When a Welsh resistance leader was captured and brought before
the emperor in Rome, he said: "Because you desire to conquer the
world, it does not necessarily follow that the world desires to
be conquered by you." Today one could offer an echo of this
sentiment to western liberals: "Because you wish your values to
prevail throughout the world, it does not always follow that the
world wishes to adopt them." The imperial voice is based on
ignorance of the rich traditions of other civilisations, and on
an undue optimism about what the west is doing to the world
politically, economically and environmentally. The entrenched
beliefs many westerners profess about Islam often reveal more
about the west than they do about Islam or Muslims. The Ottomans
were history's longest-lasting major dynasty; their durability
must have had some relation to their ability to rule a multi-
faith empire at a time when Europe was busily hanging, drawing
and quartering different varieties of Christian believer. Today
Islam is said to be