Amazon.co.uk Review
The Malady of Islam is as much a lament as it is a critique. Abdelwahab Meddeb probes the thorny issue of Islamic fundamentalism and examines how it has gained such a dangerous foothold in the 20th century. His analysis, while learned and compelling, is, unfortunately, not entirely startling. A devout Muslim now living in Paris (he was raised in Tunis), Meddeb speaks with the authority and indignation of one who recognises a "paradise lost". Citing a host of historical, poetical and religious texts from the advent of Islam to the 20th century, he describes, with regret, how the one-time pluralistic tradition of the Muslim faith has been undercut by narrow readings of the Qur'an that denounce any departure from the letter of the law.
Meddeb judiciously illustrates how the failings of the West to create a universal equality after the Enlightenment has led to "ressentiment" in the Arab community and has contributed to the rise of fundamentalism (or, as he describes it, "the sickness in Islam"). However, he never uses those deficiencies to excuse the "crimes" committed, in part, in reaction to Western colonialism and self-interest. In fact, he reserves his most stinging criticism for a succession of Muslim writers who claim one, incontestable truth for the Qur'an. "If Mawdûdi (a Pakistani radical who lived from 1903 to 1979) reproaches the West with the death of God, we can accuse him of having inaugurated the death of humanity." Meddeb is most concerned with the "simplified, traditionalist thought" of the fundamentalists and considers it mostly to blame for the "entropy" he claims now plagues the Arab creative imagination. His proposed remedies are philosophically complex and fitting to his subject. However, they require a serious rethinking of current geopolitical alliances and actions. Therefore, as much as we may crave the changes Meddeb recommends, we must ultimately realise how difficult they will be to achieve. --Silvana Tropea, Amazon.com
Product Description
A defense of Islam, and an indictment of religious fundamentalism, addressed to Islamic and Western readers. . In this impassioned, erudite, and deeply moving book, Abdelwahab Meddeb, born and raised in Tunis and now living in Paris, details the breadth and scope of the Arab intellectual tradition and dismantles common preconceptions held by the Islamic and Western worlds. He describes the growing resentment between the West and the Islamic world as being due, in large part, to Islam's drift away from its own pluralist tradition. Tracing the history of the "conquering" of the Arab world by the West, he provides a detailed history of the ways in which Islamic fundamentalism has come to compensate for Western dominance. Directly addressing the terrorist attacks of September 11, he challenges us to reconsider the presumption that the gulf between the Islamic world and the West is too wide to breach. The "malady" of Islam lies in its alienation from the West and the corrosive influence that fundamentalism has wrought. This book is a correction of the historical record, a passionate description of the best of Islamic thought and culture, and an absolutely necessary read for those seeking a better understanding not only of Islam but also ourselves.
