means will be effective. But in devising means to fight the terrorists, it would surely be useful to understand the forces that drive them.”(Lewis. Introduction) In the end, I agree with and commend Bernard Lewis on pointing out that a single religion cannot be blamed for the acts of small groups of radicals.

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