The final book featured is Paul R. Bass seminal work on Hindu-Muslim sectarian
violence on the Indian subcontinent. Entitled The Production of Hindu-Muslim Violence
in Contemporary India (University of Washington Press, Seattle: 2003), it is a scholarly
look into the Hindu and Muslim fundamentalist movements that have caused mass scale
rioting and mayhem. Readers will learn that India's riots have evolved into organized
events involving looters, killers and thugs, what may seem chaotic actually does have a
type of organization and purpose for those perpetrating the violence. Chapters discuss
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party that recently lost elections to the Indian
National Congress Party. The core of Hindu nationalism from where the BJP radiates
from the older Rashtriya Sawayamsevak Sangh (RSS) established in 1925. The author
offers a scathing indictment that India's leaders after Nehru have been complacent of
Hindu-Muslim violence, with a few using it to political advantage. Chapters also look
into the soul of Muslim nationalism in India, the Aligarh Muslim University and the
certain families that have a theological monopoly in this Islamic bastion of Northern
India. This book is not for the novice on Indian affairs, and it is recommended one read a
little on India and Pakistan before delving into Paul Bass' book.
LCDR Aboul-Enein is a Navy Medical Service Corps and Middle East Foreign
Area Officer currently assigned as Director for North Africa and Egypt and Islamic
Militancy Advisor at the Office of the Secretary of Defense for International Security
Affairs. He is a frequent contributor of reviews and essays to the FAO Journal.
______________________
Muhammad at Mecca by W. Montgomery Watt. Oxford at the
Clarendon Press, London, 1965. 192 pages. Review by Major Randy Koehlmoos, US
Army, a South Asia FAO stationed at USCENTCOM, MacDill AFB, Florida.
Though the publishing date of 1965 may initially dismiss this work to the back
shelves of university libraries, current events further highlight the need to reevaluate
Islam in a classical context prior to formulating and making judgement. Juxtaposed with
the common Oriental view that Operation Enduring Freedom is merely the so-called
Christian powers fighting a continuing war against Islam under the auspices of
combating terrorism is the far too common Occidental perception that Muslims in
exploding rental cars have replaced the Red Horde as the enemy of the civilized world.
Both views are inane as OEF is not the fifth crusade and true Islam seeks peace and
submission to the will of Al-lah in stark contrast with destruction of the West and
reinstating the Caliphate.
W. Montgomery Watt is an esteemed Orientalist and leading authority on Islam
who wrote Muhammad at Mecca in response to his perceived need for a
new look at the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) set in a fuller historical
context. Watt states that part of this need arose from the broader desire of twentieth
century historians to see historical events in relation to the economic, social, and political
background prevalent at that particular time. The author also asserts that the special
feature of this biography of Muhammad is thus not that it combs available sources more
minutely than others have done previously, but that it pays fuller attention to material
factors, and attempts to answer many questions that have hardly been raised in the past.
Together with Watt's other book Muhammad at Medina, these two
volumes constitute a comprehensive history of the life of Muhammad.
Watt declares in the introduction that this work is first and foremost written for the
historian. He warns though that inherently a human inclination of 'tendential shaping'
exists by early historians to make allowances for distortions, or even to make ideology
more acceptable within the shadow of other religions such as Christianity or Judaism.
Though many of the bibliographic sources Watt used for this work are based on earlier
primary sources, written documents beyond the Holy Qur'an detailing the Prophet's life
prior to about 150 years after his death do not exist. Watt addresses the need to examine
the appeal of Islam to its followers based on economic and political factors, and not just
pure religious principles. The Qur'an contains traditional historical evidence of Meccan
times, but to expect the Qur'an to be a socially historical document highlighting the
economic, social, and political aspects of daily life is beyond the intention of its design.
In general Watt accepts traditional accounts as true and rejects anecdotes only when
discounted by internal contradictions. Though a risky approach, information available
prior to the hijrah to Medina is limited and to quote Watt, 'shadowy.'
This situation may seem fertile ground for time and skepticism to cloud the legacy, but
similarly it could actually be more factual; some historians view verbal transmissions as a
more accurate and authentic portrayal than their written counterparts (a view also used
with reference to the Veda's). By keeping stories oral, no scribe can be accused of
misprints, and no mispronunciations are allowed during its retelling; likewise one can
focus on the story itself instead of the author's reputation.
Though Watt is very capable of religious criticism (see also his Muslim-
Christian Encounters; Perceptions and Misperceptions, Routledge, 1991), he
remains neutral on sensitive religious questions at issue between Christianity and Islam
in this particular work. He attempts to present Christian readers with historical material
that must be taken into account before forming theological judgements and many times
shows the similarity and historical connections between the three religions of the book--
Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. To avoid alienating the attentions of the Christian
readers he is attempting to influence with the issue of divinity within the Qur'an, Watt
writes from the perspective of 'the Qur'an says' and not 'God says' or 'Muhammad says.'
Contemporaneously for the Muslim reader Watt avoids issues that would reject any
of the fundamental doctrines of Islam, so long as his scrutinizing remains faithful to the
standards of Western historical scholarship. Though this statement is problematic with
those who denounce Western ideologies as being the only acceptable standard, Watt
rightly states that a rift between Western scholarship and Islamic faith is avoidable. Watt
does note Western hesitance to accept nine year old Ali as possessing the mental maturity
to actually accept the practice of Islam on his own merit and to therefore be considered
the first male Muslim, which elevates Western scholarship above that of the followers of
Ali (the entire Shia community).
Mohammad at Mecca follows a chronological progression, and
initially draws attention to the features of the Arabian background (the district
surrounding Mecca) that are most important for a proper understanding of Muhammad's
early career and achievements. Mecca developed as a trading and financial center at the
crossroad of the caravan routes, and this setting impacted the Qur'an as it first appeared;
not in the atmosphere of the secluded desert but in that of high finance in the shadow of
Jewish and Christian influences. Watt attributes problems within Mecca as arising out of
change from a nomadic existence based on physical struggle within the harsh desert to a
sedentary capitalist economy, without an accompanying change in community attitudes.
Mohammad was a statesman from the beginning, and Watt details Meccan politics and
its impact on the personal views of the Prophet. The legacy of this is the message of
solidarity and the community of Islam (the ummah) surpassing clan,
tribal, and nationalistic lines.
Being an orphan at an young age dominated Muhammad's early life, and Watt
brings to light those stories and accounts of the young Prophet's life that both appeal to
and repulse secular historians. He notes that those in the latter category are theological
characters that chronologically are found to quiver under scrutiny, but still pass profound
and valuable messages and hold significance for Muslims. Watt brings attention to
contradictions in perceived facts about Muhammad's visions, and attributes some of the
disparity to the problems inherent with the interpretation of language. Watt even goes as
far as to make recommendations to adjust certain meanings to remain both Islamically
orthodox and within the realm of historical probability, to such a degree that he as a
Western historian has confidence in the statements.
Watt brings to light the fact that the primary message in the Qur'an can be confused
by differences in Western importance on bare facts verses significance, and on Eastern
importance that shows little difference. Arab society at the time did not define things in
terms of right and wrong but as honorable and dishonorable. Concerns still exist in
regard to proper chronology and contradictions as ideas and directives change throughout
the text of the Qur'an, giving concern as to which is the final directive. Watt tries to
remain neutral in explanations of events and performs what he calls 'creative irruption' to
take a middle ground between chance and divine intervention. He concludes by
examination that the Qur'an attributes the troubles at that time in Mecca as primarily
religious with essentially religious remedies despite their economic, social, and moral
undercurrents.
Watt discusses that the early days of Islam were far from opposition. He examines
this from the point of 'How did opposition manifest itself and what were the main
motives behind it?' In his attempt at discussion of the satanic verses and their motives
and explanations, other possibilities arise such as Muhammad reacting to public opinion
or pressure from other groups. He concludes that existence of Angels does not violate
the Islamic tenant of monotheism, and this fact is again related to the similar beliefs in
the sister religions of Christianity and Judaism. Watt determines that the Qur'an tends to
confirm the accounts derived from traditional historical material, and that the principle
opposition to Muhammad's claim to be a Prophet was to the political implications of him
becoming the new ruler as opposed to resistance to a new religion.
The final chapter of the book discusses the deterioration in Muhammad's position in
Mecca and the hijrah to Medina. At this point Islam is considered to be
historically complete, but most of its institutions were still in a very rudimentary state.
Again, Watt addresses the point that nomadic ethics and outlook were well suited to
desert conditions but proved unsatisfactory for settled communities.
This work is most relevant for those persons desiring advanced study of the grossly
misperceived religion of Islam, which the Western world erroneously blames for the
mainly historical, economic, and social problems of the Muslim world. Watt's work
supports historical in contrast to religious scholarship in the hope of overcoming
contemporary jahiliyya (state of ignorance). Ancient prejudice coupled with the
contemporary media-induced Islamic stereotype of Islam as a violent foreign religion
perpetuates the misperception of political and religious Islam as a 21st
century threat when in fact W. Montgomery Watt shows that Islam has many parallels
with Christianity and Judaism and is not a medieval enemy lurking in the darkness.
2005, Foreign Area Officer Association
Herndon,
Virginia
Maintained by LTC Steve
Gotowicki.
http://www.faoa.org
