Islamic Fundamentalism and Western Imperialism are closely and fatally intertwined!

Last updated on: May 8, 2007 at 6:23 pm by Desh Kapoor

Islamic Fundamentalism and Western Imperialism are closely and fatally intertwined! 2007-05-08T18:23:19-05:00 Desh Kapoor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This one seems to be an interesting book! It is on my "to-buy" list for now. I will surely get it when I go to India next – "The Last Mughal". It is indeed an important observation that Islamic Fundamentalism and Western Imperialism are very tightly intertwined. When it will stop is anybody’s guess!

The book is stirring history. It is so colourful and moving that it reads like a novel. Apart from those facts, why would this book interest someone in America who has little knowledge or interest in India and the 1857 uprising against the British in India?

To many Americans, the roots of the Taliban and Al Qaeda movements lie in the austere and fanatical Wahabi movement in Saudi Arabia. They do not know it was in British India, in a place called Deoband 140 years ago, that the madrasas began preaching about creating insular Islamic societies and how the process slowly led the Taliban create the most retrograde Islamic regime in modern times.

5/11, 1857, was quite like our 9/11, and the response of the British to the uprising was very much like the reaction of the Western world, especially the Americans, to 9/11.

You see so many parallels. The evangelical politicians, including George W Bush, cast their opponents and enemies in the role of ‘incarnate fiends’ as the British did the mutineers in 1857. The Western politicians also conflate armed resistance to invasion and occupation with ‘pure evil’ as the British did in 1857.

Like the British in 1857, Western powers today are stubbornly blind to the effects their policies have on the wider world, and when they complain of being attacked by mindless, uncivilised fanatics — as they call their foes — they are not examining their own policies.

I am increasingly convinced that Islamic fundamentalism and Western imperialism have often been closely and fatally intertwined. There are surely clear lessons for our times — and the future.

How did the Deobandi movement spread?

The Muslims, especially in the northern Indian states, were divided down two very different, even opposing paths, after the failure of the 1857 uprising and the end of the Mughal dynasty. On one side were those who were with Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan, who believed the Muslims could revive their fortunes and prestige only by turning to British learning. He founded the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which would later become Aligarh Muslim University; on the other side was the powerful movement that turned the madrasas into Wahabbi-like madrasas in Arabia.

The most influential of these new madrasas was in Deoband, and its influence, and aspiration to lead a life in the strictest interpretation of Koran and the rejection of other religious communities, spread across Northern India.

The movement also rejected dynastic rule. It had no appreciation for the pluralism espoused by the likes of Zafar and Akbar. They looked at the likes of Zafar as weaklings who could not protect Islam or their own tottering kingdom.

It also found support in some pockets of what would become Aligarh Muslim University. Religious education at Aligarh, for instance, came to be controlled by Deobandis. It spread across the regions that would become Pakistan in 1947, and, of course, it found a home in Afghanistan.

Story Link

Powered by Qumana

History

India

Previous Post

May 8, 2007

Move your eyes to improve Memory

Next Post

May 9, 2007 How long did this fish come!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Aarti Achievement and Leadership AfPak Africa Annual and Year-end Asia Audio Australia Behavioural Sciences Bhagwad Gita Bhagwad Gita Blogging Blogs Business Business Intelligence Business Strategy Cannes Careers Chanakya China Conservation Corruption Creative Daily Links Desh Poems Development & Welfare Devotional Audio Devotional Songs Drama Earth Economics Education Entertainment Environment Europe Everyday Quotes Featured Articles Featured Songs Finance Flickr Pictures Food Geo-Political Global Warming Globalization Health & Medicine Hinduism Historic History Humour India Indian Culture Indian music Indian Weddings Israel Issues Legal Link Love Minorities Misc Motivation and Personal Development Movie Lists Movie Reviews Movies Mumbai terror attacks Natural Disasters Nature News Outsourcing Pakistan Parenting Personal Philosophy Poetry Politics Poverty Quotes Recipe Regular Blog Post Relationships Religion Religious/Spiritual Audio Sciences Showcase Slideshow South Asia Special Stories Spiritual Quotes Spirituality Sports Stories Strategy Technology Technology Terrorism Travel Uncategorized US Video Women Women_s Rights Worship Yoga

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 September 2014 August 2014 January 2014 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who wrote Lamentations, mourning Jerusalem's destruction?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jeremiah Isaiah Obadiah Ezra