Bernard Lewis: Scholarship or Sophistry?

Studies in Contemporary Islam, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 53-80, Spring 2002

25 Pages Posted: 30 May 2007

Abstract

This paper reviews Bernard Lewis' book, What Went Wrong? It critiques his essentialist thesis about the backwardness of the Islamic world, viz., that the Islamic world fell behind the West because Islam is incompatible with democracy, denies rights to religious minorities and limits the rights of women; that Muslims lacked curiosity and made no attempts to catch-up up with the West. Instead, this paper seeks to place the phenomenon of Islamic decline in the context of world history and world economy. Starting in the early nineteenth century, Western Europe used its growing military and economic power, both derived from the Industrial Revolution, to control and penetrate the economies of the rest of the world. Consequently, over the period 1800-1950, China, India, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Islamic world went into relative or absolute decline. Contrary to Lewis's position, this decline was a general phenomenon; it was not specific to the Islamic world.

Keywords: Middle East, Islam, Bernard Lewis, decline, world economy, capitulations, open door treaties, catch-up, women's rights, minority rights

JEL Classification: O10, O53

Suggested Citation

Alam, Mohammad Shahid, Bernard Lewis: Scholarship or Sophistry?. Studies in Contemporary Islam, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 53-80, Spring 2002, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=989606

Mohammad Shahid Alam (Contact Author)

Northeastern University ( email )

220 B RP
Boston, MA 02115
United States

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