Overcoming Orientalism : Essays in Honor of John L. Esposito

Orientalism is the term applied to scholarship that reduces Islam and Muslims to stereotypes of ignorance and violence in need of foreign control. It has been used to rationalize Europe's colonial domination of most of the Muslim world and continued American-led interventions in the post-colonial period. In the past 30 years it has been represented by claims that a monolithic Islam and equally monolithic West are distinct civilizations, sharing nothing in common and, indeed, involved in an inevitable "clash" from which only one can emerge the winner. Most recently, it has appeared in Alt Right rhetoric. Anti-Muslim sentiment, measured in public opinion polls, hate crime statistics, and legislation, is reaching record levels. Since John Esposito published his first book nearly 40 years ago, he has been guiding readers beyond such politically charged stereotypes. The essays in this volume highlight the contributions of scholars from a variety of disciplines who, like -- and often inspired by -- John Esposito, recognize the misleading and politically dangerous nature of Orientalist polarizations. They present Islam as a multi-faceted and dynamic tradition embraced by communities in globally interconnected but substantially diverse contexts over the centuries. The contributors follow Esposito's lead, stressing the profound commonalities among religions and replacing Orientalist discourse with holistic analyses of the complex historical phenomena that affect developments in all societies. In addition to chapters focusing on diversity among Muslims and interfaith relations, this collection includes chapters assessing the secular bias at the root of Orientalist scholarship, and contemporary iterations of Orientalism in the form of Islamophobia. "Orientalism is the term applied scholarship that reduces Islam and Muslims to stereotypes of ignorance and violence, in need of foreign control. It has been used to rationalize Europe's colonial domination of most of the Muslim world and continued American-led interventions in the post-colonial period. In the past 30 years it has been represented by claims that a monolithic Islam and equally monolithic West are distinct civilizations, sharing nothing in common and, indeed, involved in an inevitable "clash" from which only one can emerge the winner. Most recently, it has appeared in Alt Right rhetoric. Anti-Muslim sentiment, measured in public opinion polls, hate crime statistics, and legislation, is reaching record levels. Since John Esposito published his first book nearly 40 years ago, he has been guiding readers beyond such politically charged stereotypes. This Festschrift highlights the contributions of scholars from a variety of disciplines who, like - and often inspired by - John Esposito, recognize the misleading and politically dangerous nature of Orientalist polarizations. They present Islam as a multi-faceted and dynamic tradition embraced by communities in globally interconnected but substantially diverse contexts over the centuries. The contributors follow Esposito's lead, stressing the profound commonalities among religions and replacing Orientalist discourse with holistic analyses of the complex historical phenomena that affect developments in all societies. In addition to chapters focusing on diversity among Muslims and interfaith relations, this collection includes chapters assessing the secular bias at the root of Orientalist scholarship, and contemporary iterations of Orientalism in the form of Islamophobia"-- Provided by publisher The term “Orientalism” reduces Islam and Muslims to stereotypes of ignorance and violence, in need of foreign control. In scholarly discourse, it has been used to rationalize Europe’s colonial domination of most of the Muslim world and continued American-led interventions in the postcolonial period. In the past thirty years it has been represented by claims that a monolithic Islam and equally monolithic West are distinct civilizations, sharing nothing in common and, indeed, involved in an inevitable “clash” from which only one can emerge the victory. Most recently, it has appeared in alt-right rhetoric. Anti-Muslim sentiment, measured in public opinion polls, hate crime statistics, and legislation, is reaching record levels. Since John Esposito published his first book nearly forty years ago, he has been guiding readers beyond such politically charged stereotypes. This Festschrift highlights the contributions of scholars from a variety of disciplines who, like—and often inspired by—John Esposito, recognize the misleading and politically dangerous nature of Orientalist polarizations. They present Islam as a multifaceted and dynamic tradition embraced by communities in globally interconnected but substantially diverse contexts over the centuries. The contributors follow Esposito’s lead, stressing the profound commonalities among religions and replacing Orientalist discourse with holistic analyses of the complex historical phenomena that affect developments in all societies. In addition to chapters focusing on diversity among Muslims and interfaith relations, this collection includes chapters assessing the secular bias at the root of Orientalist scholarship, and contemporary iterations of Orientalism in the form of Islamophobia. Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents 1. Introduction Part I: Shaping the Discourse: Countering the Secular Bias 2. “After Enlightenment, Return to the Marketplace”: The Scholar’s Responsibility for a Broken World 3. The Secular Bias and the Study of Religious Politics: On Michael Walzer and Political Islam (with Insights from John Esposito Part II: Diversity in Islam: Whose Islam? 4. The Islamic Reformist Mosaic in Muslim Southeast Asia 5. Looking for the Caliphate in All the Wrong Places: ISIS and Its Reading of Scripture 6. How Islamic Is ISIS? Part III: Islam and Pluralism: Interfaith Relations 7. Building Muslim–Buddhist Understanding: The Parallels of Taqwa/Allah Consciousness in the Qur’an and Satipatthana/Mindfulness in Anapanasati Sutt 8. Televangelizing Muslims: Christian Satellite Television and Its Impact on Muslim–Christian Relations in Jordan Part IV: Orientalism 2.0: Islamophobia 9. Orientalism, Empire, and The Racial Muslim 10. Anti-Catholicism, Islamophobia, and White Supremacy in the United States 11. Islam and Exceptionalism in the Western Policy Imagination 12. Pluralism, Authority, and Islamophobia: Sharī‘a and Its Discontents in North America Select Bibliography Contributors Index 'Overcoming Orientalism' brings together leading scholars of Islam to analyze core elements of Orientalism. The text provides new insights into racialized religion, Islamophobia, and the integral relationship between racism and religious intolerance and presents critical correctives to key elements of Orientalist discourse