The Rumi Forum presented “A World Without Islam” by Graham Fuller
Read Transcript
Watch Video
Listen Podcast
Synopsis: What if Islam never existed? To some, it’s a comforting thought: no clash of civilizations, no holy wars, no terrorists. But what if that weren’t the case at all? In A WORLD WITHOUT ISLAM, Graham E. Fuller guides us along an illuminating journey through history, geopolitics, and religion to investigate whether or not Islam is indeed the cause of some of today’s most emotional and important international crises. Fuller takes us from the birth of Islam to the fall of Rome to the rise and collapse of the Ottoman Empire. He examines and analyzes the roots of terrorism, the conflict in Israel, and the role of Islam in supporting and energizing the anti-imperial struggle. Provocatively, he finds that contrary to the claims of many politicians, thinkers, theologians, and soldiers, a world without Islam might not look vastly different from what we know today.
Filled with fascinating details and counterintuitive conclusions, A WORLD WITHOUT ISLAM is certain to inspire debate and reshape the way we think about Islam’s relationship with the West.
“A MUST READ. Graham Fuller’s A World Without Islam, is a tour de force by one of the foremost authorities on global Muslim politics. Fuller’s masterful study provides an insightful and at times provocative analysis of the character of Muslim-West relations from the rise of Islam, addressing major issues from the clash of civilizations and the roots of terrorism to the significance of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and U.S. foreign policy.”- John L. Esposito is University Professor of Religion & International Affairs at Georgetown University; his recent books include The Future of Islam and Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think.
Event Summary:
This publication is the development of an article Graham Fuller had written a few years before for Foreign Policy magazine. Fuller begins by explaining the ambiguous nature of the book’s title, representing his idea of “guerilla journalism”. This is a form of journalism which focuses on delivering provocative and shocking ideas to encourage its readers to reconsider conventional ideas, in this case the role that Islam plays in the divergences between the Middle East and the West.
Fuller’s main argument here is that if “there had been no Islam, the relations between the Middle East and the West would not be significantly different than they are today.” He suggests that, unlike the common western perception, the current problems in the region have very little to do with religious factors. He in fact argues that blaming Islam for the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East is a convenient argument because it lays the blame on religious and irrational factors, detaching ourselves from responsibilities. This perspective, Fuller argues, seems to be quite paradoxical. Although the United States take enormous pride in their economic, military and political dominance over the world, their current discourse suggests that they have not had an impact on the ongoing instabilities of the Middle Eastern region. Fuller assures that this contradictory logic demonstrates the need for an introspection regarding the American policies which may have caused this situation.
The author attempts to verify these claims by drawing attention to many of the book’s historical arguments, by firstly reminding that “history did not begin with 9/11”. Fuller suggests that it is a common belief in America that the 9/11 attacks were indiscriminate, even though the growing sentiment of anger and resentment against the West in the region was well known by the scientific community. From this standpoint, the author decided to pursue the study of the historical roots of “religious” conflicts.
Fuller begins these by highlighting the symbolism of the conflicts between the Persian and Greek Empires which took place before the creation of Christianity and Islam. To Fuller, it demonstrates the historical divide between East and West due to geopolitical factors, regardless of religious divergences. Taking the example of the schism between the Roman and Byzantine Empire over the nature of the Holy Spirit, Fuller explains that, far more importantly, there were various underlying geopolitical roots to this break up. He however highlights the idea that “if you’re going to express conflicts in religious terms it is much more dignified and important than to simply suggest that it is about power and territory.” Similarly, through the example the Crusades, although “you would think classically that the crusades are the issue of religious struggle”, Fuller demonstrates that in fact the leading factors were secular.
Moving towards more recent explanations, the author describes the role of European colonization as a tremendously significant factor in the growing anger within the Arab world. This resentment, he argues, does not stem from religion but rather from military invasions, political manipulations and the creation of inappropriate geographical borders. Regarding the creation of Israel, Fuller asks “do we really believe that if Palestinians had not been Muslims they would have welcomed western European Jews who were colonizing and taking their land away?” Furthermore, he points out that many Palestinian rebellions against the Jewish state were led by Christians.
To conclude, Fuller addresses the use of religion to justify various movements. He reemphasizes that “nobody wants to fight in the name of money, territory or resources. We would rather fight in the name of God, freedom or human rights.” In this sense, “religion is used as a vehicle, a mechanism, a banner, and an umbrella” and Islam’s relevance as a banner has increased due to the growing visibility of its extremists. He acknowledges that the sense of ummah (meaning community or nation in Arabic) among the Muslim world is growing but that this is primarily due to greater means of communication. He ends the talk by accentuating the idea that unlike conventional discourse, there is a necessity to focus on the causes of conflicts rather than the religion involved.
Biography:
Graham E. Fuller is currently Adjunct Professor of History at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC. He has a BA and MA from Harvard in Russian and Middle East studies. He worked 20 years as a CIA operations officer, seventeen of them overseas in Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan and China. He later became Vice-Chair of the National Intelligence Council at CIA, with overall responsibility for national level strategic forecasting. After leaving government service Mr. Fuller was a Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation for 12 years where, among many publications, he wrote on political Islam in various countries, and on the geopolitics of the Muslim world. He speaks several Middle Eastern languages as well as Russian and Chinese. He has written many books and articles on Middle Eastern and South Asian geopolitics, including The Center of the Universe: the Geopolitics of Iran; The Geopolitics of Islam and the West; Turkey Faces East: Turkey’s New Geopolitics from the Balkans to Central Asia; The Arab Shi’a; and The Future of Political Islam, 2003; The New Turkish Republic: Turkey’s Pivotal Role in the Middle East, 2008. His latest book is A World Without Islam, (Little, Brown), August 2010.