The Opening Statement
The world today is firmly in western grip.
The west till some time ago was Christian though at the moment she has moved towards the so called liberal democracy at ideological level but her old attitude towards Islam and Muslims has remained the same.
That attitude is of crusades.
Dislike, disdain, resentment, snobbery bordering on inhumanity.
Academically this attitude is embodied in a trend called orientalism.
The scholar, a Christian himself from Palestine, who debunked it most decisively was Edward Said.
Though our own Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Shibli Nomani had taken very effective steps already more than half a century before Said.
In this thread I want to analyse his works in particular but orientalism in general.
But I cordially invite each brother and sister to be a part of this process.
To understand our environment is mandatory on us.
Only then we can react to it in an effective manner.