By: Christopher Buck

East and West have met. Islam is now a significant minority faith in countries outside the Middle East. Muslims are here to stay, and so is the West. Here and abroad, the East-West encounter of Islam and the West has been described as “clash of civilizations.” Narrowly construed, that may be true with regard to radical Islam and the West. However, with respect to “moderate” Islam (in all of its cultural variations), the present time offers a golden opportunity to reach new levels of reciprocal understanding, on which mutual respect and common ground may be gained. Muslims in the West, in fact, appear to have exerted significant influence within the Muslim world at large.