CHICAGO -- Dr. Richard W. Bulliet spoke about his recent
book, The Case for Islamo-Christian
Civilization, to members of The Columbia University Club at Sofitel Chicago
Water Tower.
Bulliet is a professor of history at Columbia University,
where he has taught all periods of Middle Eastern history. For 12 years he
served as director of the university�s Middle East Institute. In addition to
his academic work Bulliet wrote four novels that involve the modern Middle East
-- where he has traveled often and widely.
After 9/11, several political leaders and academic scholars
used the phrase, �clashes of civilization� in the media. Their endorsements
established a dichotomy between America�s position and the Muslim world. Based
on the factual events of history -- from the Renaissance through the 20th
century -- Bulliet offers a dramatically different counterpoint.
�Whether you�re Muslim or American or Chinese or Indian the
problem is if you recognize the �clash of civilizations,� it gets you nowhere
good and with no signposts,� Bulliet said. �What I hope and is absolutely
necessary is we experience inclusion with Arabs and Muslims in America.�
Although America has pride in its moments of inclusion, one
of the current struggles within American society is xenophobia: people who fear
and/or hate other people they consider foreign. As long as Anglo-Americans�
prejudices regarding Arabs and Muslims exist their hostility debilitates
American society. While U.S. leaders preach to the world about American values
of equality and acceptance, the international community sees the hostility
Arabs and Muslims endure in the U.S. and abroad. Whether people are acting upon
these prejudices or they are on the receiving end of them, people are
struggling with prejudices and against them.
Another example Bulliet gave is the use of the phrase
�Judeo-Christian civilization.� Prior to World War II the phrase is hard to
find, yet it became so widely used that it is an important moment in American
history. The phrase�s connotation is that Judeo-Christian civilization is
rooted in Western culture. �The popularization of the phrase is a response to
the Holocaust,� Bulliet added.
Although historians cannot point to the person who penned
the phrase (German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche may have used it
connotatively), the point Bulliet emphasized is that the use and meaning of the
phrase after WW II changed the master narrative. In history the master
narrative is the record of past events, and only primary historians can change
master narratives. Historians understand that history was written by people who
lived certain experiences in their lives, and they had expectations of societal
futures.
When it comes to the likenesses between Western European
society, Mediterranean society and African society, Bulliet makes a powerful
case of identifying centuries of borrowing between these societies thereby
�monkeying with� the master narrative. �What I do in this book is try to create
a new reading of what the past has been so we can have a new prospect of what
the future will be.�
Some people may question why Bulliet did not use the phrase
�Islamo-Christian-Judeo civilization.� Bulliet is not interested in a
scriptural reading of history. His research focuses on shared interests between
people because they borrow language, religion and culture within their
respective societies. Although Bulliet pointed out that people of different faiths
lived side-by-side � . . . it doesn�t mean they are apart at the profound
level.� He added that there has been extensive writing on the Judeo-Islamic
civilization and the Islamo-Byzantine (East Christian) civilization that
illustrates the fruitful, long-lasting and dynamic history between these
peoples.
Bulliet gave numerous examples of how present-day society is
based on the Islamic world. During a typical morning a person takes a shower
with a hard bar of soap. He drinks coffee with sugar in a glazed cup. While he
reads the newspaper he has orange juice in a transparent glass. Later in the
day he may eat pasta. If he works in a medical profession he may play chess,
backgammon or cards (if he has time). The point is that all of these items --
including the medical profession -- derive from the Islamic world.
�When we look at our society we�re not that different from
Muslim societies,� Bulliet said. �No one will ever talk about the massive
borrowing in the Renaissance from the Muslim world.�
When there is discussion about European history in relation
to the Muslim world, most people do not focus on the fact that the people of
Europe and the Middle East lived in sibling societies that borrowed from each
other�s models. Instead, people talk about the Crusades. However, most of the
borrowing took place after 1500, because prior to the 12th century European
history shows that the Christian religion was for the elite.
By the 12th century, in what is often referred to as the
great days of Baghdad, virtually everyone in the Middle East converted to
Islam. As the dominant structure of society it taught people to be humble and
spiritual, and the primary agents of these teachings were the Sufi
Brotherhoods.
During the 16th century Western Christendom had a rigid ecclesiastical
structure. The Reformation created the Protestant Churches and changes within
the Catholic Church, which involved a hierarchical structure. Regardless of the
differences between the West and the Muslim world in societal structures,
people in both societies saw the tendency for monarchs to rule despotically. In
response to oppression societies put civil and religious mechanisms in place
that could serve as counterbalances to the rulers.
�There is a parallel in the history of the West and in the
Muslim world,� Bulliet said. �Tyranny is undesirable and should be curbed.�
He explained that in the West opposition to tyranny caused
the growth of democracy, but in the Islamic world Muslim scholars and Islamic
lawyers challenged tyranny of monarchies through Shariah law. However,
governments in Egypt and Turkey recognized the success of tyrannies in Europe,
such as the emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, who ruled from 1804-1815. In
the Middle East Islamist movements had political groups that advocated for
elections and universal suffrage and from their point of view � . . . everyone
should vote because this is how we curb tyranny,� Bulliet added.
Although Americans say they have a secular government, the
rest of the world watches T.V. and sees that religion and politics are together
in the U.S. With respect to the Arab world, �it is difficult for Americans
coming from a Western background to see the idea that religion and politics can
act in the same arena.�
Bulliet emphasized that there is no clash of civilizations
and when talking about the future of the Middle East, �democracy is possible,�
he said, �but you can�t get there without going through the front yard of
Islamic politics.� Moreover, a divergence of views exists within the Arab world
as to how Islam should relate to democracy because there is no agreed
definition as to how Islam relates to power and politics. For quite some time
there has been an election-based movement in the Arab world and how it would
come to fruition with totalitarian regimes. At present there are numerous
Muslim scholars and an enormous effervescence of Islamic thought.
When asked why the Arab world has not established democracy,
Bulliet said: �They�ve been trying to install democratic regimes for decades
and we have not been helpful because the structure of totalitarianism in the
Muslim world is something rooted in the Cold War.� He added that the U.S.
supported authoritarian rule as long as it closed out the Soviet Union and that
our present-day policymakers are from the Cold War.
�We get attacked because we supported tyrannies,� he said.
Bulliet stressed that Americans should accept Arab-Americans
and Muslim-Americans � . . . in our society as a moment of inclusion, just like
the Civil Rights Movement and it would be something we can be proud of.�
Journalist
Sonia Nettnin writes about social, political, economic, and cultural issues.
Her focus is the Middle East.