''The War for Muslim Minds'' is the English translation of ''Fitna: guerre au coeur de l'Islam,'' a 2004 book by French author and
Islamic studies
Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...
scholar
Gilles Kepel
Gilles Kepel, (born June 30, 1955) is a French political scientist and Arabist, specialized in the contemporary Middle East and Muslims in the West. He is Professor at the Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) and director of the Middle Ea ...
. It was translated from the original French by
Pascale Ghazaleh. The book explores
Islam's relationship to the West, especially in the aftermath of the
September 11, 2001 attacks. Kepel concludes that most Muslims oppose the attacks on civilians and other militant tactics employed by
Islamist extremists
Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shar ...
and that these actions are hurting them.
In researching this book, Kepel traveled in both the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
and the
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, interviewing leaders across the
Islamic world, as well as Western analysts and European diplomats. He asked them about the rising tide and disaffection of Islamist elements in the West. His argument, based on his findings, was that the most important battle in the war for Muslim minds over the next decade would be fought in Islamic communities in the West, many of which are located in the outskirts of major cities such as
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
External links
*
The War for Muslim Minds-
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
page
2004 non-fiction books
Non-fiction books about jihadism
{{islam-book-stub