Description

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In this unique analysis of Muslim population shifts in the Western world, geographer Barry A. Vann provides fresh insights into the theological factors that play into these demographic trends. Vann examines the “imagined geographies” of Muslims with a puritan orientation. People with this mind-set are little inclined to accept a pluralistic, multicultural, live-and-let-live concept of society. And conflicts between conflicting value systems are almost inevitable. 

Vann notes that this purist approach to Islam is certainly not universal among Muslims, and there are many varying interpretations that are more moderate in outlook. Nonetheless, the undeniable theological background of all Muslim communities colors their values and attitudes, and must be taken into consideration when attempting to understand the potential conflicts between contiguous Muslim and non-Muslim groups.

Given the fact that the population of Muslim immigrants is growing in traditionally Christian and increasingly secular countries of the Western world while the resident populations are either stagnant or declining, Vann’s insightful analysis of the ways in which Islam influences perceptions of community and geography is of great relevance.

About the Author

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Barry A. Vann is director of community and higher education and professor of geography at the University of the Cumberlands. He is the author of Rediscovering the South’s Celtic Heritage; In Search of Ulster-Scots Land: The Birth and Geotheological Imaginings of a Transatlantic People; and (with Ellsworth Huntington) Geography Toward History: Studies in the Mediterranean Basin and Mesopotamia.

Praise For…

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"In this must-read book, the author gives a fascinating and lucid picture of the rapid geoexpansion of the Muslim world, driven by high levels of fertility and a puritanical theology."
—Moorthy Muthuswamy, Nuclear physicist and author of Defeating Political Islam: The New Cold War

"Dr. Vann makes a strong case that secularists and liberals should be concerned about fundamentalism, whether preached by puritan Muslims, Jews, or Christians. Using a thorough review of demographics, he also offers an in-depth view of the potential negative impact of fundamentalist Muslims immigrating to non-Muslim countries."
—Edward H. Davis, PhD, Professor of geography, Emory & Henry College