How Islam should assess its history
Here is an interesting article by Alvaro Vargas Llosa from the Independent Institute on the history of Islam, and the danger of modern muslims misunderstanding the critical decisions of Islam's past.
The Grandchildren of Islam
June 28, 2006
Alvaro Vargas Llosa
| Print article | This entry was posted by Rossputin on 07/08/06 at 03:24:33 am . Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. |
Yours truly
-
Following Obama's Economic Policies
Facebook NetworkedBlogs
XML Feeds
07/09/06 @ 07:18:11 pm
There are a few misconceptions in the article.
First, there is no doubt that Arab Muslims reached the height of Islamic civilization in the 8th and 9th centuries and that these ebbed in the twelfth century on. That said, it was still a brutal, intolerant lot who converted the predominantly Christian North Africa and Spain (and Sicily) at the end of a sword tip.
Second, the real problem that matured in the eleventh century was not a closure to experimentation borne of fear of innovation. The answer is simple: the Ottomans arrived. The Ottomans destroyed and brutalized all in their conquering path and managed to turn Islam into a much greater mess than it was. It's possible Islam might have matured into a tolerant religion but for the Ottoman infusion.
That said, it's hard to reconcile Islam and peace in the face of its scripture source and early history.