The Islamic World in the Era of Western Domination 1800 to the Present
Author(s)
Ansari, Sarah
Abstract
The two centuries since 1800 have marked an important break with earlier times for the Muslim world. The vast empires so characteristic of it before this period disappeared from the map. Muslims, who formerly had ruled so many non-Muslims, more often than not found themselves being ruled by non-believers. With the decline of western imperialism, Muslims reacquired much of their political independence, but the result has been a patchwork of separate states, each one trying, with varying success, to balance its religious and national identities. For some, Islam and political life were inexorably intertwined. For others, their citizens, or perhaps only some of them, just happened to be Muslims and the state tried to maintain a neutrality on the question of religion. Hereditary monarchs, democracy, theocracy, dictatorship, military rule, radical revolution – the Islamic world has experienced it all since 1800.
