Imperialism and Orientalism - Essay Example

Sur Imperialism and Orientalism Christianity and Islam have shared some commonalities since they have some beliefs that are similar and although the two may have shared some good relations and interaction the European Christians and the Middle Eastern Muslims have had their fair share of conflict and aggression in the past. In the Middle ages Islam had conquered and taken control over a large part of African states, the Middle East and some European states a factor that caused aggressive behavior and conflict between the European and Islamic parts of the divide. The conflicts resulted to a religious and cultural challenge since the two parts were constantly challenging each other giving rise to a conflict laden relationship between the two religious groups. There were different courses that were taken by each group and with the European taking a different approach they considered the Muslims as “others” who were not to be regarded in the same light as the Europeans did. It is therefore important to understand the patterns that came out in the middle-ages and the different discourses that had been established in order to understand the different beliefs and assertions by the European Christians towards Islam. This paper looks at the anti-Islam discourse of Medieval Europe that fueled the crusades to 19th century Orientalism that generated European colonialism. In 1798 the French led by Napoleon Bonaparte took over Egypt a fete that had not been managed before in the medieval age since they had taken one of the Islam controlled regions that drew a lot of power from the Islamic religion and beliefs. The French troops that took the city believed that they were liberating the people from the rule and taking and helping them gain enlightenment. The Europeans were in the era of enlightenment and although some of the philosophers took the beliefs of Islam and conceptualized their meanings in accordance to what is true others used the religion beliefs to prove their distaste with Christianity and the European beliefs (Harlow Barbara and Mia 58). There was also the paradigm of the superiority of European Civilization that became dominant among the academicians and Europeans. The rise of Europe seemed inevitable and Europe became the most dominant model due to its changes and rise of academic superiority over the other models thereby labeling Islam as “others”. The Muslims that were in this case being labeled as the Orient were associated with stagnation and immobility meaning that the Europeans considered Christianity and the European culture to be the dominant culture (Harlow Barbara and Mia 85). According to the Europeans Islam was a culture had inspired the European people with ideas and principles when Muslim civilization was at its peak. This led to the marginalization of Islam and in the process it scrapped the Islamic history from world history by the Europeans. During this period there was also consolidation of European power and control over the Muslim nations and also the strengthening of the different colonial empires in Europe to ensure that they remained as the sole colonial power in the world. The question of division of the empires by the European powers was also raised with different colonial powers looking to cement their power over the Islamic nations and the divisions were therefore important to ensure that each European state party to the engagement had its fair share of control in the Islamic region. There were also violence within the Muslim side and the European public perceived the violence to be a sign of bad leadership that had resulted into the internal conflicts of the countries. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century the Islamic states were subject to European colonial rule and those that were not entirely colonized were in a state of semi-colonial rule of the European countries (Harlow Barbara and Mia 47). In the 19th century there was stereotyping of the Islamic religion and the Muslims that have shaped the image of the Muslims since then. The stereotypes painted Muslims as people that do not recognize the difference between state and religion and as a result they could not conceive a secular social and state order (Harlow Barbara and Mia 109). The Europeans further asserted that Knowledge among the Muslims stagnates and could only be developed through the adoption of European ideas and standards. In addition, the Muslims were said to oppress their women through Islamic religion and were also said to be anti-modern. The major stereotypical statement that was widespread and carried the greatest weight among Europeans was the fact that Islam was an impediment that hindered modernization, enlightenment and progress making the Muslim nations inferior in political, military, economic and cultural terms. There were also positive attributes that would be seen in the identification of the idealization and demonization of the orient by the Europeans. The Europeans went to the Middle Eastern cities in search of poetic places and sceneries as they believed that the cities possessed but were however surprised by the lack of the cities that they had hoped to see. It is after the lack of the disillusioned hope of different places in orient that gave way to venting of all the frustrations and negative aspects in Islam religion thereby leading to a situation where the Islam was only identified with the negative aspects and no positive aspect in their culture and beliefs (Harlow Barbara and Mia 55). Europeans used the immutable nature that they ascribed to Islam to ensure that they had discredited Islam and in the process due to the European imperialism they legitimized the fanatical expressions and stereotypical aspects to rule over the Muslim society. The fantastical racist theories that were added to the Islamic stereotypes meant that Islam was only seen as a religion that was derailing advancement and in the process granted the Europeans to rule over these nations since they were seen to be a more superior power in comparison to Islam. Theories were developed and they were being drafted and associated with all forms of generalization and assertions and in the process this led to the complete discrediting of Islam and gave the Europeans the power to control and rule over the Islamic nations (Harlow Barbara and Mia 101). The line of thought that believed the Europeans to be more powerful and superior than the Muslims was referred to as the Orientalism The perceptions that were born out of this period by the Europeans have been carried over to the present day as more people continue to believe in some of these assertions even in the modern world. The conflict between Islam and the Western world may have ended but the beliefs that some of the European countries had to be more superior than others remains. Religion is no longer a source of contradiction so too is the division and fight for power between countries. However, the stereotyping and fanatical assertions plagued the religions for many years. Works Cited Harlow, Barbara, and Mia Carter. Imperialism & Orientalism: A Documentary Sourcebook. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 1999. Print. Read More