Abstract
The development of Islamic Studies
during the twentieth century and beyond has found little favor with Islam as a
religious phenomenon. The field became dominated by rigid paradigms or concepts
of antagonism and hostility among the monotheistic or Abrahamic creeds. One can
cite Edward Said’s “Orientalism” (1978), Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of
Civilizations” (1993, 1996) or the Chicago “Fundamentalism” Project
(1991-1995). Paradigms lacked an awareness of the diversity of Islam and the
complexity of interfaith encounters. The paper, providing a critical review of
such paradigms, aims to highlight the importance of having a historical
perspective, and to examine more concrete communal realities, by using
sociological and cultural insights as well as comparative religion.
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