Towards the end of the thirteen century, the many crusade eras were over. The crusades to some extent influenced the perception of the Americans. However, the conflicts between the west and the Islam communities such as Israel and Afghanistan shows that During this period, the western European Christians had lost interests and energy to further their campaigns to regain the Holy Land. On the other hand, the Reconquista in Spain continued so that only the Granada in the far south remained under the rule of Muslims. Importantly, most of the Muslims and Jews continued to live in Christians Kingdom of Castile and Aragon. The structural changes and western civilization led to the emergence of stereotypes and concepts distinctive of Islam and the rest of the world. Today, many of the population of the west believe that Islam is violent while the rest of the world is primitive.
In the 1220s, the Western European learned of a planned attack by the Mongols from central Asia. The Latin Christians hoped that God had sent them to destroy the Islam or even convert them to Christianity; unfortunately, the Mamluks in Syrian and Palestine stopped them and converted them to Islam in 1260. As a result, Christians realized that Islamic religion could not be destroyed by the military; they, therefore, built on missionary work to help in convincing the Muslims that their religion was not true. The middle ages further threatened the idea that Islam would be diminished as the authority of the Christian church had started to decline.
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Ottoman in Europe
The Ottoman Empire became a Muslim dynasty in the 15th century who helped in conquering large parts of Europe. The Ottoman had great power in Red and Mediterranean Sea and was able to access and control routes between Asia and Europe. As a result, the Europeans viewed them as a great threat to the west. Importantly, the Ottoman tolerated other religions; the Christians and the Jews as long as they paid taxes and did not cause any problems. Following the significant influence and power of Muslims, there was a reformation of Christianity. The protestants rose and were led by Martin Luther King. Martin Luther thought that destroying Catholicism was the best way to fight against Muslim. As a result, the Ottomans started to get involved in the wars of reformation by supporting the Protestants.
The Muslims, just all the rest of the world were affected by colonization. The colonial rule affected economies, politics, administration, and most important religion as part of mind colonization. The Muslims reacted to attempt to change their religion as they were more conscious than the rest of the world. The Muslims strongly opposed the western rule that they influenced other religions like the Hindu population of India.
The Ottoman image and the emergence of Orientalism
Christian Europe was fearful of the Ottomans, and they depicted them as violent and cruel. Most of the Europeans still insisted on rejecting the Islam while some embraced and valued their wealth and power. At the same time, the study of the Orient which focused on Asia emerged. In the 19th century, orientalism was the in thing in societies, and it focused on cultures, histories, religion, and languages. Muslims, who occupied large parts of Europe and China, were central to orientalism and the field gave a much deeper understanding of religion.
Ottoman decline and Oriental despotism
In the 16th century, the Europeans started replacing the Ottomans from the educated western populations. There was a growing perception that the Ottoman was a defective empire. Before the replacement measures, the ottoman tolerates, virtuous, and just; however, during the depiction, they were considered brutal, oppressive, and corrupt. They were no longer a military threat but a distrustful weak empire. The political thinkers in Europe saw laws and freedom as the basis of societies, and thus the Ottoman was an example of oriental despotism. Philosophers like Max Weber and Karl Mark used jurist Montesquieu concept of oriental despotism to explain how the west had come to dominate the world culturally, economically, and socially.
The beginnings of European global hegemony
In the 15th century, there was a continuous weakening of the Ottoman Empire. At the same time, the relationship between Europe other parts of the world continued to grow resulting in a new structure of power that was defined in term of economy and politics. With the external relationships, Europe started establishing global trading networks which were fostered by communication, warfare, and seafaring technologies. The labor systems used also helped in the production of goods such as coffee for export to markets across the globe. Europe grew to control key markets and primary capital sources and thus become the largest in manufacturing.
The west versus the rest
In the medieval period, the westernized idea developed. In this period, the west opposed east (Byzantine) as well as Muslims. In the 15th century, with the Renaissance period, the dream of the western church was lost and replaced with the secular concept of the western world. The secular concept emerged as a result of cultural coherence that grew over time. Lockman describes the continuous culture as unbroken, intact, and unsullied from other parts of the world. The definition of the West was shaped and framed by the ignored aspects of the European culture, society, and history. The country was more focused on moving towards a global hegemony. According to Lockman, the western people tended to define themselves with thoughts of who they were not. Instead, they focused on the aspects and ideas that tended to make the unique and different from the non-western.
Some of the exclusive characteristics and core values included freedom, enterprise, adventure, intellectual curiosity, progress, science, rationality, law, and freedom. Since other societies lacked these features, the west domination was justified. They were opposed to ottomans orient, and they viewed themselves as a mecca for freedom. The western culture, unlike other societies, has been monolithic and uniform. Given the distinctive characteristics, the western populations were considered modern while the non-west was primitive and traditional. They fall behind in civilization and worse, they could never emulate the west completely for them to be truly modern.
The Wests were superior to the rest of the world in many terms. First, they were considered superior regarding race and thus thought to have clear biological differences from other races. Other races were considered as not fully human thus inferior. The unique cultural traits and patterns made it possible for the west to be attaining success across the world. They were rational, open to innovations, and believed in progress. The structural changes that resulted from the complex relationship that Europe had with other parts of the world after 1492 was the reason for its rise to power.
Europe controlled production and trade in Asia in 16th and 17th centuries leading to the extensive influx of wealth stimulating economic growth and rise to power. Even though the west and the rest interacted with each other in complex ways, they were never equaled. Both were dependent on one another but were mutually exclusive. For instance, the ability and opportunity to explore was made possible by the countries interaction with other societies.
Islam and enlightenment
With time, all societies became enlightened with the secular age. However, the Muslims were considered as the west’s polar opposite. They Muslims were considered to lack the unique features for them to be considered modern. Islam was perceived as indolent, stagnant, superstitious, and a religion that fostered servility. From the 1960s, the Ottoman Empire was criticized and was considered defective in civilization. By the 18th century, the enlightenment movement changed everything so that there was an elimination of the rest in definition and distinction from the west. With enlightenment, the focus was placed on factors that made societies equal as opposed to distinguishing them.
Even though the approach was objective towards the Islam, stereotypes persisted. Additionally, there were alterations with the orient literature in the 18th century. For instance, the voices of veiled ottoman women were studied, and they were termed as miserable and oppressed in the secular age was talked about by Lady Mary. The change in literature stimulated different thinking by the Europeans. However, to date, Islam and the rest notions persist.
The stereotypes, especially about the Islam community persist due to the civil war and extremist classes. For instance, the current civil wars in Syria that has led to the death of numerous civilians make individuals believe that Muslims are violent. Importantly, the moderate Muslims show positive change towards civilization.
