From Conquests to Conquered
The history begins with the birth of Islam in the year 610, when the prophet Muhammed received his divine mission and accepted Allah's instructions for a new religion that commanded belief in one God. For the next 22 years, Muhammed served as a transmitter of Allah's message, and his Muslim empire grew to encompass most of the Arabian Peninsula. After the prophet's death, the Muslim empire continued to expand until the 17th century, when Muslims were unquestionably the world's greatest military force, having conquered extensive territory and converted millions throughout the Middle East and Southern Europe. Islam had also achieved unmatched advances in architecture, art, law, mathematics, and science.
With the exception of battling Christian Crusaders, most Muslims had little to do with the West. In fact, Ottoman Turkey, the dominant Islamic power in the 16th century, viewed the West with what Islam expert Bernard Lewis, in his book Islam and the West, calls "amused disdain" for its inferior culture and religion.
By the 17th century, however, as the West achieved military superiority, Lewis writes that the tone shifted to "alarmed dislike." By 1769, the Russians handed the Turks their first sound defeat, pointing to a new and difficult road ahead for Islam. Instead of conquering, the Muslims were conquered.
The empire soon unraveled. In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte led his expedition into Egypt. In 1830, the French seized Algeria. Nine years later, the British coopted Aden (modern Yemen). In 1881, the French occupied Tunisia, and in 1882 the English tightened their grip on Egypt. In 1911, Russia captured parts of Persia. That same year, Italy announced the annexation of Tripoli, leading to the eventual creation of the modern state of Libya. In 1912, the French extended their influence to Morocco. By the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire had lost the Middle East, as France and England carved up the Muslim empire as spoils of war. The Muslim world could do little more than look on helplessly.
But the most painful Western penetration into the Islamic world was undoubtedly the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. To the embarrassment of the Muslim world, a unified front of Arab armies lost a bitter war to the newly formed country of only 600,000 Jews.
While the West may no longer have long-term imperialist designs on the Middle East, its influence is ubiquitous. This includes advancements in practical and physical sciences, modern weaponry and military reform, mass communication, law, and political reform, not to mention its fair share of McDonald's golden arches. These Western concepts and institutions, when transplanted to the Muslim world, are often destabilizing. They threaten the status quo, and are often too radically different to fit comfortably within a deeply rooted, traditional, and generally static Muslim culture. In short, the Islamic world may not have been ready for some of these changes.Feel free to leave comments and vote. 'The War 3' is comin up after this one. Do check it out.
