The West in an Islamic MirrorPart II

Muzaffar IqbalBaqir al-Ulum University, Qum, Iran

November-December 2005

Muslims and the West

Four Facets to the Mirror

The Making of the Contemporary West The Making of the Contemporary Muslim

World Muslims in a Western Mirror The West in an Islamic Mirror

A Muslim Lens

Unlike the Islamic lens, it is bound by space and time (history); one must contextualize.

How did Muslims see the West at various times in global history?

Turkish map of the Americas printed in the Jihan Numa of Hajji Khalifah

Medieval Europe(barbarism, ahl al-kitab)

European Scientific Revolution(ranging from interest to apathy to

ignorance)

Colonization(inferior, despairing, aspiration to climb colonizers’ social order)

Muslim Nation-states and the West

Muslim Institutions, Rulers, the West

Attempts to counter Western influence often attack the surface(do not address primary causes).

Economic Alliance of Necessity

Case studies

Arabia Jordan Egypt Pakistan Kuwait Gulf States

Muslim Masses and the West Technology forming the image The media

– Education– Books, Ideas

Values, ethics, and relationships in Muslim society Popular image of the West