Situating Islam

'Situating Islam' argues that knowledge of Islam has never been innocent or about the collection of facts. The specific ways in which Islam has been interpreted have always been subject to broader currents, such as the reform of Judaism, Orientalism, the identity politics of the 1960s, the response to 9/11, and the creation of a liberal Islam. Whereas previous scholarship highlighted the influence of Orientalism and the construction of an essentialized Islam, 'Situating Islam' argues that the opposite approach - the construction of an authentic Islam that fits with Western values - has now become equally problematic. The book demonstrates how Islamic Studies has shaped how Islam is now studied, represented and understood in both scholarship and the media.