Critical Studies on Islam – serie

What's it like to be a Muslim living in the West today? And how different is it to the experiences of Muslims who lived in Western countries many generations ago?It is a difficult time right now for the Muslim diaspora throughout the United States and Europe. George W. Bush's 'war on terror' is seen through much of the Muslim world as a war on Islam. This has complex repercussions for Muslims living in the West. Tensions and anxieties are running high as many Muslims in America and Europe are caught in a climate of social unrest, much of it compounded by living in the spotlight of the media. This book generates a fresh perspective on the problematic relationships between Islam, the West and so-called modernity -- in the light of an increasingly vocal Muslim diaspora in Europe and the United States.This is not the first time that conflict has arisen between Muslims in the West and their other communities -- this book examines a long history of volatile social relations based on extensive travels and research across four continents. Iftikhar H. Malik offers a wealth of case studies ranging from Muslim Spain and the Ottoman Empire to the present day; from the eruptions of anti-Islamic feeling over the Salman Rushdie affair to the demonisation of Islam currently running high on the agenda of the 'war on terror'.

Political Islam, to be distinguished from Islam as a culture or a religion, and from Islamic Fundamentalism, is an increasingly important feature of the western political scene. The ideologies of Political Islam reflect the fact that some of their adherents live and work within a Western socio-political context. With a range of outstanding contributors that includes academics and human rights advocates this book tackles the diversity of Islamist thinking and practice in various Western countries and explores their transnational connections in both East and West. The book analyses developments in Islamist thinking and activities, and their connections to the latest global political and economic trends, and discusses future evolutions of the ideology and its manifestations.

Hizbu'llah is the largest and most prominent political party in Lebanon, and one of the most renowned Islamist movements in the world. In this book, Amal Saad-Ghorayeb examines the organisation's understanding of jihad and how this, together with its belief in martyrdom, brought about the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Lebanon in May 2000. Saad-Ghorayeb explores the nature of the party's struggle against the West by studying its views on the use of violence against Westerners. Crucially, she also addresses the question of whether Hizbu'llah depicts this struggle in purely political or civilisational terms. The existential nature of the movement’s conflict with Israel is analysed and the Islamic roots of its anti-Judaism is unearthed. The author explores the mechanics and rationale behind the party's integration into the Lebanese political system, and sheds light on how it has reconciled its national idenitity with its solidarity with the Muslim umma.