69 million page views

Our leaders are hiding their heads in the sand!

Reader comment on item: The U.S. Government Compiles a Bibliography

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), May 24, 2013 at 06:44

Dr. Pipes you wrote

I seek to answer burning questions: Who was Muhammad? What is the historical impact of Islam? When is warfare jihad? Why did Islamism arise? How does tribal culture influence political life? Where can one locate signs of hope for Islam to moderate?

And indeed these questions should be the questions that our leaders should be reading about

It is too bad but the US is not the place any longer to study Islam and its history and indeed the British and the Germans are far ahead of us because no one wants to be researching real questions as did Muhammad exist? I was even surprised to know that many Egyptians that study history of early Islam are reading Wansbrough and want to know more about literary criticism of the Qur'an! While here is the US we are not supposed to say that the Arabic word jihad means holy war!

In contrast, the NEH list offers a smattering of this and that – poetry, personal Dr. accounts, antiquities, architecture, religion and history, original texts, and a smidgeon of current events, preferably presented fictionally.

I was really amazed to find that Amitav Gosh's great book "In an Antique Land' is on the least. This book is about a (it is a real story) Jewish merchant that lived in Egypt in the 13th century and his Indian slave and tracing their lives in the Egypt of the 1970's which is a very different Egypt from the Egypt of 2013. And one can only see the relationship between Amitav and his Egyptian neighbors as no more than a background in the narrative in this very good book so what does this have to do with understanding what Islam is all about? I do not get it

The moral of the story is no one can draw any conclusions from the relationship between an educated Indian and his falaheen friends and be able to tell us about what Islam is all about as a matter of fact it seems that Mr Gosh went back to visit the village where he stayed (I believe that he was back in early 2000) and was able to see the Islamization of the village and of his friend that seemed to have changed and became an Islamist.

But what is missing from this list would be books about the non Muslim minorities that live in Islamic countries but again what do you expect to hear from our leaders that believe that jihad means to lose some weight and to exercise and to love your kuffar friends!

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (29) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Remembering Churchill and The New Left and Islamists [341 words]dhimmi no moreJul 30, 2017 08:28240288
2Entitlement [142 words]PrashantFeb 8, 2014 01:56213066
2Death before dhimmitude [77 words]DuncanFeb 7, 2014 00:44213033
Law has failed USA and UK [214 words]Firozali A.Mulla DBAAug 11, 2013 06:26208929
1It is really getting worse! [347 words]dhimmi no moreJun 1, 2013 07:32206604
read this book [31 words]lippyJun 3, 2013 11:45206604
1Why I am not a Muslim [31 words]dhimmi no moreJun 4, 2013 05:48206604
they are still living in a fantasy world of Kumbaya. [20 words]lippyJun 5, 2013 11:02206604
4Another horrible book! This time by the phony Ms Mattson [410 words]dhimmi no moreMay 28, 2013 17:34206543
2Here is my list [548 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
dhimmi no moreMay 28, 2013 13:14206538
Bridging Cultures [50 words]NickMay 28, 2013 06:24206407
Look at the List of Libraries [87 words]anonymousMay 27, 2013 22:30206392
Misleading Bibliography [200 words]therealityMay 26, 2013 00:43206329
4Public money for the benefit of Islam [190 words]PrashantMay 24, 2013 08:39206291
8Our leaders are hiding their heads in the sand! [431 words]dhimmi no moreMay 24, 2013 06:44206283
2They forgot to add Disney's Aladdin [17 words]PezDispenserMay 24, 2013 05:28206282
Unbelievable [14 words]François GravelMay 24, 2013 02:48206274
The U.S. Government Compiles a Bibliography [54 words]Steven LMay 23, 2013 20:00206260
4Actions speak [41 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
VijayMay 23, 2013 18:06206258
Secularism ? [82 words]VijayMay 23, 2013 18:03206257
In spite... [75 words]NuritGMay 23, 2013 17:34206256
I am curious if any of the Muslims in the Executive Office had anything to do with this. [12 words]David SMay 23, 2013 17:01206255
The U. S. Government Compiles a Bibliography [229 words]JudithMay 23, 2013 16:56206254
1Truth about Muhammad [99 words]DougMay 23, 2013 16:50206253
A Rose by any other name still leads to slavery and slaughter [25 words]EthanPMay 23, 2013 16:43206252
Issues with The Arabian Nights? [53 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Terry QuistMay 23, 2013 16:26206251
2And In an Antique Land should not be on this list [264 words]dhimmi no moreMay 27, 2013 15:18206251
Pessimism in the driver's seat [32 words]David W. LincolnMay 23, 2013 16:02206248
2The US government compiles a bibilography. Trying to soften the Blow of reality! [100 words]AnneMay 23, 2013 15:52206247

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)