Essay on A Review of the Book What Went Wrong? by Bernard Lewis

Submitted By Xtvclone97GmailC
Words: 585
Pages: 3
Open Document
Write a short essay dealing with the interpretations of the historian Bernard Lewis in his book What Went Wrong? The Clash between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East. To what conclusions, if any, does Mr. Lewis come with respect to the failure of the Muslim world? What are the two fundamental responses from the Muslim world itself to this question, according to Mr. Lewis? Do you agree?

In Bernard Lewis' book "What Went Wrong?” Lewis argues the merits and failings of Islam and the Muslim world since its conception. He uses the examples of its humble beginnings in Mecca to its domination of the African continent and technological and cultural advancements to what it has become today to further show what went wrong. He comes to the conclusion that the failure of the Muslim World began first when Islam was corrupted with modern influences which took away and strayed mightily from the authentic Islam. One popular question, when dealing with the failure of the Muslim world, is "What did Islam to Muslims”, instead of “What did Muslims do to Islam?”, and have answered it by blaming specific doctrines or groups. What went wrong with Islam, as argued by Bernard Lewis, is the fact that all of Islam, to a certain extent, has adopted alien practices and beliefs and have weakened the entirety of the Muslim World greatly as a result. Many progressive Muslims argue that this is caused by the retention of the old ways, instead of their own warped understanding of Islam. The Islamic clergy, they argue, and their inflexibility with the times are the issue. They denounce the persistence in beliefs that may have been ground breaking and progressive thousands of years ago, but are neither in dealing with the modern world. Let us refer back to the Ottoman Empire, in its glory days, many centuries ago. It began in the late 13th century and came to its end relatively recently in 1922. It was the world’s most powerful empire in the 15th and 16th centuries, spanning modern day Egypt, North Africa, Israel, Hungary, Romania, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, and Greece, supplanted in the center of Europe and Asia, with an influence that controlled much of the 16th century world. The reason the
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on A Review of the Book What Went Wrong? by Bernard Lewis

Essay on Reference Guide

the general Harvard style Introduction 3 Choosing a reference style 3 What is referencing? 3 Why reference? 3 When to reference? (Plagiarism) 3 RMIT University definition of plagiarism 4 What constitutes plagiarism? 4 What is the penalty for plagiarism? 4 In-text references: examples 5 Reference List 6 Abbreviations 6 Authors: examples 7 Books: examples 8 Book 8 Book chapter 8 e-book from a database 9 e-book from the Internet 9 Encyclopaedia or dictionary 9 Secondary citation 10…

Words 5614 - Pages 23

Rethinking Mercantalism Essay

From the 1880s through the 1930s, advocates of state intervention and defenders of what Frank Trentmann has called the “free trade nation” agreed that early modern Europeans were devoted to mercantilism. 2 Supporters of state intervention described mercantilism as constitutive of modernity, whereas liberals saw it as a necessary transitional…

Words 15041 - Pages 61

Managing Information Technology (7th Edition) Essay

textbook appear on appropriate page within the text. Microsoft® and Windows® are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A. and other countries. Screen shots and icons reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Corporation. This book is not sponsored or endorsed by or affiliated with the Microsoft Corporation. Copyright ©2012, 2009, 2005, 2002, 1999 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. All rights reserved…

Words 239873 - Pages 960