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Islam & The West

Islam & The West. Enduring Images. ‘Islam’: lascivious, perverted (polygamy and ‘Lustful Turk’- but respect Muslim knowledge (ex. Ibn Sina/Avicenna), occasional chivalry ‘Franks/West’: barbarous, ignorant, morally loose (but respect bravery, honor)

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Islam & The West

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  1. Islam &The West

  2. Enduring Images • ‘Islam’: lascivious, perverted (polygamy and ‘Lustful Turk’- but respect Muslim knowledge (ex. Ibn Sina/Avicenna), occasional chivalry • ‘Franks/West’: barbarous, ignorant, morally loose (but respect bravery, honor) • ‘Oriental Despot’ vs. later, ungrounded ‘freedom’ • Invaders & Threats: Crusades and Turks, ‘Terrorists’ vs. ‘Imperialists’

  3. Early Encounters and Polemics • Muslims/Arabs as conquerors • Scourge of God/Sign of Antichrist • Pact of Umar • Benevolent rulers? (John of Phenakwr. 687) • Heretics to be debated • John of Damascus (d. 749): Islam as heresy cooked up by Muhammad; lustful • From Muslim side: Letters of Umar II to Leo (why do you worship saints and relics; Trinity; ignoring Paraclete); rebuttals of Jahiz and al-Kindi etc.

  4. Medieval Images Popular Lore: • Moors as monstrous, idolaters: • Chanson de Gestes: ex. Chanson de Roland of 11th century • Mohammmad as idol, charlatan, governed by appetites • Shared culture of chivalry: Saladin and Crusaders Scholarly Polemics: Peter the Venerable and Robert of Ketton (1143); Dante’s Inferno

  5. Early Modern Images Real Sources: • De Vita et rebus gestic Mohammedis (1723), translation of ‘Abulfeda’ Tarikh al-Bashar by Joannes Gagnier Sympathetic Enlightenment Image: Islam as foil for criticism of Catholicism and Jews • Henri de Boullainvillier (d. 1722), La Vie de Mahomet (London 1730) • Voltaire: complicated image… • Weil, Gustav. Mohammad der Prophet, sein Leben und sein Lehre (1843) • Thomas Carlyle and Mohammad as hero

  6. Enduring Image of Chivalry (and now ‘moderation’) • Saladin Jews and Arabs unite (Ben Hur 1959)? Arabs as backward, in need of European aid (Lawrence of Arabia 1962)?

  7. Post 1973-4 Oil Embargo • Revival of old images: • Arab oil shaykhs • Despotic • Lustful and perverted • Islam as barbaric, violent, irrational

  8. Post 1979 Iranian Revolution Muslims as terrorists Muslims as inhumanly violent and untrustworthy: • The Siege (1998) (boyfriend as terrorist) • Rules of Engagement (2000) (women fire)

  9. Questions & Comments

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