One of the mysteries in the study of Islam and the Arab world is why the Middle East is so far behind the rest of the world in terms of education, economic development, and social-political institutions. The colonial/imperialistic explanations for this backwardness don’t hold much water because many former colonies outside the Middle East have flourished. Dan Diner, in his LOST IN THE SACRED: Why the Muslim World Stood Still?, offers some new insights which provide more plausible roots to Middle Eastern stagnation.
