Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey

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Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey is a book by the Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul. Published in 1981, the book was based on a 7 month journey across the Asian continent. V.S. naipaul explores the culture and the explosive sitaution in those countries where fundamentalism was growing August 79-February 81. To read it today 2008 is extremely interesting as a background to all that has happened since then. Iran: he came to Iran just after the revolution and could listen to all the mixed voices, guided around to the holy places like Qom by a communist, Behzad.

Pakistan: is a country based on Islam, at the same time with strong Indian-English tradition, all of it reflected in daily life. Being an Indian, Naipaul comes very close to Pakistan, and gives a very strong portrait of this country, and you can feel the confusion the people sometimes feel to try to live by muslim law.

Malaysia: Naipaul meets with the famous Anwar Ibrahim, when he is a rising star. Anwar had been to Iran and met Ayatollah Khomeini, and he wanted to awake Malaysian people.

Indonesia: He describes the Indonesian history, how the Japanese "liberated" them and how they later fought the Dutch until free. Islam in Indonesia is mixed with former beliefs and there are forces that want to make Islam more pure. He meet poets in Jakarta and he make a trip to visit the Koran schools, called pesantren. All in all he does a very deep portrait of Indonesia.

[edit] Purpose

The proposed aim of the author was to study cultures which have a long pre-Islamic history and their modern attempts to establish a religious state.

[edit] Travels

His travels (and travails) start with Iran, on to Pakistan, Malaysia and end in Indonesia, with a short stop in Pakistan and Iran on the return to the UK. Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali is interviewed in the book.

[edit] References

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