Historical Atlas of Islam

Journal of Third World Studies, Fall 2005 by Biedzynski, James

Ruthven, Malise and Azim Nanji. Historical Atlas of Islam. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004. 208 pp.

Islamic history covers a vast swathe of human history. Given the size of the Islamic world, a better understanding of its past is badly needed in the West. Still too few in the West are aware, for example, that the Islamic world during the Middle Ages possessed the most advanced culture in the world and preserved ancient learning. Then with additions of its own, Islamic civilization transmitted this back to the West during the Crusades and later Middle Ages. The Historical Atlas of Islam provides its readers with a brief but sometimes too concise overview of Islamic history. The authors undertaking is ambitious and daunting but at times one might hope for greater detail. Still, every era and section of Islamic history is covered.

The Atlas is arranged into numerous sections, each several pages long, in chronological order. While attractive for those seeking quick and easy reference, brevity is not always best. For example, more attention was needed to the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran. Both are essential parts of Islam and both suffer from misconceptions in the West. Muhammad has had a score of hostile biographies written about him by Western authors in earlier epochs. More recently, sympathetic works have appeared, but some such as Karen Armstrong's biography romanticize Muhammad. We have more information regarding the Prophet Muhammad than we do for Jesus or the Buddha. Western readers need to know more about him minus myth and rhetoric. The Quran is central to Islam and no one can understand Islam without reading it. I believe a more detailed discussion of the Quran was needed in the Atlas. A discussion of Quaranic issues and scholarship might stimulate Western readers to actually read the Quran. Like the Bible, this book is meant to be read.

The formative years of Islam also required more attention. Here, I am referring to the ear of the four righteous Caliphs (632-661) and the Umayyad (661-750) and Abbasid Caliphates (750-1258). This is the golden age of Islamic civilization and requires a great deal of attention. Some basic issues within Islam today, such as the strife between Sunni and Shia Muslims began at this time and better understanding of how the disputes began is needed.

Once the Historical Atlas of Islam reaches the Seljuk Turks in the late 1000's A.D., it becomes much more evenly proportioned. We can see here how Islam expanded into Africa, India and Southeast Asia. Islam is not monolithic and readers can become aware of how diverse Islam truly is. We must not fall into the stereotype that equates Islam with Arabs only. Only one in four Muslims are Arab. In addition, there are more Muslims in south Asia than in the Arab Middle East. At least in this book, Islam in the Malay world is given the attention it deserves.

The age of Imperialism (1798-1956) during which most of the Islamic World was colonized by the West could have used a bit more detail. The authors do not offer knee-jerk anti-colonialist biases which are so common in the scholarly literature these days. From these sections, we can see how the Islamic World was divided up by the West until only their common faith held these disparate regions together. Many problems afflicting the Muslim World today began or were made worse during the colonial era and we need to know more about that.

When we get to contemporary Islam, the reader is presented with a large variety of facts. We learn that Indonesian might supplant Arabic as the most commonly used language in the Muslim World. We see how Islam fits or does not fit into the modern world. The authors also try to tackle the issue of terrorism. While they attempt to remain balanced, one is left with the impression that this subject requires more attention. In time, terrorism could become as much of a threat to Islam as it is to the West.

I find the author's bibliography a bit thin. It is revealing that the works of many Western scholars of Islam, such as Bernard Lewis, are absent. Since Edward Said published his Orientalism in the 1970s, it has become fashionable to bash Orientalists. While some of them were indeed biased and hostile to Islam, that is not the case for every last one of them. A short discussion of basic scholarly issues was needed as well as mention of various Western language journals that deal with Islam. Hopefully, a fuller bibliography would stimulate Western readers to delve more deeply into the subject.

Despite the criticisms discussed here, this Atlas is worth reading and belongs in libraries, both public and academic. The authors should be congratulated for their efforts as this was no small undertaking.

James Biedzynski Middlesex County College