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I began to understand what people in Pakistan meant when they told me that Islam was a complete way of life, affecting everything; I began to understand that—although it might be said that we had shared a common subcontinental origin—I had traveled a different way. I began to formulate the idea of the universal civilization—which, growing up in Trinidad, I had lived in or been part of without quite knowing that I did so.

Naipaul goes on to explain how, "in exchange" for the "rituals and the myths" of his Hindu grandparents, he "had been granted the ideas of inquiry and the tools of scholarship."

In short, Naipaul is an exemplary Modern Intellectual, one who has transcended the claims of any particularistic faith. The universal civilization he embraces draws on many sources—prominently including, for instance, "the Christian precept, Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. There was no such human consolation in the Hinduism I grew up with, and—though I have never had any religious faith—the simple idea was, and is, dazzling to me, perfect as a guide to human behavior." Another key value of the universal civilization is "the idea of the pursuit of happiness. … It cannot be reduced to a fixed system. It cannot generate fanaticism. But it is known to exist; and because of that, other more rigid systems in the end blow away."

From this perspective, Christianity is more acceptable than Islam only insofar as Christians have learned to accommodate the demands of the "universal civilization." Naipaul's 1989 account of travels in the Bible Belt, A Turn in the South, is much gentler than his reports from Islamic lands, but it displays the same impervious condescension.

Christians, then, should read Naipaul's accounts of Islam with caution, as believers reading about other believers. Certainly anyone who cares for truth is in Naipaul's debt. He has often said, truthfully, what others have refused to say; in this respect he counters the whitewashing accounts of Islam we mentioned last week. But like so many others who set themselves up as impartial observers of human folly, he is blind to his own self-serving prejudices.

John Wilson is editor of Books & Culture and editor-at-large for Christianity Today.

Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Books & Culture Corner appears Mondays at ChristianityToday.com. Earlier Books & Culture Corners include:

Covering Islam | Getting beyond the feel-good bromides. (Oct. 8, 2001)

Christian Scholarship … For What? | Academic speakers affirm the value of beholding God's creation. (Oct. 1, 2001)

Myths of the Taliban | Misinformation and disinformation abounds. What do we know? (Sept. 24, 2001)

The Imagination of Disaster | "We thought we were invulnerable." Really? (Sept. 17, 2001)

More Sex, Fewer Children | Mixed messages on condoms, contraception, and fertility. (Sept. 10, 2001)

The Strange Case of Napoleon Beazley | The latest poster boy for death row chic. (Aug. 27, 2001)

Apocalyptic City | The dream and the nightmare of megalopolis (Aug. 20, 2001)

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October (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45