political ideologies, some Western scholars and
many journalists have portrayed Islam as a threat
to the West, often equating it with “fundamental-
ism,” “terrorism,” and, most recently, “fascism.”
arab-israeli conFlicts, the iranian revolUtion
oF 1978–79, gUlF Wars, and al-qaida’s attack
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on
September 11, 2001, have only escalated the level
of this sort of rhetoric, which neither advances
knowledge nor facilitates effective national and
international policy making. The anti-Western
rhetoric coming from radical Muslim ideologists
such as Egypt’s sayyid qUtb (d. 1966) and their
supporters has also had harmful consequences.
Defining Islam is an undertaking that, to a
significant extent, has occurred in the context of
Muslim and non-Muslim historical interactions,
whether they be framed in terms of believers and
disbelievers, People of the Book and polytheists,
jihadists and crusaders, Easterners and Western-
ers, secularists and theocrats, or insiders and
outsiders. Islam is what Muslims have made of it,
what non-Muslims have made of it, and what they
have made of it together. There is ample evidence
to show that defining Islam is a highly polarized
and confrontational enterprise involving civiliza-
tional “clashes.” But more careful consideration
shows that this has not always been the case, as
is evident in the pluralistic contexts of medieval
Spain, cairo, baghdad, and in various parts of
Africa and Asia. Thoughtful and learned men and
women in these contexts found a common ground
on which to learn about each other, debate issues
of mutual interest and concern, and, above all,
live together. Modern migrations of Muslims to
Europe and the Americas, the reach of the Inter-
net, interreligious dialogue on local and transna-
tional levels, and the increased participation of
Muslim and non-Muslim scholars jointly in the
study of Islam and Muslims promise to ameliorate
and correct the angry and distorted definitions
that have been produced and reproduced in recent
years. The possibility awaits of once again under-
standing Islam on the basis of mutual interests
and shared commitment so that people may face
together challenges that stand before global soci-
ety in the 21st century.
See also allah; andalUsia; arabic langUage
and literatUre; christianity and islam; colo-
nialism; dar al-islam and dar al-harb; dialogUe;
eUrope; islamism; JUdaism and islam; kafir; and
the introduction to this volume.Further reading: Norman Daniel, Islam and the West:
The Making of an Image (Oxford: Oneworld, 1993);
Sachiko Murata and William C. Chittick, The Vision of
Islam (St. Paul, Minn.: Paragon House, 1994); Andrew
Rippin, Defining Islam: A Reader (London: Equinox
Publishing, 2007); Maxime Rodinson, “The Western
Image and Western Studies of Islam.” In The Legacy
of Islam. 2d ed. Edited by Joseph Schacht and C. E.
Bosworth, 9–62 (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1974, 9–62); Edward W. Said, Orientalism (New York:
Pantheon Books, 1978); Jane I. Smith, An Historical and
Semantic Study of the Term ‘islam’ as Seen in a Sequence of
Quran Commentaries (Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press,
1975).Islamic Society of North America
The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is
an association of Muslim organizations and indi-
viduals concerned with social and educational
development, outreach programs, and public rela-
tions in the United States and Canada. It was
formed in 1981, evolving from the mUslim stU-
dents association (MSA), in order to serve the
religious and social needs of Muslim graduates
from American colleges and universities. ISNA
serves as an umbrella organization for the MSA
and approximately 300 other affiliated community
and professional organizations, including the
Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS),
the Association of Muslim Scientists and Engi-
neers (AMSE), the Islamic Medical Association of
North America (IMANA), and the Council of
Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA). A
diversity of Muslim communities, mosqUes, andIslamic Society of North America 375 J