Publisher's Synopsis
This work endeavors to connect two somewhat different concepts in a broad historical context. The first topic, Islamophobia, is generally defined as "the fear, hatred of, or prejudice against, the Islamic religion or Muslims generally," especially when Islam and Muslims are conflated with terrorism and regression. The second broad subject matter is the ideological assault - a reference to the perceived contrariness of Islam to Western thought, in as much as that the Western mind feels compelled to dilute and reinterpret Islam to its own liking and comfortability. The implicit bias in this way of thinking is that Islam - in its earliest original teachings - poses some threat to Western thought and its notions of civilization, progress, modernity, and freedom. This is the overarching subject of the entire book. This volume addresses in detail the incremental decline of Muslim civilization due to the onslaught of foreign ideologies and how this resulted in both the Crusades and Mongol Invasions. It discusses how the dual threat of speculative philosophy and gnostic mysticism eroded the roots of the tree of faith, making the community of believers prone and vulnerable. Table of Contents: INTRODUCTION to Volume One -- The Ideological Assault -- The Scope of this Book. CHAPTER ONE: Understanding the Rise and Fall of Muslim Civilization -- Contrasting The Roots & Fruits of Islamic Culture with those of Modernity -- The Rise and Decline of Muslim Civilization -- The Triumph of the Truth: The Islamic Model for Civilizational Rise and Decline -- The Western Tradition of Realizing & Promoting the Greatest Source of Weakness -- Chapter Conclusion. CHAPTER TWO: The Foundational Core of Muslim Civilization -- Identifying the Roots: Belief & Submission -- The Roots, the Branches, & the Fruits of Faith -- Reinforcing the Foundation of Faith -- The Ark of Salvation: Navigating through What is Predestined by Complying with Divine Commandment -- The Innateness of Believing in Allah's Providence -- Belief in Qadar is the Connecting Thread of Monotheism -- Conclusion: Destructive Thoughts about the Creator. CHAPTER THREE: The Ancient Roots of the Crisis -- The Ancient Regime: Polytheism & Negativist Theology -- The Two Strands of Polytheism -- The Historical Legacy of Ta'ṭil from Pharaoh to Nebuchadnezzar to Hulagu -- Ṣabian Syncretism & the Rise of the Greek Philosophers -- Philosophy's Deification of the Human Intellect -- Chapter Conclusion: the Concept of the Logos. CHAPTER FOUR: The Paganization of Christianity -- The Tribulation of the Antichrist -- The Transition from Monotheism & Simplicity to Polytheism & Mystery -- Constantine - Paul the 'Apostle to the Heathens' - Opening the Floodgates of Allegorical Misinterpretation - Logos: The Word of God?- Gnosticism begets Gnosticism -- The Pauline Impact on Western Thought -- CHAPTER FIVE: The Swift Triumph of the Sunnah & The Encroachment of Foreign Creeds - The Advent of Islam & Its Rapid Spread -- The Prophet's Virtuous Nation was His Legacy -- The Intolerance of His Nation for Foreign Beliefs or Practices being Inserted into Islam The Beginning of the Tribulation -- Speculative Theology & Mysticism -- How Philosophy & Mysticism Directly Contradict the Foundation of Islam -- CHAPTER SIX: The Crisis of Muslim Civilization -- The Persian Retribution -- The Arabization of the Books of Philosophy -- The Crusades & Mongol Invasions -- CONCLUSION: The Distant Past Meets the Immediate Present.
