Journey of the Jihadist - by Fawaz A Gerges (Paperback)

About the Book

Fawaz Gerges is one of this country's leading scholars of and media commentators on the Middle Eastern. Starting in the late 1990s, Gerges went to Cairo on a McArthur Fellowship, to interview (Arabic is his first language) those involved in the Jihadist Movement, which had begun in the 1970s as a fight against the secularization of Arab countries, hence was national rather than international in scope. But events--the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iranian Revolution, war in Iraq--began to extend its influence. The new Jihadists were not looking now merely to affect local but worldwide change. In Cairo, Fawaz began a long series of conversations with Kamal al-Said Habib was one of the founders of the modern Jihadist movement and one of its key spokesman. Habib had been jailed after Anwar Sadat's assassination--organized by the Jihadist Movement--and then become allied with Osama bin Laden's fringe group, which he subsequently renounced, before the 9-11 attacks. Habib's life-story emerges as a counterpart to those events and forms the basis of this book. JOURNEY OF A JIHADIST gives readers a look at religious extremism from the inside--from the point of view of someone who founded, shaped, and changed with a movement. The Koran uses jihad figuratively to refer to humanity's lifelong struggle with the dictates of faith. This book gives us Habib's quest, among others, personalizing issues that would otherwise seem inexplicable. It also gives us Fawaz Gerges' quest. Gerges family was forced out of Lebanon by Muslim extremists during the Civil War, and his brother--a Lebanese army officer--was killed in fighting. He offers a gripping, accessible, even visceral account of the force with which we have been dealing since 9-11 and its aftermath, but which still seems so alien to most Americans.

Book Synopsis

Renowned Middle Eastern expert Fawaz A. Gerges takes us into the mind-set of the jihadi--or holy warrior--that lies behind so many headlines yet remains nearly impenetrable to us. Using his firsthand knowledge of the "Arab street," he brings to life the stories of Kamal al-Said Habib, a founder of the Jihadist Movement, as well as dozens of other Islamic fundamentalists, as they struggle with the battle being waged for the soul of Islam.

Journey of the Jihadist puts a human face to events of the last thirty years--from the civil war in Lebanon to the war in Iraq to the conflict in Lebanon today. This important work, now with a new afterword addressing the rise of Hezbollah, will join the ranks of those by Thomas L. Friedman, Fareed Zakaria, and Bernard Lewis.

From the Back Cover

"For more than a decade, militant Islamists have confronted the United States and, yet, successive American administrations have failed to understand who or what their adversary is . . . Journey of the Jihadist is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the world of militant Islam a subject that has never seemed more relevant." Mary Anne Weaver, author of Pakistan: In the Shadow of Jihad and Afghanistan

In this important work, now with a new afterword, renowned Middle Eastern expert Fawaz A. Gerges takes us into the mind-set of the jihadi or holy warrior that lies behind so many headlines yet remains nearly impenetrable to us. Using his firsthand knowledge of the "Arab street," he brings to life the stories of Kamal al-Said Habib, a founder of the Jihadist Movement, as well as dozens of other Islamic fundamentalists, as they struggle with the battle being waged for the soul of Islam a battle that affects us all.

"Many of the shortcomings of the war on terrorism can be viewed as stemming from the failure to understand the motives and belief systems of jihadist Muslims . . . Fortunately, there are academics like Fawaz Gerges." Village Voice

"The stories [Gerges] tells, sensitively and incisively, uncover complexities that belie the simplistic assumptions Western governments so often bring to their analysis and action." Globe and Mail

"Fascinating and highly informative . . . One of the best, mostuseful, andmosttimelyvolumes for nonspecialist readers." Library Journal (starred review)

FAWAZ A. GERGES holds the Christian A. Johnson Chair in Middle Eastern Studies at Sarah Lawrence College, and has taught at Harvard and Oxford. A regular commentator for ABC News and NPR s Morning Edition, Gerges has appeared on The Charlie Rose Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as on CNN, BBC, and Al Jazeera. He lives in northern New Jersey."

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