Summary Of Journey To The End Of Islam

Journey to the End of Islam is a travel narrative that follows the journey of Michael Muhammad Knight, an American born-again convert to Islam. His travels through historic Islamic sites in Ethiopia, Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia are made with the intention of facilitating a better understanding of his faith and the extensive range of variations to the religion. Throughout the journal, Knight is exposed to everything from devout orthodox Muslims to Islamic punk rockers who partake in what the former would consider heretic activities. In Journey to the End of Islam Knight describes the current state of globalization through his explanation of the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca; Hajj. Globalization is the unavoidable process of becoming
interconnected with, and dependent on other nations, resulting in a modernization of culture, information, and technology. This modernization would be impossible without advancements in communication technology and transportation. Knight documents his experiences while preparing for hajj, during hajj, and after returning to the western world with his newly founded understanding of Islam, which was brought about by interconnectedness of cultures, a result of globalization (Knight 323). Throughout the story Knight gives many examples of how globalization is causing uniformity amongst his fellow Muslims. He also explains why this uniformity is a negative factor of modern society. He spends time in the story explaining how he attempted to avoid the influences of globalization but his inability to ever fully separate himself from influences reinforces the inescapability of globalization’s effects on the world. Knight’s motivation for traveling to different Muslim historic sites was to reconnect with a version of Islam practiced by Muhammad. Knight hoped to not only connect with his religion but he was also motivated by a curiosity about the practices and customs of his fellow Muslims. Taking a pilgrimage to Mecca provides many opportunities to come in contact with people with different beliefs. Knight claimed that during hajj you could visit any random tent and interact with many different Muslim cultures. Having a chance to interact and discuss religion with people who follow different ideologies of the same faith allowed Knight to become exposed to many new ideas about his own way of interpreting his religion. Muslims have many different interpretations of their religion but they all fall into one of two categories, the first, who believe that there is only one true interpretation of Islam’s teachings, or the second, who believe there is potential for multiple interpretations to be drawn from the Quran.
The second group comprises of over 60 different variations of Islam, with varying levels of orthodoxy and acknowledgments of other sects of their religion. Many westerners are ignorant to the existence of the different groups, which unfortunately allows them to become misinformed due to stereotypes. The stereotypes about “‘bad Muslims’ (apologists for al-Qaeda, supporters of the Shari’a, bearded, mean).” (Knight 216) are created by radical fundamentalists. Radical fundamentalists interpret jihad in a literal sense and see it as justification for using violent force to stop the influences of the western world (Foody, class lecture, 9/30). One example of a radical fundamentalist groups is al-Qaeda, a group who follows Salafi jihadism, which is just one of many variations of the Salafi Islamic ideology (Keller (http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/nuh/salafi.htm)). This misinformation and ignorance of differences breeds feelings of hostility toward the entire religion of Islam (Jameson). This huge misunderstanding and its resulting prejudices are the motivation behind the conflicts that caused the misunderstanding in the first place. Knight provides a prime example of the ignorance and
generalization that surrounds Islam by stat that Islam was used as a political slur towards Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign (Knight 7). This is just one of many examples of the western world fueling the hatred of many Muslims who are justifiably enraged over being wrongly stereotyped simply based on a false understanding of their religious practices. Globalization has caused cultures to become more interconnected, as a result individuality is replaced with uniformity. The deeply personal motivations for making a trip to Mecca are still present, however the diversity of beliefs has diminished in modern times. Additionally, globalizing forces have caused many muslim pilgrims to lose sense of their spiritually introspective motivation for hajj, instead they are motivated by their obligation to complete hajj. Knight expresses his frustration with this trend by questioning if the many fast food restaurants that are in the Prophet’s Mosque are respectful to the Prophet himself. This shows how, for some, the emphasis is shifting from respecting the sanctity of Islam, to emphasizing the principles of western modernization and McDonaldization. Fast food restaurants that operate on an international scale usually go through the process of glocalization, to be successful in a specific area, by slightly modifying the original products and menu to appeal to local consumers. McDonalds’ McArabia (a gyro with two chicken patties inside) is an example of glocalization, it is a variation of an American McDonalds meal that was changed in order to be successful in Saudi Arabia. This hybridization of cultural elements (Saudi food and American fast-food) results in a menu that fulfills the demands for fast food that is also familiar food. Knight claims that globalization can be observed from more than just a western perspective. The puritan form of Islam practiced by Saudi Arabian globalizers aims to “make [Islam] all the same convenient price-cutting religion everywhere (Knight 26).” This shows that the influences of western cultures are not the only ones who are causing Muslims to lose their diversity. Regardless of perspective, the result is the same, there is a diminishing presence of individualism among Muslims that will continue as long as globalization, from either perspective, continues The increase in frequency and ease of human movements and interactions is facilitated by advancements in technology and culture, which results in these interactions and movements becoming more interconnected and efficient; this change is a product of the forces of McDonaldization.
George Ritzier, a sociologist and professor at University of Maryland is credited with creation of the concept of McDonaldization (Foody, class lecture, 9/25). In his book, McDonaldization of Society, Ritzer defines the term as the process of “the principles of the fast-food restaurant coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world” (Ritzer 1). Knight demonstrates this process throughout his narrative. He explains the change from the old ways of the Hajj, to the modernized ways of the hajj by constantly providing the reader with examples of how the journey to Mecca has become one that requires less sacrifices. In modern times, Hajj has become more efficient, calculable and predictable for pilgrims. In todays world of fast and reliable transportation it is more time and energy efficient for Muslims to travel to their (holy land) than in previous times when some pilgrims had to make the entire journey on foot, which could take weeks or months. Today most pilgrims choose not to walk for their entire journey; therefore, most will pass through at least on airport on there journey. The emphasis on efficiency has resulted in airports facilitating the hajj
by providing terminals specifically (set aside) for (pilgrims), the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah has a specific “hajj terminal” (Knight 246). The calculability aspect of McDonaldization allows the travelers to determine how much the trip will cost and how long it will take them to complete. In other words, the traveler is more in control of their journey(add more). Predictability allows travels to rest easy in knowing that they will find readily available comforts such as hotels and familiar foods. McDonalds and similar western fast food chains spreading (allows) westerners to find the comforts of home even in other parts of the world. While at a hotel in Mecca, Knight notices that the Haram, the holiest mosque in all of Islam, appears to have the logo of Burger King on it’s side. The fact that a symbol of American consumerism is within sight of the holiest of all Islamic sites is surprising to the author. He says; “It was easy to feel like the Haram had lost something in the modern era…”(Knight 263). What the Haram has lost is it’s individuality. When an outside influence, such as a global fast food chain, becomes part of an environment that environment becomes contaminated by the merciless, culturally destructive influences of modernization. Journey to the End of Islam is a perfect name for Knight’s novel, it documents the author’s explorations of various Islamic sects and their individuality of cultural and practice. The author interacts with Muslims of all type, from the selfish, Rolex-wearing “moderate Muslims”, who would be accepted by western culture, to the selfless younger generation of Muslims who would be considered to be a threat by most uninformed Americans. His journey imparts in him a new understanding of his religion while showing the influence of globalization on the state of the Islamic community as a whole.