Orientalism and (Islamic) terrorism: pre and post era of the 9/11 attack on the U.S.

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the pervasive view of Orientalists on Islam and Muslims associated with terrorism in the pre and post era of the 9/11 attack on World Trade Centre and Pentagon in United States of America, with a special focus on the factors that contributed to their orientation. The first part of the paper deals with the concept of terrorism in the light of Islamic teachings to debunk the dominant view of Orientalists on Muslims and Islam. Having devoted some space, in the first section, for describing the concept of Orientalism and its traits in the understanding of scholars, the next section of the paper, then, examines the dominant discourses of Orientalists in the US on Islam and Muslims. The paper argues how biased, stereotypical and selective the Orientalists are in their reporting on religious extremism or terrorism, in particular with Islam and Muslims as terrorists. It further argues that terrorism is neither a monopoly of Islam nor of any other religion, given Islam as a religion has always been against the killings of innocent human beings including children, women or elderly people even during the war waged against others. In conclusion, this paper suggests that harboring prejudice, stereotype, hatred, demonization and racism against Muslims associating them with terrorism will not serve the purpose of unity and social cohesion among different ethnic communities across the globe.