Pride, Prejudice and Ignorance. The western Image of the Muslim Orient (ATI-Academic Publications, n° 5)

Spanning eleven centuries of conflict between Islam and the West, this book
presents an account of the development of the Western image of the Muslim
Orient from the advent of Islam to the eighteenth century. In an introductory
chapter, the book goes even beyond the emergence of Islam to trace the
Eurocentric outlook that characterized the Western views of the Muslim world
to the Graeco-Roman’s conception of Eastern cultures as essentially different
and inferior, despotic and morally decadent. For Eastern Christians and medieval
Europeans alike, the Bible was a source of some of the most hostile interpretations
of the coming and meteoric spread of Islam. Against the backdrop of the
Crusades, some of the most offensive material and absurd fantasies were created
about Islam and the Prophet. Many medieval prejudices persisted during the
Renaissance and beyond. The rise of the Ottomans and their rapid advance in
Europe resulted in the resurgence of antagonistic feelings against the Muslims.
At the same time, the first-hand experience accompanying the spread of trade
and diplomatic relations with the Ottomans helped ameliorate the otherwise
totally negative image of Islam. The extension of travel to the Ottoman provinces
provided the West with more objective and accurate accounts of the Muslim
Orient. The book shows how a reappraisal of Islam and its prophet was an indirect
outcome of the Enlightenment project. The book sheds light on the origins of
the stereotypical image of Islam as reflected in the different manifestations of
European culture.

Muhammad Fahmy Raiyah is Assistant Professor of English literature at
Mansoura University, Egypt, and King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia.