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Islam in the eyes of the West |
(essay) he represe a io s prevaili g i he Wes abou he Muslim world s em from a complex elabora io process where his orical a d poli ical fac ors are i er wi ed. His orical a d geographical proximi y always mea s complex a d compe i ive rela io s be wee he geopoli ical e i ies co cer ed. A d his has cer ai ly bee he case be wee he Europea a d he Muslim world si ce he Middle Ages a d implied ha di g over a his orical memory of co flic s. he rivalry be wee Islam a d Chis ia i y, be wee Al-A dalus a d he Chris ia ki gdoms, be wee he Chris ia a d O oma empires riggered co flic s of i eres s a d ideologies e di g o ur he o her i o he Devil. You jus have o read Ami Maalouf's book &quo ; he Crusades see by he Arabs&quo ; or o sea Youssef Chahi e's film &quo ;Saladi &quo ; o realize ha heir i erpre a io of such his oric eve s is jus he opposi e of he o e we have buil i he Wes wi h a reverse symbolism. ever heless, he dis orsio s brough abou by such a si ua io did o preve he developme of mu ual i flue ce. he Biza i e Empire had close li ks o he Omeyas a d h Abbasis i he Eas (eve closer ha wi h he Europea Chris ia ki gdoms), here will be co s a eco omic a d cul u ral excha ges be wee Al-A dalus a d he Chris ia ki gdoms jus as he wes er iza io of medieval Islam is a u de iable his oric process (Sicily, he Iberia pe i sula, he Balka s). However, he moder a d co emporary imes wi essed he developme by he Wes of a ideology based o wes er cul ural superiori y, which will be he cor er s o e of i s rela io s wi h o hers, a d more i e sively so wi h Islam, givi g rise o wha appare ly looked like a cul ural gap bu ha had, i effec , deep poli ical roo s. he ime whe Jews a d Muslims were expelled from Spai , as well as he discovery of America represe he s ar i g poi of a process whereby Europe sees i self as a close ide i y a d proclaims i is he o ly o e o possess he a ribu es of ma ki d, co sideri g as a co seque ce o her peoples as i ferior. he ideological elabora io process ha suppor s his Europea visio was comple ed duri g he Re aissa ce a d is s ill a play owadays. I has o do wi h a selec ive i erpre a io of His ory, which eradica es he Eas from Europea hi ki g a d gives bir h o he my h of Greco-roma cul ure bei g i s sole a d o ly origi al source. I o her words, he fou di g mi h of Europea hi ki g expelled radically he orie al co ribu io , a d wi hi his co ribu io , he sig ifica role played by Muslim hi ki g i he safeguard a d revi aliza io of helle is ic philosophy as well as i he developme of a ra io alis ic philosophy of i s ow . As a resul , he co cep of wo differe isola ed worlds ha do o have he leas commo heri age, flourished. La er o , wi h he developme of colo ialism, we came o co sider Europea cul ure as superior o all o hers a d o look upo he cul ures of colo ized peoples as i ferior. Si ce he , Europe is i fused wi h a deep cul ural e h oce ricism hrough which i looks upo o her cul ures i a esse ialis ma er ( ha is o say as if hey were closed up, i mu able a d mo oli hic, i capable of progress or evolu io , i a way ha is de ermi a for heir fu ure).
As a resul we e d o co sider ha he o io s of progress, dy amism a d i ova io belo g o Europea civiliza io , ha was he ra sformed i Wes er , a d i should be u iversally imi a ed1. A a la er s age, whe he a i-colo ial moveme developed i Europe, i will ques io he legimacy of he me hods used (poli ical domi a io a d eco omic exploi a io ), bu o he voca io of he Wes o serve as he cul ural model ha would e able he world o moder ize. Progress a d developme could o be bu he ide ical reproduc io of wha had happe ed i he Wes . I he Arab a d Muslim world, he colo ial visio a work will look upo he a ive cul ural heri age a d rs mi he idea ha every hi g ha came from from he Islamic heri age was backward a d co rary o progress a d moder i y. From he o , he idea accordi g o which Islam a d moder i y are mu ually exclusive gai ed more a d more s re g h, he o ly valued co ribu io will be he o e comi g from Arab a d Muslim i ellec uals who are close o Europea hi ki g, si ce his is ye a o her way o s ress heir depe da ce vis à vis Wes er supremacy. he problem is ha he belief i such a supremacy prevailed also amo g he a io alis eli es ha lead he way o i depe da ce a d he co s i ued he gover me s of he ewly bor a io - S a es, which were co vi ced ha he ideal solu io lied i he imi a io of he Wes . As a co seque ce, he pos -colo ial value sys em i he Muslim world ur ed i s back o islamic legi imacy a d cul ure as i lau ched i s poli ical a d eco omic moder iza io process, a d hus ook over he symbolic a i-islamic visio of he Wes er model. Far from re ova i g or upda i g he pre-colo ial legal, poli ical a d cul ural framework, he pri ciple of &quo ;islamic au he ici y&quo ;, ha was obsessively repea ed by he official propaga da, ur ed i o he i ouchable pilar of islamic heri age, a d remai ed comple ely lef ou of he process of buildi g a moder S a e. As a co seque ce, he S a e will leave behi d, a d eve suppress, jus as he Europea s had do e, hecmoder is re ds wi hi Muslim reformis moveme s. O he co rary, i suppor ed he more radi io al ulemas, a d gra ed hem official s a us hrough he &quo ;Cou cils of Ulemas&quo ; ha were se up by gover me s, so ha heir fa was2 could be used as devices o give islamic legi imacy o a y posi io , opi io or decisio ake by he regime. I ur , he gover me s rewarded hese ul ra-co serva ive ulemas by allowi g hem o co rol he social model of Muslim socie y. hey became he ce sors of socie y a d care akers of radi io , a d hus preve ed a y cha ge or social reform as well as a y moder is i erpre a io of Islam. his is how he Arab S a es closed he door o ew i erpre a io s or readi gs of Muslim radi io aimed a adap i g i o he moder world, for he grea es sa isfac io of he Wes er world, co vi ced ha he world od Islam is i capable of produci g moder i y. his co cep shared bo h by he Wes a d he wes er ized eli es of he Arab a d Muslim world came o a crisis i he seve ies whe he value sys em pu i place by he firs pos -colo ial ge era io revealed all of i s failures. he value sys em was based o he socio-eco omic model of he all pro ec i g s a e, o pa -arabism.
socialism a d a i-imperialism, focused o he figh agai s Israel. he overall failure of such pri ciples (acu e socio-eco omic crisis, corrup io , au hori aria poli ical sys em, loss of poli ical i flue ce as a regio al group wi hi he i er a io al commu i y a d s riki g defea i he figh agai s Israel wi h he loss of he 1967 war as a symbolic da e) crea ed a growi g gap from he seve ies o ward be wee gover me a d socie y. A d wi hi socie y, he gap was eve wider wi h he mos releva sec or, (i demographic erms) ha is o say he you g people, he followi g ge era io who make up for he vas majori y: over 60% of he o al popula io i he Arab world o-day are u der 20 years of age. Co fro ed wi h he overall failure of he poli ical a d ideological models derived from he Wes , his ew ge era io will feel a rac ed by a ew model, ha co rary o wha he firs a io alis ge era io had do e, was i spired by heir ow cul ural heri age a d would build a up-da ed model based o heir ow cul ural, his orical a d legal u iverse. his explai s why, from he eigh ies, his par of he world has go e hrough a process of Islamic cul ural affirma io , ha poli ically ide ifies wi h he reformis islamis par ies. Or, o say hi gs differe ly, af er he experie ce of failure, i erms of poli ical a d eco omic i depe da ce, here is i he Arab a d Muslim world o-day a s ro g feeli g risi g from he sphere ha was lo g mos eglec ed by he a io alis eli es who buil he S a e, ha is o say he sphere of cul ural ide i y a d i depe da ce, which i he Arab world is closely li ked o he Islamic framework. his is where reformis islamism a wers, i sociological erms, he eed fel by a vas propor io of Muslim popula io s o build a ew, moder , democra ic order based o heir ow cul ure a d ide i y. Wha is expec ed from he Wes is respec a d ack owledgeme , however his revi ilaza io of Islam is o aimed agai s he Wes . Wha is ques io ed is he way he specifici y of he Wes er cul ural u iverse has bee arbi rarily raised o he s a us of absolu e u iversal s a dard. Whe islamis s express heir rese eme agai s he Wes , his does o mea ha hey despise i s values of progress a d developme , or of public liber ies, bu simply ha hey rejec he arroga ce of he Wes , a d he double s a dards ha i applies o ques io such as he figh for huma righ s, democracy or he ever pe di g Pales i ia ques io . I he Wes , i s ead of ryi g o u ders a d he causes a d dep h of he social a d poli ical evolu io goi g o i he Muslim world, we have co ce ra ed o &quo ;islamic fu dame alism&quo ; while focusi g he a alysis of wha happe s i his par of he world o he cul ural differe ce be wee &quo ; hem&quo ; a d &quo ;us&quo ;, wi h o proper a e io as o wha co seque ces i er a io al poli ics have o he Middle Eas regio . he pha asm of &quo ;islamic fu dame alism&quo ; has proved useful o feed prejudice a d s re g he esse ialis cul ural visio s of Islam as well as legi ima e au hori aria gover me s i ma y Arab a d Muslim cou ries. However, he mos impor a aspec probably is he a aly ical co fusio arou d he o io of islamis fu dame alism which preve ed wes er socie ies o u ders a d he diversi y of he social a d poli ical si ua io i he Arab a d Muslim world a d wha he real problems i he area are.
Lou looked down at the body and his heart began pounding like a kettle drum. He saw the small, but exquisitely well-formed breasts, the long torso, the tiny swell of tummy, the lower abdominal region that melted into her shapely hips, and the marvelous little brown nest that lay in the center of the package. Then came those long, willow legs that seemed to go on for an eternity. Even though she was thin in comparison to most women, Margie was truly an exciting woman. He began by placing his tongue in her left ear and wiggling it about while she squirmed in delight. He “kept it there for several moments and then moved over her body to kiss the other ear with equal vigor. Then he moved down and began kissing her face… the eyes, the cheeks, the nose, the chin… and then down to the neck, where he made little nips and bites with his teeth that caused her to squeal aloud with delight. From there, he moved down toward her breast. The nipples had become swollen and hard from his preliminary caresses and when his lips reached them, they became even more firm
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5. The Consequences of the Soviet-Afghan War
9. Eyck, Jan van: The Adoration of the Lamb
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11. The development of the Tower
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50. The history of Old English and its development
52. The History of Alaska (история Аляски)
53. Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov: on the brink of suicide. Ф.М. Достоевский, Преступление и наказание
57. Geometrization of the Fundamentals of Chemistry
58. Финансовые инструменты ("Financial Instruments. Teaching materials of the course")
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61. THE EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY SINCE THE END OF SECOND WORLD WAR
62. The City of London and its role as a financial centre
64. London - the capital of Great Britain
65. Review of Bill Gates’s book ”Business @ the Speed of Thought”
67. Discovery of the New World
68. The library of our institute
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75. Bosch, Hieronymus: The Temptation of St Anthony
76. The main fault of The 70s or the years of “might-have-been hopes”
77. Category of number of the noun
78. Historical Background of the Middle English Period
79. Lexicology of the English Language
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84. The Future of American Youths
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89. American Literature: An Overview Of The Development From The 17th To The 20th Centu-ries
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93. The Concept of Youth Subcultures
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