In ‘Islam In The Eyes Of The West’, Ernst makes one overarching argument; the ‘so-called West’ has entirely inaccurate notions of the Islamic world as a civilization separate from itself. He bridges the gap between the two by emphasizing their history and reducing the alienated lens the West views Islam from.
He puts forward three distinct assertions:
- He challenges the very concept of the West versus the Islamic world and brings up the foundations of the two civilizations to showcase their similarities.
- Theories like Huntington’s “The Clash of the Civilizations” come from colonial indoctrinations and are largely inaccurate.
- The only benefactors of the worldview of the West and the Islamic world on opposing sides are the extremists who seek to justify their ideals as religious quests.
Samuel Huntington’s theory of “The Clash of the Civilizations”, as outlined by Ernst, states that the eight civilizations in the world will inevitably clash and that the West and the Islamic world will be the final two to ‘fight it out’ so to say. Ernst claims that this theory is not only inaccurate but also born of a colonial mindset. He points out that the West is a vague title given to America and Europe. It comes with an implication of superiority, especially in technology. This was the mindset that led to colonialism in the past, the need to ‘conquer’ pushing leaders of yesterday to violence.
Ernst also questions Huntington’s idea of Islam and the West on distinct, opposing sides for the following reasons. Not only is it high-handed to think that these two would be the civilizations to fight their way to the ‘final’ battle, but it also completely disregards the other civilizations as inferior. The two civilizations are also not as different as people have been led to believe. According to Ernst, the foundations of both are the same- Greek philosophy and Israelite prophecy. In fact, it is due to the translations from Arabic to Latin by Islamic countries that Europe was even able to interpret the Greek philosophies.
This claim matters for the broader argument in that it goes to show just how similar the two civilizations are and serves what I believe to be the purpose of the text by Ernst- to bridge the gap in understanding between the ‘West’ and the Islamic world.
Ernst, C. W. (2003). Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contermporary World. Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press.
