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Table of Contents

ISBN:

1860644090

Format:

Paperback, 288 pages

Publish Date:

December, 2000

Publisher:

45

Other Format(s):

None

The post-9/11 mindset and the on running crises in the Middle East have spawned often-sensationalist and inaccurate portrayals of Islam in the West. Presenting a thorough and most-welcome level of understanding about the role of religion in the troubled Middle East, this revised edition of a classic standard text on the subject shows that Islam covers a multitude of forms and practices; the dynamics of Islam are woven into daily existence in complex and sometimes almost invisible ways. To better understand this turbulent part of the world with which our own national destiny is currently intertwined, Western stereotypes of Islam and Muslims should be treated with considerable skepticism. Drawing extensively on his own fieldwork in cities, villages, and tribal communities in the Middle East, author Michael Gilsenan explores a variety of social worlds all claiming Islamic affiliation: the feudal aristocracy of northern Lebanon, the working-class Sufi brotherhoods of Egypt, and the new bourgeoisies of Algeria and Morocco. In each, Gilsenan shows how Islam evolves in relation to shifting social, political, economic, and class structures. The impact of colonialism is also discussed, and reformist and radical Islamist movements are analyzed.

This book is aimed at anyone desiring a fuller understanding of Islamic society, and is therefore highly mission-relevant to the naval officer of today.