Synopses & Reviews
Lost in the Sacred poses questions about the Muslim world that no other book by a Western writer has dared to ask. Focusing on the Arab Middle East, Dan Diner asks what caused the Muslim world to lag behind so dramatically. Is Western dominance to blame? Or is the problem even with Islam itself? These questions, however unsettling, need to be asked--and they are being posed all across the Muslim world today. This book provides cautious answers that are no less disturbing than the questions.
Diner argues that Islam's cultural stasis is not due to the Muslim faith itself, but to the nature of the sacred it is infused with and that penetrates every aspect of life--spiritual and material. He reveals how the sacred in Islam suspends the acceleration of social time, hinders change, and circumvents secularization and modernity. Diner takes readers on an unforgettable intellectual journey, from today's global conflicts back into the distant past. He describes the Muslim encounter with the emerging West in early modernity, the challenges Western imperial expansion posed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the time-suspending impact of Arabic as a sacred language, the prevention of print, the classical age of Islam with its dazzling heights of learning and culture--and much more. Diner traces an entangled perspective, combining the spiritual with the social, and the cultural with the political. Throughout, he draws our attention to the urgent need for secularization and modernization in Islam.
The Muslim world is in crisis. Lost in the Sacred explains why.
Review
"All the evidence--yes, all--points to the ossification of Muslim thought and Muslim behavior in the world. . . . [Lost in the Sacred: Why the Muslim World Stood Still] makes the point clearly and convincingly."--Martin Peretz, New Republic
Review
"[Diner] analyzes how the Middle East, which led in cultural, mathematical, and scientific innovation during Europe's Dark Ages, lost momentum. . . . A deep and thorough analysis of the causes of the problems identified by the Arab Human Development Report that will be of interest to followers of Middle Eastern history and politics and those looking to under-stand the differences with the West."--Deirdre Sinnott, ForeWord Magazine
Review
"Lost in the Sacred offers a very refreshing perspective into the thinking of the Arab world as compared to the Muslim world. . . . This book is invaluable for anyone willing to go beyond the political rhetoric and understand the multiple factors that brought on the ossification of Arab society and, to a lesser degree, the Islamic world."--Tarek Fatah, The Globe and Mail
Review
Dan Diner's breadth of knowledge, capacity for clear and broad interpretation, and stylistic sovereignty will no doubt make this a classic in the field.
Review
offers a broad synthesis on a key problem of the contemporary Middle East, hence of the world at large. It sets out to describe and account for a strange historical phenomenon: how is it that the Arab world so slowly changes--nay, came to some sort of a standstill? Diner handles the best sources and secondary literature with great skill and literary talent.
Review
"Diner seeks to explore and understand the nature of the sacred in Islam through a combination of historical overview, socio-cultural reflection, politico-economic consideration and analysis of the role played by knowledge, language and speech in the formation of the Islamic worldview."--Muhammad Khan, Muslim News
Review
All the evidence--yes, all--points to the ossification of Muslim thought and Muslim behavior in the world. . . . [Lost in the Sacred: Why the Muslim World Stood Still] makes the point clearly and convincingly. -- Martin Peretz, New Republic
Review
"Diner's connection of various dates, places, and persons flowing together in a polished narrative. He fills his relatively short book with an abundance of information that manages never to overwhelm."--Joshua Arnold, Common Review
Review
"This book makes an exceptionally important contribution to our understanding of the Muslim world. . . . It can be highly recommended."--Mia Roth, European Legacy
Review
This book makes an exceptionally important contribution to our understanding of the Muslim world. . . . It can be highly recommended. Joshua Arnold - Common Review
Synopsis
Lost in the Sacred poses questions about the Muslim world that no other book by a Western writer has dared to ask. Focusing on the Arab Middle East, Dan Diner asks what caused the Muslim world to lag behind so dramatically. Is Western dominance to blame? Or is the problem even with Islam itself? These questions, however unsettling, need to be asked--and they are being posed all across the Muslim world today. This book provides cautious answers that are no less disturbing than the questions.
Diner argues that Islam's cultural stasis is not due to the Muslim faith itself, but to the nature of the sacred it is infused with and that penetrates every aspect of life--spiritual and material. He reveals how the sacred in Islam suspends the acceleration of social time, hinders change, and circumvents secularization and modernity. Diner takes readers on an unforgettable intellectual journey, from today's global conflicts back into the distant past. He describes the Muslim encounter with the emerging West in early modernity, the challenges Western imperial expansion posed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the time-suspending impact of Arabic as a sacred language, the prevention of print, the classical age of Islam with its dazzling heights of learning and culture--and much more. Diner traces an entangled perspective, combining the spiritual with the social, and the cultural with the political. Throughout, he draws our attention to the urgent need for secularization and modernization in Islam.
The Muslim world is in crisis. Lost in the Sacred explains why.
Synopsis
"Dan Diner's breadth of knowledge, capacity for clear and broad interpretation, and stylistic sovereignty will no doubt make this a classic in the field."
--Anson Rabinbach, Princeton University"A controversial but refreshingly un-Anglo-Saxon search for answers to some outsized questions."--Michael Cook, Princeton University
"Lost in the Sacred offers a broad synthesis on a key problem of the contemporary Middle East, hence of the world at large. It sets out to describe and account for a strange historical phenomenon: how is it that the Arab world so slowly changes--nay, came to some sort of a standstill? Diner handles the best sources and secondary literature with great skill and literary talent."--Rémi Brague, author of The Law of God
Synopsis
"Dan Diner's breadth of knowledge, capacity for clear and broad interpretation, and stylistic sovereignty will no doubt make this a classic in the field."--Anson Rabinbach, Princeton University
"A controversial but refreshingly un-Anglo-Saxon search for answers to some outsized questions."--Michael Cook, Princeton University
"Lost in the Sacred offers a broad synthesis on a key problem of the contemporary Middle East, hence of the world at large. It sets out to describe and account for a strange historical phenomenon: how is it that the Arab world so slowly changes--nay, came to some sort of a standstill? Diner handles the best sources and secondary literature with great skill and literary talent."--Rémi Brague, author of The Law of God
Synopsis
Lost in the Sacred poses questions about the Muslim world that no other book by a Western writer has dared to ask. Focusing on the Arab Middle East, Dan Diner asks what caused the Muslim world to lag behind so dramatically. Is Western dominance to blame? Or is the problem even with Islam itself? These questions, however unsettling, need to be asked--and they are being posed all across the Muslim world today. This book provides cautious answers that are no less disturbing than the questions.
Diner argues that Islam's cultural stasis is not due to the Muslim faith itself, but to the nature of the sacred it is infused with and that penetrates every aspect of life--spiritual and material. He reveals how the sacred in Islam suspends the acceleration of social time, hinders change, and circumvents secularization and modernity. Diner takes readers on an unforgettable intellectual journey, from today's global conflicts back into the distant past. He describes the Muslim encounter with the emerging West in early modernity, the challenges Western imperial expansion posed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the time-suspending impact of Arabic as a sacred language, the prevention of print, the classical age of Islam with its dazzling heights of learning and culture--and much more. Diner traces an entangled perspective, combining the spiritual with the social, and the cultural with the political. Throughout, he draws our attention to the urgent need for secularization and modernization in Islam.
The Muslim world is in crisis. Lost in the Sacred explains why.
About the Author
Dan Diner is professor of modern history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and director of the Simon Dubnow Institute for Jewish History and Culture at the University of Leipzig. His books include "Beyond the Conceivable: Studies on Germany, Nazism, and the Holocaust" and "Cataclysms: A History of the Twentieth Century from Europe's Edge".
Table of Contents
Preface ix
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: KNOWLEDGE AND DEVELOPMENT
The State of the Arab World 11
"Orientalism" and Its Adversaries
Rifa'ah at-Tahtawi and the Arab Human Development Report
Language and Social Lifeworlds
Knowledge and Technology
Freedom and Prosperity
Power and Benefit
Military and Politics
Mehmed Ali and Gamal Abdel Nasser
Ground Rent and Productivity
Oil Wealth and Stasis
Chapter 2: GEOPOLITICS AND RELIGIOUS ZEAL
Radicalization in the Muslim East 38
Between Palestine and Kashmir
Cold War and Decolonization
England and Russia
Gladstone and Disraeli
Caliphate and Pan-Islam
Kemal Pasha and Enver Pasha
Hindus and Muslims
Colonialism and Alienation
Arabism and Islamism
Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb
Political Th eology and Civil War
Chapter 3: TEXT AND SPEECH
The Rejection of the Printing Press 69
One God, One Book
Mechanical Reproduction and Profanation
Consonants and Vowels
Arabic and Hebrew
Baruch Spinoza and Walter Benjamin
Romanization and Secularization
Recitation and Reading
Literacy and Diglossia
Fusha and Ammiya
Chapter 4: RISE AND DECLINE
Ottoman Perplexities in the Early Modern Period 96
Europe and Asia
Ottomans and the New World
Gold and Silver
Piri Reis and Selim I
Mamluks and Venetians
ThePrice Revolution and Mercantilism
Janissaries and Bureaucrats
Merchants and Craftsmen
Inflation and Rebellion
Stasis or Crisis
Mustafa Ali and Katip Çelebi
Chapter 5: POLITICAL POWER AND ECONOMIC BENEFIT
Muslim Social Environment in the Classical Age 126
Desert and Steppe
Tribute and Tax
Central Power and Urban Culture
Umayyads and Abbasids
Mercenaries and Traders
Polis and Medina
"Public" and "Private"
Benefices and Capital
Labor and Property
Time and Liturgy
Ethics and Morals
Sacred and Profane
Chapter 6: HISTORICAL THOUGHT AND DIVINE LAW
Converting Sacred into Profane Time 153
Acceleration or Deceleration
Law and History
Cyclical versus Linear Time
Ibn Khaldun and Giambattista Vico
Past Utopias and Future Worlds
Islam and Judaism
Leo Strauss and Moses Maimonides
Dual Law and Dual Time
Muhammad Asad and Moses Mendelssohn
Law of the Land and Secularization
Notes 181
Index of Proper Names 211