Publication details
Islam. Wiara a człowieczeństwo.
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Monograph |
| Citation | |
| Description | [Added note: Few in the West recognise that a mind formed under totalitarianism is different to a mind formed in freedom. While some have thrown light on the mind of "homo sovieticus," and the general concept, such as Václav Havel's 1978 essay, "The Power of the Powerless," very few have tried to understand the mind of the Muslim and the forces that shape it, notably, for example, Andre Servier, "Islam And The Psychology Of The Musulman," A Chapman and Hall Ltd., 1924, and Robert R. Reilly, "The Closing Of The Muslim Mind," ISI Books, 2010. Most such scholars take at least some of the claims and presumptions of Islam at face value. Anjuli Pandavar questions everything.] In order to criticise Muslims and learn something from doing so, it is necessary to distinguish between the Muslim as human being, possessed of the essence and attributes of all human beings, and the Muslim as adherent of Islam, and thus conditioned by the requirements and influence of Islam. Being Muslim is therefore a condition that a human being might find himself or herself in. A Muslim’s life is an obstacle course of endless manoeuvring with Shari’a pitfalls around every turn. The Muslim you see is somewhere in this endless life challenge, often enough a life-and-death challenge. The point is to understand this perilous mess from the perspective of a Muslim navigating his or her way through it. Then one might come to understand the Muslim, and how Islam makes the Muslim. Dr Pandavar brings this question up to date. "Islam. Wiara a człowieczeństwo" (the work debuted in Polish, rather than in the English original, "Islam Destroys Muslims") is an unconventional blend of scholarly research, polemic and critique, drawing on original holy texts, contemporary analyses of events and personal experience, in which what could otherwise be a bewildering interplay of conflicting social forces is made accessible to the non-specialist reader. The brutal honesty with which the subject is treated directly reflects the harshness of the subject itself, and that the author's former religion demands the highest price from people like her, ex-Muslims. Much has been written on the iniquities of Islam, and this is unavoidable in a book of this kind. Yet Dr Pandavar does not revel in it, preferring the deep introspection of one who was once a Muslim, understands what drives Muslims to do what they do, and is keen to share the rare insights of one with intimate knowledge of both totalitarianism and freedom with a world perhaps too reluctant to know. Islam. Wiara a człowieczeństwo takes nothing at face value and leaves no stone unturned in scrutinising what others fear to look at. While the book is clearly aimed at the Western reader, those with experience of Communism might find Dr Pandavar's descriptions of the Muslim mind to resonate with them. [Added note: "For Anjuli Pandavar, the most frightening thing is the enslavement of the individual, the training from the cradle aimed at producing blind obedience and killing the ability to think for oneself. At the same time, she stresses that Muslims are victims, that the fight against Islam is first and foremost a fight to liberate Muslims from a barbaric culture that blocks development, prosperity and humanity."] |