The Crisis of Islam Holy War and Unholy Terror

Internationally recognized as one of our greatest historians of the Middle East, Bernard Lewis investigates the motivations behind the September 11 attacks and the larger development of an Islamic holy war against the United States. Over time, with the decline of Islamic power and the rise of the West, Muslims interpreted the Koranic injunction of “jihad” to mean not just a struggle for God, but actual armed struggle against all “infidels” in defense of Muslim power. As Lewis explains, to many Muslims, the world was conceptually divided into two houses: the “House of Islam,” where Muslim government and law prevails, and the”House of War,” ruled and inhabited by infidels – notably Christians, and now more than ever, Americans. A spectacular primer on the historical roots of Islamic anti-Americanism.