The Idea of the Muslim World: A Global Intellectual History

by Cemil Aydin

Overview

“Superb… A tour de force.”
—Ebrahim Moosa

“Provocative… Aydin ranges over the centuries to show the relative novelty of the idea of a Muslim world and the relentless efforts to exploit that idea for political ends.”
—Washington Post

When President Obama visited Cairo to address Muslims worldwide, he followed in the footsteps of countless politicians who have taken the existence of a unified global Muslim community for granted. But as Cemil Aydin explains in this provocative history, it is a misconception to think that the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims constitute a single entity. How did this belief arise, and why is it so widespread? The Idea of the Muslim World considers its origins and reveals the consequences of its enduring allure.

“Much of today’s media commentary traces current trouble in the Middle East back to the emergence of ‘artificial’ nation states after the fall of the Ottoman Empire… According to this narrative…today’s unrest is simply a belated product of that mistake. The Idea of the Muslim World is a bracing rebuke to such simplistic conclusions.”
—Times Literary Supplement

“It is here that Aydin’s book proves so valuable: by revealing how the racial, civilizational, and political biases that emerged in the nineteenth century shape contemporary visions of the Muslim world.”
—Foreign Affairs

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674238176
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	04/15/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Cemil Aydin is Associate Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Table of Contents

Introduction: What Is the Muslim World? 1

1 An Imperial Ummah before the Nineteenth Century 14

2 Reinforcing the Imperial World Order (1814-1878) 37

3 Searching for Harmony between Queen and Caliph (1878-1908) 65

4 The Battle of Geopolitical Illusions (1908-1924) 99

5 Muslim Politics of the Interwar Period (1924-1945) 133

6 Resurrecting Muslim Internationalism (1945-1988) 173

Conclusion: Recovering History and Revitalizing the Pursuit of Justice 227

Notes 239

Acknowledgments 279

Index 283

Editorial Reviews

Much of today’s media commentary traces current trouble in the Middle East back to the emergence of ‘artificial’ nation states after the fall of the Ottoman Empire a hundred years ago. According to this narrative, the region prospered as an organic whole before the imposition of modern nationalist ideologies. Today’s unrest is simply a belated product of that mistake. The Idea of the Muslim World by Cemil Aydin is a bracing rebuke to such simplistic conclusions…A tightly argued and impressive book.

Times Literary Supplement - William Armstrong

Aydin captures the formation and evolution of our reference to ‘the Muslim world’ and how this phrase came to prominence in everyday discourse. In eight superb chapters, he frames the Muslim world, and by implication Islam, as a cultural and civilizational tradition within a defined historical and political framework. A tour de force.

Ebrahim Moosa

Bold and provocative…Aydin’s book, a veritable tour de force, is packed with insights and observations which are both original and profound…Aydin also challenges the notion that there was a homogenous ‘Muslim world’ before the advent of Western imperialism which divided them…The book is a must-read for both Muslims and general students of history.

Friday Times - Ammar Ali Qureshi

In Aydin's telling, the idea of the Muslim world began in response to imperial racism, not to empire itself.

Harper’s - Yasmine Seale

[A] provocative new book. Aydin ranges over the centuries to show the relative novelty of the idea of a Muslim world and the relentless efforts to exploit that idea for political ends by Muslim and Western powers alike.

Marc Lynch

Aydin’s book is a timely corrective to the mistake of viewing the Islamic world (for want of a better phrase!) as a one-dimensional entity. It shows how an historical awareness of our underlying assumptions—on both sides of the imaginary Muslim world-West divide—can help us better understand the world we live in.

The Tablet - William Eichler

The Idea of the Muslim World is an original and important book. Aydin provides a global lens for viewing the ways in which modernity has shaped both Muslims’ understandings of their global role, and the ways in which we understand the place of Muslims in the world.

Edmund Burke III

This is a story of the racialization of religion…[A] helpful reframing of the history of pan-Islamism.

London Review of Books - Elias Muhanna

[A] timely book…It is here that Aydin’s book proves so valuable: by revealing how the racial, civilizational, and political biases that emerged in the nineteenth century shape contemporary visions of the Muslim world, within and beyond it.

Foreign Affairs - Anver M. Emon and Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

Provides an urgent alternative to the clash of civilizations narrative with its oversimplified binary of a static and unified ‘Islamic world’ versus an equally monolithic ‘Christian West.’ Especially in times where these essentialist and exclusionary notions seem to be refashioned with renewed political vigor…A historical tour de force.

Jeroen Vlug

Thoughtful and provocative…Aydin skillfully recounts the complex web of relationships that existed between and among European Christian and Muslim nations before the 19th century, in which religious affiliation played no predictable role as a unifying, rallying factor…This is a carefully argued book that will provoke specialists and nonspecialists alike to revisit commonly held assumptions about the nature of relations between ‘Islam and the West’ in the past, present, and future…The author’s masterly historical survey drives home the point that, in the past, shared values and interests rather than shared religion typically allowed for the creation of alliances among people from varied backgrounds. Those are exactly the kinds of alliances that need to be forged today.

Chronicle of Higher Education - Asma Afsaruddin

04/03/2017
Aydin upends the common view that the West and Islam are unavoidably in conflict in this crisp history of modern Islamic international relations. He argues the notion of a unified, global Muslim community was not present until Western imperialism and racism forced a defensive posture from Muslims. Starting in the 18th century, he shows how Muslim populations often sided with European powers against other Muslims to achieve more local political goals. In discussions of both world wars and the Cold War, it becomes clear that European powers manipulated Muslims with promises of greater self-determination, using them as proxies for imperial interests. Ending with the first Gulf War, he shows how historically shallow calls for a global caliphate are. The broad scope and quick pace make this more a sketch than a definite work, though novices should be able to follow the swirl of names and events. Despite the brief mentions of Muslim-majority countries around the world, Aydin’s focus is Middle Eastern actors and thinkers to show that the current West-Islam antagonism is neither inevitable nor long-standing. This is a solid work for college classrooms and scholars on the history of global Muslim consciousness and our current world. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

In Aydin's telling, the idea of the Muslim world began in response to imperial racism, not to empire itself.--Yasmine Seale"Harper's" (05/01/2017)

Thoughtful and provocative...Aydin skillfully recounts the complex web of relationships that existed between and among European Christian and Muslim nations before the 19th century, in which religious affiliation played no predictable role as a unifying, rallying factor...This is a carefully argued book that will provoke specialists and nonspecialists alike to revisit commonly held assumptions about the nature of relations between 'Islam and the West' in the past, present, and future...The author's masterly historical survey drives home the point that, in the past, shared values and interests rather than shared religion typically allowed for the creation of alliances among people from varied backgrounds. Those are exactly the kinds of alliances that need to be forged today.--Asma Afsaruddin"Chronicle of Higher Education" (05/14/2017)

[A] timely book...It is here that Aydin's book proves so valuable: by revealing how the racial, civilizational, and political biases that emerged in the nineteenth century shape contemporary visions of the Muslim world, within and beyond it.--Anver M. Emon and Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins"Foreign Affairs" (07/01/2017)

[A] provocative new book. Aydin ranges over the centuries to show the relative novelty of the idea of a Muslim world and the relentless efforts to exploit that idea for political ends by Muslim and Western powers alike.--Marc Lynch"Washington Post" (07/03/2017)

Much of today's media commentary traces current trouble in the Middle East back to the emergence of 'artificial' nation states after the fall of the Ottoman Empire a hundred years ago. According to this narrative, the region prospered as an organic whole before the imposition of modern nationalist ideologies. Today's unrest is simply a belated product of that mistake. The Idea of the Muslim World by Cemil Aydin is a bracing rebuke to such simplistic conclusions...A tightly argued and impressive book.--William Armstrong"Times Literary Supplement" (11/24/2017)

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