The Multiple Identities of the Middle East

Excellent survey of the Middle East, focusing on the various ways by which the people identify themselves. Lewis presents an eye-opening case for looking at the Middle East not according to geographical boundaries (which were in many cases imposed by European powers), but by religious and cultural bonds which reach much farther back in history than the creation of present borders. Although written well before 9/11 this study is still most relevant and informative, especially in light of the most recent campaign by ISIS.

Perhaps the most disappointing book on the Middle East I have ever read. I bought this book because it was written by Bernard Lewis. The book is very dry and offers no ground breaking insight or knowledge into the subject matter.

One of the best books by one of the greatest author on the Middle East ever!

This is arguably the most informative book available on Middle East history, religion, culture, nationality, and politics. Unfortunately, since publication in 1998, events have progressed rapidly enough to require an update in the political arena. Much of the same material is covered in Lewis's later version 'Islam: The Religion and the People,' published in 2009.Religion defines identity in the ME to a greater degree than in the West, being integral with governance. The book cites the 5 pillars of Mohammedanism: statement of faith, prayer, charity, fasting and pilgrimage with Muhammad being the final prophet overriding predecessors Moses and Jesus. In his study of religion Lewis observes that every religion has an element of truth. It's when religions claim exclusivity that trouble occurs. Judaism has no claim to exclusive truth. Christian, Muslim triumphalism claims a duty to bring the word to all humanity.Islam as a religion of peace has an element of truth that tends to be overstated by well meaning but wishful thinking observers in the West. The Muslim province, Dar al-Islam is a realm of peace while the Dar al-Harb elsewhere is the realm of war, subject to jihad. External aliens are presumed to carry enmity. Tolerance in the Islamic world means that, as in the US, government abuse is on the basis of economics and political opposition, rather than religionSuccessive chapters (4,5,6) make very clear the distinctions between country, nation and state, with all three prevalent in the ME to a greater variety than elsewhere in the world. Arab identity is changing to state allegiance (arguable), involving citizenship, with once artificial boundaries proving very durable. Lines have hardened and likely to endure (written before ISIS). Jordan bases citizenship on Palestinian identity, excluding Jews. Iran, ruled by the native Sasanid dynasty before the Arab conquest retained its Persian, or Farsi, language and culture and adopted Islam but not Arab identity.A study of symbols involves yellow patches indicating, second class, or dhimmi, status. Unlike the cross, crescent and shield of David are not religious oriented. In blaming the West for their decline Arabs forget that the Crusades were a reaction to jihad. There were 3 major Muslim attacks on Europe: Saracens, Turks, Tatars. It remains to be seen whether ISIS migrations will prove to be a fourth.Ending with aspirations in the ME region, Lewis cites the floundering of Pan Arabism movements, saying that Pan Islam is more durable. He's too early to observe the Arab Spring “democracy” movement. Radical Islam has become very popular. He presciently predicts that religious militarism has not yet run its course. An open and free society will take time.

This book characterizes the main groups of people in the Middle East and traces some of their aspects from earlier times to the present.It begins by explaining that the population exchange of Greek Orthodox people for Muslims between Greece and Turkey after World War One was just that. Those who were sent to Greece were primarily Turkish-speakers, while those who were sent to Turkey generally spoke Greek. Similarly, the Jews in Arab lands tended to speak Arabic. We see a similar contrast in Israel as well. Lewis explains that the dividing line is not really between Jews from Europe and those from Africa or Asia but between Jews from Christian cultures and Jews from Islamic cultures.The author claims that there is relatively little racism in Arab society. There's plenty of bias, but Lewis says it is mostly religious. On the other hand, his chapter on aliens and infidels shows what religious bias means. It means the dhimma, and relegating religious minorities to "second-class citizenship." For many centuries, that made Islam relatively tolerant, as Christian lands relegated religious minorities to "no citizenship at all." But present Western liberal ideas are not consistent with limited rights any more, and thus the dhimma is now regarded by many Westerners as a form of religious intolerance. The author explains that at the same time, many Muslims are regarding even the limited rights of the dhimma as too much and too dangerous.There are interesting discussions of country, nation, and state. Again, the attitudes about such concepts are different in the Middle East from what they are in, say, Europe. One excellent example that Lewis gives is the following. Consider the names we Americans (as well, as those in European nations) give for the countries of Europe and their languages. Germany-German. Norway-Norwegian. Finland-Finnish. Hungary-Hungarian. France-French. Malta-Maltese. Greece-Greek. Albania-Albanian. Spain-Spanish. Sweden-Swedish. And so on. In many cases, the names are quite different from the names the natives of those countries call themselves. But we have that correspondence in a huge number of cases between country and language.That's not so true in the Middle East. One of the few exceptions is Arabia-Arabic. But Arabia is not really a country. Saudi Arabia is. Yemen is. Qatar is. Oman is. Arabia is a peninsula. And there is the almost-exception of Persia-Persian. But Persia is not a country. Iran is. And I'm not sure how much we use the word "Persian" to describe the language any more (and we certainly don't use the word "Iranian" to describe the language). That leaves Turkey and Turkish, but the name Turkey is of European origin and is of a country that is partially in Europe. The correspondence between country and language is far less in the Middle East than in Europe.The book includes a discussion of symbols, and the author points out that the Muslim crescent and the Jewish six-pointed star do not have anything like the significance in these religions that the cross does in Christianity. And what about the Veil? For pious women, the garments are a symbol of submission, for emancipated women, they are a symbol of repression, and for Western Muslim women, they are often proud symbols of identity.This is an excellent and very informative book and I highly recommend it.