This blog is written by a Christian living in the Middle East. My desire is to discuss Islam and Christianity in ways that will be helpful for people of the other religion.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
How wrong he was: Zwemer on Islam and politics (1912)
The Caliphate certainly dissappeared with Ottoman Turkey. What happened, though, is that the West lost its stomach for colonialism in the wake of World War I, which meant that many of these Muslim countries regained their independence. That loss of interest was taken as a sign of weakness, in good Middle Eastern style. The ones that didn't get it easy did it the hard way (Algeria and Indonesia, for example.)
Joel and Don, you are right about oil. Though Zwemer does acknowledge that there is oil in Persia and Mesopotamia--of course how important oil will become is not known to him, who could have predicted it?
I think by the time the oil money dries up, KSA will descend into lawlessness and ruthless persecution. The huge population there--one that can in no way be sustained by the desert country--will end up as refugess, asylees, and economic migrants in, you guessed it, Europe and the USA. So yes, the economic power of Islam will take a hit, and this will be a good thing. But on the other hand, Islam is the people, not the country.
3 comments:
It's interesting to consider why he was wrong.
The Caliphate certainly dissappeared with Ottoman Turkey. What happened, though, is that the West lost its stomach for colonialism in the wake of World War I, which meant that many of these Muslim countries regained their independence. That loss of interest was taken as a sign of weakness, in good Middle Eastern style. The ones that didn't get it easy did it the hard way (Algeria and Indonesia, for example.)
As far as Afghanistan is concerned, you might find this of interest.
Barring the discovery of oil I think Zwemer would have been spot on. When the oil dries up we'll see how strong Islam really is.
Joel and Don, you are right about oil. Though Zwemer does acknowledge that there is oil in Persia and Mesopotamia--of course how important oil will become is not known to him, who could have predicted it?
I think by the time the oil money dries up, KSA will descend into lawlessness and ruthless persecution. The huge population there--one that can in no way be sustained by the desert country--will end up as refugess, asylees, and economic migrants in, you guessed it, Europe and the USA. So yes, the economic power of Islam will take a hit, and this will be a good thing. But on the other hand, Islam is the people, not the country.
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