In the roots of muslim rage, an essay published in 1990, the historian bernard lewis describes a surge of hatred rising from the islamic world that becomes a rejection of western. While lewis wrote general studies of arab history, as well as articles and books on muslimjewish relations, questions of color, race and slavery in the islamic world and the history of the ismailis, especially the deeds of the assassins, as an increasingly influential historian by the 1950s, he could hardly ignore the pressing issues of the day. In his infamous essay the roots of muslim rage, which spawned the hitlerian science of the clash of civilizations actually, it has an entire section devoted to it, vulgar propagandist bernard lewis. Sadly, the essay by bernard lewis is not particularly distinguished.
As a scholar, he made his name through research in the ottoman archives and through developing academic expertise in turkish, persian. Bernard lewis explains why there has historically been no difference between the mosque and the state in muslim regions. Face to face with bernard lewis the islamic monthly. In 1990, lewis wrote the essay the roots of muslim rage for the atlantic, using the term clash of civilizations a conceptual framework that become popular and controversial for viewing. Professor lewis is one of the most influential scholars of islam of our time. Bernard lewis describes the ongoing conflicts with fundamentalist islam was a clash of civilizations. Bernard lewis 31 may 1916 a britishamerican historian, scholar in oriental studies, and political commentator. Regardless of ones opinion of his views, there can be little doubt over his impact on the academic study of the middle east, as well as popular. The atlantic online september 1990 the roots of muslim rage bernard lewis page 2 12262009 4. In brief, lewis pits 1 a monolithic, monochromatic islam against 2 a west whose definition and parameters he changes at will. Bernard lewis examines the historical roots of the resentments that dominate the islamic world today and that are increasingly being expressed in acts of terrorism. Recalling bernard lewis 1990 essay nowadays, there seems to be no shortage of selfprofessed and often selfaggrandizing experts on the middle east, islam, andor westernislamic relations.
Bernard lewis, fba 31 may 1916 19 may 2018 was a british american historian specializing in oriental studies. Bernard lewis the roots of muslim rage 1990 pdf close. The roots of muslim rage essay by bernard lewis various online speeches a meaningful world by benjamin wiker and jonathan witt gifted hands by ben carson and cecil murphey ourselves by charlotte mason brave new world by aldous huxley essays none specified poems of wislawa szymborska science matters by robert m. The neh jefferson lecture is described by its organizers as the.
He was also known as a public intellectual and political commentator. Islam has brought comfort and peace of mind to countless millions of men and women. Muslim discovery of europe1982, the political language of islam 1988, and the shaping of the modern middle east 1994. This carnegie council event took place on may 6, 2010. Professor bernard lewis, who has died aged 101, was the foremost western historian of islam in the postwar era, an achievement all the more impressive in that, as. Israeli pm applauds lewis as one of the great scholars of islam and the middle east, while critics blame him for helping upend the region. In a hallmark essay in 1990 called the roots of muslim rage, bernard lewis, an angloamerican commentator on islam, blamed a mentality twisted by history. He cited the obligation of holy war, dating from the faiths turbulent birth and shaped by centuries of setbacks ranging from the retreat from europe. I am still travelling but i wrote this on my notepad, and decided to publish it on the blog. For more than 60 years, he has specialized in the history of islam, particularly in the middle east, and the relationship between islam and the west, a relationship that has become arguably the single. It was bernard lewis who launched the hoax of the clash of civilizationsin a september 1990 atlantic monthly article on the roots of muslim rage, which appeared three years before brzezinski clone samuel huntingtons publication of his foreign affairs diatribe, the clash of civilizations. The conflicted legacy of bernard lewis foreign affairs. Muslim arms, bringing the word of god to all mankind and im. Muslim brotherhood and its offshoots languished in ineffectual opposition.
The 1990 jefferson lecture, nineteenth in the distinguished series sponsored by the national endowment for the humanities, was given by bernard lewis, cleveland e. Muslim rage why they wont calm down middle east and. What i personally find of interest in this brilliant article is the way that the author clearly proposes that the muslim conflict that is going on is something that the west has no influence over. The roots of muslim rage, he used the phrase clash of civilizations to describe what he saw. Bernard lewis, educated at wilson college, the poly. The roots of muslim rage lewis, bernard the atlantic. In saudi arabia, a young man named osama bin laden. His insights on the muslim religion and terrorism alone are worth the price of the book. Following the terrorist attacks of september 2001, professor lewiss works attracted intense interest from a wider public seeking to understand the. Dodge professor emeritus of near eastern studies at princeton university. Bernard lewis was born may 31, 1916, at the height of world war i, whose. From netanyahu to leftists, praise and scorn for late middle east scholar bernard lewis.
The warped world of bernard lewis they cant tell time and they dont like music more. By 1990, in his essay the roots of muslim rage, he coined the phrase clash of civilisations, later popularised by samuel huntington. From netanyahu to leftists, praise and scorn for late. Bernard lewis 19162018, who wrote and edited more than two dozen books and hundreds of articles, was regarded as a leading expert on interactions between christendom and islam, recently died aged 101. Can someone provide me a summary of an article called the. Bernard lewis, historian of the middle east, 19162018. Let me be explicit about what i, as a historian of islam who is not a muslim, mean by that. The roots of muslim rage why so many muslims deeply resent the west, and why their bitterness will not easily be mollified by bernard lewis in one of his letters thomas jefferson remarked that in matters of religion the maxim of civil government should be reversed and we should rather say, divided we stand, united, we fall. Europe and islam bernard lewis the tanner lectures on human values delivered at brasenose college, oxford university february 26, march 5 and 12, 1990.
In this remark jefferson was setting forth with classic terseness an idea that has come to be regarded as essentially. In september 1990, an article appeared in the atlantic entitled the roots of muslim rage. He revived his earlier phrase clash of civilizations in an article, the roots of muslim rage, in 1990. Bernard lewis, historian of the middle east, passed away on may 19, just shy of his 102nd birthday. In 1990 the wellestablished britishamerican orientalist2 bernard lewis3, published an article in the atlantic with the ominous title the roots of muslim rage. Reform, modernization, nationalism, islamism, terrorall these were strategies to restore to the muslims some semblance of the power they had wielded for over a millennium, and which they lost in just a few. It has given dignity and meaning to drab and impoverished lives. The atlantic online september 1990 the roots of muslim. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Why so many muslims deeply resent the west, and why their bitterness will not easily be mollified. The editors complemented the rhetoric of the essay by putting on the cover a painting of a hugely turbaned and scowling muslim, his eyes starred and striped with passion. Bernard lewis the roots of muslim rage by universalgeni. Bernard lewis in his study holding a french newspaper with a picture of saddam hussein.
Princeton professor bernard lewis is a master historian and an authority on the middle east, particularly islam. The clash of civilisations takes the islamic tradition to be inherently violent. Nonmuslim nations that were very critical of the united states included. We are delighted to have professor bernard lewis with us today. He was, for a certainty, the foremost orientalist of islam.
His writing and publications are prolific, easily filling numerous shelves at most university libraries. Bernard lewis evidently knows a lot about islam and i am looking forward to reading some more of his work, in particular the prescientsounding roots of muslim rage 1991. Bernard lewis, influential scholar of islam, is dead at. The mainstream media often cites bernard lewis as the doyen of middle east studies. Bernard lewis the roots of muslim rage 1990 pdf pages. Among all nations surveyed, only kenya, nigeria, and the united states had majorities who believed that the united states sets a good example by abiding by international law.
1027 1432 957 1397 647 1470 169 681 815 229 1092 1087 1345 1288 19 560 94 475 946 761 744 1369 616 1396 1328 118 763 1265 529 1339 1108 475 743 1325 570 1184