Review by Choice Review
Given the outrage and violence that seems to follow perceptions of disrespect toward Islam by Western media and even the Pope, this author's lucid analysis of Islam and violence in the modern era is very much to the point. Milton-Edwards (Queens Univ., Belfast) argues that what appears to the West as overreaction to alleged insults to Islam, and the choice of confrontational politics to counter the West's interventions in the Muslim world, is at root a reaction to Western ideas of secular modernity. The West appears to demand "submission" to the values of secularism; but submission is reserved in Islam for the will of God. Her argument is laid out with admirable clarity and economy. Muslim communities see these insults as "a declaration of war against them and the values that define their faith system." Milton-Edwards begins with "a history of entanglement" between religion and violence, then turns to what she calls "the West's terror of Islam." In subsequent sections, she considers the conundrum of Islam and violence, and the question--and phenomenon--of "sacred violence" and its various contemporary representations. This is, in sum, an excellent, useful addition to the literature on this subject. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. General readers, lower-division undergraduates through faculty. V. T. Le Vine emeritus, Washington University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review