The new issue of Harvard Magazine is out, featuring an interesting, well-balanced ten-page profile of controversial Islam specialist Daniel Pipes. Inevitably for a scholar who is said to wage “hand-to-hand combat” against a “totalitarian ideology,” Pipes is frequently asked to argue that he is not a racist or an Islamophobe. He is adept enough at answering the implied charge:
“Not being a Muslim, I by definition do not believe in the mission of the Prophet Muhammad; but I have enormous respect for the faith of those who do. I note how deeply rewarding Muslims find Islam as well as the extraordinary inner strength it imbues them with. Having studied the history and civilization of the classical period, I am vividly aware of the great Muslim cultural achievements.”
Well, he's not the only one. The abundant beauty of Islamic art hits me deeper, more forcefully, than most Christian art does. As for contemporary composers and musicians, I'll take Anouar Brahem, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou Ndour or Rabih Abou Khalil any day of the week over Amy Grant or Marvin “what's in a name” Sapp. Decorative art? I visited the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, Portugal, back in October, and although the whole eclectic collection was impressive, the Islamic art section just floored me — especially a display of centuries-old lamps so intricate and gorgeous I felt the blood rush to my head. When I found myself in Istanbul years ago, I loved the Hagia Sophia, but I was downright awed by the Blue Mosque. And I find more wonder in one chapter of Khaled Hosseini's novel than in all of Dan Brown's put together.
I'm also with Pipes one hundred percent when he says that
“It's a mistake to blame Islam, a religion 14 centuries old, for the evil that should be ascribed to militant Islam, a totalitarian ideology less than a century old. Militant Islam is the problem, but moderate Islam is the solution.”
Read the whole thing.
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