ISLAM, ORIENTALISM AND INTELLECTUAL HISTORY- MODERNITY AND THE POLITICS OF EXCLUSION SINCE IBN KHALDUN : A BOOK REVIEW

Mohammad R. Salama’s “Islam, Orientalism, and Intellectual History” is one of the important texts specifically written for those who are interested in contemporary Islamic thought, European colonialism, postcolonial studies and intellectual history. This book unbolts an investigation for the development of two linked oppositional binaries in the context of their shared discursive journey over the past four hundred years or so. The first of these pairs is “fiction” and “history,” whose break has been researched by such luminaries of cultural studies as Peter Gay, Perry Anderson, Hayden White, and Michel de Certeau, all of whom appear in this volume. The second, pioneered by Edward Said, situates “Islam” in opposition to the “West.” The influence of Said’s work is clear in the title of the book, and pervades the study thoroughly. It is an important and in many ways groundbreaking work of significance across several fields. Salama’s most obvious innovation in this volume is to bring these two pathways of study together, but this fusion is supported by additional important strategies.