A Clash of Civilizations?

Abstract

Is there a clash of civilizations? Is conflict between Islam and the West inevitable? A quick scan of history would suggest that this is the case. Since the advent of Islam in the 7th century, Christian writers in the Near East and Europe have regarded the conquering Muslim empires as an enemy, a civilizational rival sent by God as punishment. In the 11th century Crusaders from Europe were able to briefly reverse the tide of Muslim expansion by capturing Palestine for almost a century. By the end of the 15th century Christian forces had reconquered Spain and ended Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula. In the 17th century the advancing Turks were turned back from the gates of Vienna, and soon afterwards the ascending European powers brought much of the Muslim world under their colonial rule. As most Muslim lands emerged as independent nation-states by the middle of the 20th century, they were confronted with a world of Western economic, political, military, technological and cultural domination. For Muslims committed to ensuring the preservation of Islamic identity, culture and order in the face of this modernity, the challenge has been formidable.