One of the intricate and key findings for any free individual is the distinction between ‘what to think’, which we are made to learn from an early age, and ‘how to think’, a trait of any mature and intellectual person. Understanding this difference between these two modes of thinking came nothing short of a revelation to me; to realize that one hasn’t really been thinking for oneself but rather learning the thoughts of others, and internalizing them, was revelatory.
Once realized, this revelation marks off a new beginning in that individual’s journey, whereupon he would not only be learning and thinking on his or her own, but most importantly and priorly, unlearning whatever they might’ve imparted from the world outside up to that point. Yet to think anew has begin on some formerly established grounds – no one can begin thinking by his own. But how does one break from the old pattern of learning ‘what to think’ while reading still other people’s thoughts on any subject matter?
Here then lies the catch: to impart opinions is easy, to earn one is difficult. That’s why most of us are okay with not-thinking as our default, unconscious state. Then, in order to start thinking for ourselves, it is really important that we remain conscious of when we are imparting opinions and when we are forming one of our own. This conscious act would help us know how defendable our ideas, values, and perspectives are, since defending others’ point of views can only take us so far.
Yet thinking anew begins not from an abyss, but from acquired knowledge. One cannot think something out of nothing. Only when one has acquired enough of what people are thinking (which isn’t difficult since most of the people living in one place think the same things) and has compared them to what the people of knowledge say, can one begin to form opinions and viewpoints of his own.
Ed Husain’s book works as the former, where it helps us compare the general perceptions of people against its well-researched and well-presented arguments about the state of modern-day Islam. This book can be viewed as a religious book with a precise and reaching introduction to Islam, or a political book which offers solutions of the problem of Islam and the West, or a book of recent and older history about the rise and fall of Muslims. But if I were to bring it all into a thesis of this book, it’d be that Husain’s book is a study of today’s hardcore, literalist Islamism against a backdrop of the truer, softcore and pluralist Islam, which cautions the world of what is coming and presents a case for coexistence of the Muslim world and the West.
Part one and part four of this book explain what Islam is in a really broad and encompassing manner while also reaching to the core of Islam and its teachings. I really admired Husain’s pithy understanding and language here, which holds high the true pillars of Islam as a faith and following without the baggage of its literalist and prohibiting jargon. Part two and three focuses on what has become of Islam today, and why. Here again, Husain’s precise and direct passages help explain who the Islamists are (terrorist groups and mindsets like Wahhabis, ISIS, Taliban, Hamas, etc.) and how and why they rose to power.
He reaches to the aching hearts and wounded honor of the Muslim nation by explaining how the rapid advancements in the West with their enlightenment, secularism, and capitalism became the cause of Muslim’s disgrace as they fell from their glorious days. To stop the pain and humiliation in a world of increasing secularism and individuality, the conservative Muslims turned to literalist Islamism and jihad against the West.
Both the conclusion, and the underlying message of this book, however, keep pointing to what is coming (a 2 billion Muslim population) and what needs to be done (a Middle East Union) in order for a more integrated, inclusive, understanding, and peaceful coexistence between these divided nations. Husain’s book is important and urgent for it presents a nuanced and far-reaching case for a much-needed merger between the wounded Islam and the arrogant West.
Ratings: 4/5 **** April 12, 2022_