scholarly journals Occidentalism in the Malay World: The West Through the Eyes of Abdullah Munshi

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-129
Author(s):  
Ahmad Murad Merican ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western Civilization ◽  
Western World ◽  
The West

This article is about how the West was imagined, described and reproduced by Abdullah Munshi. Thus far we have encountered descriptions of the non-Western world by the West, which includes that of the Malays by European travellers, scientists and colonial scholar-administrators. It is thus also critical to appraise knowledge of the occident from the other and an ambivalent self such as in the person Abdullah Munshi. Abdullah’s writings were journalistic and sociological in nature. The production of his writings under conditions of early colonialism has not been sufficiently studied from the perspective of self and the other, Western and non-Western. As such, this article is significantly the first of such studies on Malay intellectual history. Abdullah’s autobiography, the Hikayat Abdullah , is used to identify a form of Malay Occidentalism. In a sense, this article plays a cataloguing role indicating the scope and character of the Malay imagination of the West. It presents part of the larger study aimed at developing a framework on Malay attitudes and representations of Europe and Western civilization. Keywords : Colonialism, occidentalism, orientalism, other, printing, self

scholarly journals Beyond the “Conflict” Paradigm

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-101
Author(s):  
Aziz Douai
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Culture Media ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western World ◽  
Clash Of Civilizations ◽  
The West ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Power Game ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Zero Sum

Western-Muslim relations have experienced long periods of peaceful coexistence,fruitful co-operation, and close interactions that have enriched both civilizations.And yet an alien observer of our mainstream media could be forgivenfor concluding that “Islam” and the “West” can never co-exist in peace becausethey seem to have nothing in common. In fact, the intermittent violence interruptingthese long peaceful interactions – from the Crusades to the “War onTerror” – has constituted the core of most mainstream media coverage and“scholarship” purporting to “study” and “explain” these relations.In a zero-sum power game, these dominant frameworks emphasize thatsuch a “clash” is inevitable. Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations”theory has become the best known articulation and deployment of “conflict”as an “explanatory” framework for understanding current and past Muslim-West interactions. Simply put, existential, cultural, and religious chasmshave put the Muslim world on a collision course with the western world, aproblem that is most exacerbated by the presence of “Islam” and Muslimcommunities in western societies (Huntington, 1993).1 His thesis appearsto ignore each civilization’s internal diversity and pluralism and to be willfullyoblivious to the inter- and intra-civilizational interactions and centuriesoldco-existence, as Edward Said argued in his rebuttal: “Clash of Ignorance”(2001).  Beyond the broadest generalizations, after all, what do “Islam” and the“West” mean? How long can we afford to “ignore” the “porousness” and “ambiguity”of their geographical and cultural borders? Is “conflict” between thesetwo realms inevitable? How about the centuries-old dialogue between thesecivilizations, the “Self” and the “Other”? How can researchers and intellectualsdeploy their inter-disciplinary insights and scholarship to address both thereal and the perceived civilizational “chasms”?These questions constitute the overarching themes of some very importantscholarship published in three recent books: Engaging the Other: Public Policyand Western-Muslim Intersections, edited by Karim H. Karim and MahmoudEid; Re-Imagining the Other: Culture, Media, and Western-Muslim Intersections,edited by Mahmoud Eid and Karim H. Karim; and the Routledge Handbookof Islam in the West, edited by Roberto Tottoli. With rich methodologicalapproaches, broad theoretical lenses, and diverse topics, these three books offera unique platform to build both a holistic and nuanced understanding of thecontingencies and intricacies surrounding “Islam” and the “West.” ...

Chinese and Western Biography: A Comparison

1962 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Garraty
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Western World ◽  
The West ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Chinese View

These papers throw a great deal of light upon the history of biography. There are a number of striking similarities between Chinese biography and that which developed in the Western world. These similarities, at least until recent times, do not seem to have resulted from any influence of one form upon the other, and thus they serve to illuminate the nature of the form itself. First of all, although the traditional Chinese view of the relation of the individual to society seems to have been quite different from that common in the West, the earliest motives in writing biography were essentially the same. Eulogy, for example—what Nivison calls the “paying of final respect to the dead”—seems to be a universal motive for writing biography. So also does the desire to use the life of a person to teach a lesson—the didactic motive which all three of these papers refer to and which dominated Western biography for centuries. The idea mentioned by Nivison of burying a brief biography along with departed worthies has its parallel in the tomb inscriptions of the Egyptian pharaohs.

The Sense of the Horizon

Philosophy ◽  
1933 ◽  
Vol 8 (31) ◽  
pp. 301-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Delisle Burns
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western Civilization ◽  
The West ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Form ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Middle Ages

Not for the first time in the history of our tradition, we are conscious of the defects of our inheritance and look doubtfully forward to a future whose structure we can hardly surmise. There was a Decline of the West in the first years of our era and again at the close of the Middle Ages. Now once more the beliefs and customs are shaken, on which our tradition is based; and there is no certainty that we shall carry forward what that tradition has so far achieved into a new form of civilized life. But, on the other hand, there is no reason to suppose that Western Civilization will disappear.

scholarly journals ISLAMISASI PENGETAHUAN

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-87
Author(s):  
Ambar Hermawan
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Western Civilization ◽  
Western World ◽  
The West ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Islamic Civilization

This paper aims to see the resistance shown by Islamic thinkers represented by Syed Naquib Al-Attas, Ismail Raji al-Faruqi, and Fazlurrahman against the development of civilization and intellectualism in the Western world. This study is a literature review that tries to answer questions about the development of Western civilization on Islamic civilization, especially in the intellectual world. This research finds that the development of knowledge in the western world cannot be separated from the methodology and contextualization developed by the West so that it is superior and more developed than the Islamic world

scholarly journals S. P. Huntington’s Civilizations Twenty-Five Years On

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (02) ◽  
pp. 53-85
Author(s):  
Jan Slavíček
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Large Population ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western Civilization ◽  
Western World ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Mutual Relations

The study is based on the concept of Huntington's civilizations. They were used as a methodological basis for an analysis of the changes in their geopolitical power between 1995–2020 with the following conclusions: 1) The large population growth of 1995-2020 has been driven primarily by African, Islamic and Hindu civilizations, 2) Economically, the unquestionable superiority of Western civilization has remained, although its share has declined. A large economic growth has been mainly seen in the Confucian and Hindu civilizations, 3) Of the core countries, the USA, Russia, and China match the status of superpowers, while for India it seems to be only a matter of time, 4) Most of the civilizations are economically highly compact and their compactness has increased over the last 25 years (except of African civilization) and 5) The Western, Hindu and Latin-American civilizations are politically highly compact. Conversely, the African, Islamic, Orthodox and Confucian civilizations show low cohesion. The Muslim civilization is the least compact – politically as well as economically. 6. The superpowers (United States, China, Russia and India) will remain or become the most important players in the multipolar world of the 21<sup>st</sup> century. However, it is a question whether the most important issue will be the relations of the Western and non-Western world or the mutual relations among the other three (actual or rising) superpowers.

scholarly journals The Introduction of Arabic Philosophy into Europe

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 582-586
Author(s):  
Basit B. Koshul
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Western Civilization ◽  
The West ◽  
Arabic Philosophy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Islamic Civilization ◽  
The Impact ◽  
European Renaissance ◽  
Or History

During the first three decades of this century, a lively debateemerged in western academic circles regarding the extent of theArab-Islamic influence on western civilization. Certain scholarsrejected the idea that the West had been influenced in any significantmanner by the classical Arab-Islamic civilization (ninth to twelfthcenturies CE). Barnes, in The Intellectual History of Mankind, arguesthat there is nothing in Islamic teachings or history that encouragedthe pursuit of learning and scholarship. Thus, he claimed, one cannotspeak of any "Islamic contribution" to western civilization. Sevier, inhis The Psychology of the Mussa/man, goes further and argues thatone cannot even speak of an "Arab" civilization, because all of theknowledge and scholarship produced in the classical age of Islamwere due to Syrian, Jewish, Hindu, and Persian efforts. It naturallyfollows that all talk of any Arab influence on the West is superfluous.Other scholars presented counterarguments and took the positionthat the Arab-Islamic influence on western civilization was very significant.Briffault, in The Making of Humanity, credits classical Islamicscholarship with producing the intellectual concepts and methods thatwere the indispensable preludes to the European renaissance. Sarton,in his Introduction to the History of Science, argues that the impact ofHindu and Chinese cultures on the West can be totally disregardedwithout seriously impairing one's ability to understand the postmedievalprogress of the West. But if the Arab-Islamic impact were tobe discounted, then the story of this progress would become confusedand unintelligible  ...

Shulpyakov, G. (2020). The West toward the East. Moscow: Eksmo. (In Russ.)

2021 ◽  
pp. 294-297
Author(s):  
A. A. Shapovalova
Keyword(s):  
Asian Country ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western World ◽  
Cultural Inheritance ◽  
The West ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Global Context ◽  
To Come

Shulpyakov’s book of essays invites the reader to give another thought to the age-old conflict: Where does the West end and the East begin? Is Russia an Asian country, even halfway? Russia serves as the point of attraction and the author’s self-reflection. Ensuring the book’s thematic diversity, the author covers the perennial topics of history, culture, and literature, all considered in a global context; whereas the semantic depth is achieved by more private motifs. A pivotal switching of the focus occurs at the end of the book, when Russia is presented as part of the Western world, geographically (and culturally), with regard to Turkey. Emphasised is the notional character of the world’s division into two parts. Contrasting one with the other merely helps the author to start a conversation, while The West toward the East [Zapad na Vostok] looks like a philological experiment: the author is trying to come to terms with his cultural inheritance, resolve the conflict between the tradition and fluidity, and discover a fitting place for himself and his country in a global context.

The Historical Background of Lutherian Protestanism from an Islamic Perspective and Martin Luther’s View of the Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammad and the Turks

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Özcan Hıdır
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Western Civilization ◽  
Western World ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Effect ◽  
The Middle Ages

AbstractMartin Luther is one of the most important figures of the 16th century, a period of religious reformation in European history. He is the initiator of what later called “Protestantism”. Luther’s theological theories and tradition of thought belong to the foundations of contemporary Western civilization and also been effective in the formation of the world of thought in the West. In this regard, Luther is the first to take religious, political and socio-cultural dynamics into account for understanding Western civilization. It can be stated that the Ottomans -thus Islam and Muslims- had some political effect with respect to the emergence of Protestantism. However we lack information and documents to prove the existence of a religious effect. Along with this, it is obvious that the possibility of such an effect cannot be totally disregarded; it needs to profound en depth studies from comparative perspectives, especially by Muslim researchers.Although, from time to time, Luther expressed a positive view of Islam, the Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammad and Turks, his opinions in general are negative. It must not be overlooked that these theories and views are expressed within the negative political context of that time (the 16th century). Along with this, it is known that this negative attitude influences the negative depictions and descriptions regarding Islam, Qur’an, Prophet Muhammad and Muslims in the contemporary Western world. So it can be said that the negative image of Islam in the West has in fact a background that shows continuity from the Middle Ages until now. To understand our time, it is necessary to study this image in the Middle Ages thoroughly. It is obvious that both Westerners and Muslims have much to do to rectify this image.In this study, we attempt to analyze the historical background of Lutherian Protestantism and reconsider the view and attitudes of Martin Luther against the Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammad, and the Ottoman Turks, from the perspectives of the Islamic scholars.

India and the West before Darius

Antiquity ◽  
1939 ◽  
Vol 13 (49) ◽  
pp. 5-15
Author(s):  
V. Gordon Childe
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Western Civilization ◽  
Western World ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
The West ◽  
Intimate Contact ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Indus Valley ◽  
Urban Civilization

Before 1918 it was believed that India's contact with the western world began about 3000 years ago with the intrusion into a barbaric peninsula of the half-legendary Vedic Aryans. It was only with the Empire of Darius that India began to figure substantially in the historical records accessible to us. In 1938 we know in the Indus valley a fully-literate and very advanced urban civilization flourishing fully fifteen centuries before the supposed date of the Aryan invasion. We know too that the ancient Indus cities were in regular and intimate contact with the Sumerian cities of Iraq; a stream of Indian manufactures flowed into Mesopotamia, Indian ideas could travel by the same channels. I need not remind you how deeply modern Western civilization is indebted to the ancient Sumerian, how many of the fundamental inventions that make civilization possible are traceable to the Tigris-Euphrates region, how intimately, through the Hebrews and the Greeks, Mesopotamian traditions have been injected into the very core of our spiritual culture. There lie the roots of our mathematics and astronomy, of the myths that, through the Bible, colour our outlook from early childhood. But we can now infer that India too contributed to the formation of the cultural tradition we thus inherit.

scholarly journals Intelektual Islam dan Kontribusianya atas Kemajuan Dunia Barat

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-101
Author(s):  
Ach Syaikhu
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Western Civilization ◽  
Western World ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
The West ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

Islam is a religion that has virtue values, which are rahmatan lil'alamin. In the designation as a universal religion, namely the teachings of Islam which is intended for all people, not related to place and time. This assures us that Islam and its teachings are a basic key in constructing the social life of society. Historically, Islam has had a major role in the progress of the world, including in the West. This paper discusses the forms of Islamic intellectual contributions and their thoughts on the progress of civilization in the Western World. The author uses the method of literature study to discuss and dissect more deeply the contribution of Islamic intellectuals to the progress of the West. The results obtained are, Islam contributes greatly to the advancement of Western civilization, which when the Western world experiences the formation of thought in the development of science and civilization, at that time Islam also experienced a glory period. This is what makes Western scientists flock to explore Islam deeper and apply it back to the West.                                                                                                                                            

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