The other Side of Oriental Studies of Islam Case Study of Louis Massignon

Abstract

After Islam has become a rich material for Western media because of the political developments in the Islamic world today, the presence of Muslim minorities in Western countries, and the West’s tense relations with Islam, especially after the events of September 11, what is noted on Orientalist studies is that they contributed to drawing the stereotype in the European minds about Islam and Muslims, which had a great impact on spreading these distorted ideas through the development of mass media such as press, print, satellite channels and the Internet, and prepared the European world to accept colonial goals.

What is the concept of orientalism? What are the most important characteristics of oriental studies, which were the most important source for shaping the image of Islam and Muslims in the Western imagination, past and present? And how correct is its approach? How was Louis Massignon’s   approach to his relation? What is the extent of his double standards ?