Anti-war Stance in Contemporary Fiction: Kamran Pasha’s Shadow of the Swords and the War on Terror

Abstract

The chapter considers literary depictions of the “War on Terror” in a contemporary novel written by a Muslim author. It examines Islam’s relationship with the West in Kamran Pasha’s Shadow of the Swords (2010). The chapter argues that the author articulates his understanding of the relationship between Islam and the West by means of revisiting the Third Crusade following the 9/11 attacks. The novel refutes the assumption that the Crusades were fought mainly for religious purposes; in consequence, it modifies Samuel Huntington’s thesis of the “Clash of Civilizations” by suggesting that the economic and political interests and the desires for expansion were dominant factors driving the Crusades. By presenting the Third Crusade and, by means of historical analogy, the ongoing “War on Terror” as an Imperialist project, Pasha supports Edward Said’s views in his book Orientalism (1978). By presenting the vicious and destructive outcomes of the Crusades on people, the land, cultural heritage and human relations, the novel denounces the consequences of using military force and calls for resorting to diplomacy. Ultimately, Pasha’s Shadow of the Swords reflects a solid anti-war stance and optimistic views on future Islam-West relationships.