Shattering the Myth

Islamic scholar Bruce Lawrence shatters the myth of a monolithic and violent Muslim culture. Gazing down the corridors of the future, it's easy to see more of the same for Islamic nations: war, poverty, suppression. But Lawrence is optimistic, because he takes the long view, noting how Muslim nations have always been working for better futures, even though they have been shackled with a legacy of violence from Western colonialism and imperialism. Each Muslim society must be looked at from the details of its own history, he says, and from his acute observations of Muslim countries--from Tunisia to Malaysia--we see populations that are largely nonfundamentalist and ripe for advancement into democratic, humanitarian futures, most notably from the perspectives of women and capitalist-oriented Malays. Lawrence takes us beyond the veil of a uniform, violent, male Islam to a variegated and nuanced world that deserves more than the emblazoned headlines that define it now. --Brian Bruya