Western Dominance and Political Islam: Challenge and Response

By Khalid B. Sayeed

Sayeed explores the kinds of resistance Western hegemony has provoked in the Middle East and shows that, although Islamic fundamentalism cannot provide a viable alternative to Western political, cultural, and economic systems, some of the major Islamic ideas can do so.

This book challenges prevalent Western media and popular interpretations of Islam. Through a political and historical analysis of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan-countries that represent the religious, ethnic, and ideological spectrum of the Muslim world-it explores whether or not Islam as a political religion and civilization can provide a preferable alternative to Western capitalist democracy. Sayeed argues that although Islamic fundamentalism, particularly in its militant and violent form, lacks the potential to become such a system, some of the major Islamic ideas, if reinterpreted and reformulated, can provide a viable alternative to Western political and economic dominance, especially in the Middle and Near East.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0791422658
• ISBN13: 9780791422656
• Release Date: December 1994
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher